Masses

I was trying to think of what to write about this week since Land Girl, that is my wife, has not done anything of consequence on which to write. It then occurred to me, that with the death of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, to write about the Roman Catholic tradition of payment of masses for the repose of a person's soul. Our ancestors have a long tradition of paying for masses for the deceased family members.

Generally, when requesting a mass for a person, a stipend is paid to a clergy member. Although no stipend is required, it is customary, and tends or tended to run about $10 per mass. One does not have to be dead for a mass to be said on that persons behalf. A mass can be requested for a variety of reasons, thanksgiving, celebration, or a common one is members of the parish. The church bulletin lists for whom masses are offered and the name is said at mass.  

The main explanation for masses for a deceased person is to ask for God's grace on the soul of the deceased to realize a quicker journey out of purgatory to Heaven. However, the theological underpinnings can go much deeper. One website (Catholic Straight Answers) indicated that Pope Leo XIII in 1902 in his encyclical Mirae Caitatis emphasized the community of the saints when Leo wrote: 

The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the communion of saints. For the communion of saints is simply… the mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers, and benefits among the faithful, those already in the heavenly fatherland, those consigned to the purifying fire, and those still making their pilgrim way here on earth. These all form one city, whose head is Christ, and whose vital principle is love.

The tradition of mass for a deceased person goes back a long time, one source indicates documentation of masses being offered for a deceased person as far back as 180 AD (or CE), the very early years of the church. This is a long tradition, much longer than I would have thought. Traditionally, people also make contributions to the family of a deceased member. Sometimes it goes to a specific cause, such as masses and/or a charity.  If no specific cause is identified, it can be used as the family pleases. It is not unusual for a family to use some of the money for masses.

Martin Hovel Will part II relates to masses

My ancestors have a tradition of having provided for masses in their wills. My grandfather, Rudy Hovel, in section two of his will, provided: "I give and bequeath Three Hundred Dollars ($300) to the Pastor of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, for masses for the repose of my soul."  Rudy was born in 1887 and died in 1979. Grandpa Rudy would certainly have been aware of the will of father, Martin. Martin was born in Bohemia in 1850 and died in Manly, IA in 1928. Martin's last will is recorded in Worth County, IA. Martin, allocated $200 for the repose of his soul, and allowed the executor of the estate to decide the priest. His executor was his oldest son, Joseph, Rudy's oldest brother. Joseph lived in the Manly, IA area so he likely selected Sacred Hearts parish in Manly, IA. 

Living in Iowa, after emigrating from Bohemia, but having died in Winona, MN, was  Rudy's mother-in-law, Theresia Kamen. Theresia was born in Ujezd, in 1848, only about a half hour away from where Martin was born in Dolni Chrastany, and emigrated alone in 1872. She was likely living with her oldest child, Mary Pitzenberger Hrubetz when she passed away. What is interesting about Theresia is that he will was filed 21 Oct 1921 in Winneshiek County, IA, and she would die just over two weeks later, on 7 Nov, in Winona. Her request for masses, like the other two in part 2, she allocates $1,000 for masses for her soul to Fr Rubly of St Mary's Church in Festina, IA, or, if she died elsewhere to equally divided between St Mary's in Festina and the parish serving the locale in which she died. This makes me think she knew she would be living with her daughter in Winona, MN, and not just a visit.  In this case her death was in Winona, MN, so $500 went to the local Catholic Church in Winona for masses. She hardly had time to become known in Winona before she died. 

Theresia Pitzenberger will. 
Paragraph 2 deals with mass stipends

My dad was a small town lawyer and did a number of wills an estates. I once came across a letter for a deceased relative, a Duscheck who asked for unspecified masses from which my dad sent a part to my Uncle Joe Sweeney, then a new Jesuit priest to offer masses for that person. 

Payment of masses for some distant ancestors, however, goes back to at least the 18th century. We know this due to recordings in the land register records of house #3 in Dolni Chrastany, Bohemia. By fastest driving route, Dolni Chrastany is only about 112 miles from Marktl, Germany. In 1757 Lorenz Jiral, a fifth great grandfather, acquired the Ruessmueller farm at that address, by marriage to Marianna Ruessmueller. The farm was then passed to his son Gregor in 1757. Gregor was a brother to my fourth great grandfather, Mathias (1732-1773). An interpretation of the land register by Richard D' Amelio has varied payments being made, to heirs but this post will concentrate on payments noted for masses for deceased familhy members. First, in 1781 (241 years ago) 1 schock grossen was paid "toward a Holy Mass for Mathias Jiral." This was likely my fourth great grandfather, who died in 1773. It states for one mass, meaning the stipend seems quite high, since this one shock grossen was about a quarter of a typical annual payment to descendants or benefactors. I am guessing, however, that was the way of writing back then. In 1782 the same amount was paid by Gregor toward a holy mass for his father, Lorenz. In 1783, payment was once again made "toward a Holy Mass for Mathias Jiral." In 1784 he makes a 30 grossen payment "towards a Holy Mass for the Jirals."  

Land Register not of 4 SG payment to Johann Havel for Holy Mass

Yet, Gregor was not done with his payments for masses. We know from that record that his brother Johann was in military service  in 1786. The following year, Johann is probably deceased, perhaps in military service, as the four shock grossen payment for Johann is "directed to Johann toward a Holy Mass." Gregor makes a final payment of 4 shock grossen "towards a Holy Mass" the following year, and then additional payment which settles his account in full. I am not sure why money was directed to masses and not the heirs, it may have been due to a will, or an agreement of some sort. What we do know is that payment was made by Gregor for masses for varied family members over a few years time. Of the varied land registers I have had interpreted, this is the first to provide money for masses. That does not mean money was not paid by other family members, this money seems to have come from the payments of the heir to a mass in lieu of a specific family member. 

As religion is less and less important in the lives of people churches are now struggling to fill masses for the repose of a persons soul. Showing the bubble the young priests live in today, at my parish when the new young priest arrived a couple years ago he noted that masses would be on a first come first served basis in terms of requests for specific mass days and times. The parish does not have near the requests as masses said. When making that statement I got the impression that he was expecting a Noah ark load of requests. Given how many people he has turned away from the parish, and the faith, he should not be surprised at this result. For the week of Nov 27, the last bulletin published on the web site, less than half the masses said were for a specific person.

Christ the King Parish, McFarland, WI
Last available bulletin on line
Week of Nov 27, 2022

The tradition of masses being said for the dead is almost as old as the Church itself, and as the Church fades into history, at least in the west, so will the practice of masses for the dead. It comes down to a matter of faith as to the belief of whether or not masses help the soul for which they are intended, or simply represent a manner to pad priestly pockets. Our ancestors clearly though it was the former over the later.