Notes/Sermons
CHURCH SUPPORT IN THE LIFE OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
In last Sunday’s “Pastor’s Note” I quoted from the 1791 First Synod of Baltimore wherein the few Catholic bishops of the fledging Republic of the United States of America addressed the need for the lay faithful to be “frequently reminded” of their duty to support the Church with their offerings because otherwise there would be no church for them.
It is a very interesting study to see how this problem played itself out over the decades of the 1800s, particular from the 1790s through the time of the Civil War. There were so many problems facing the Catholic Church in the United States, but the difficulty of raising the donations necessary to maintain a visible church structure was ever-present.
From synodal documents and instructions from Rome, it can be seen just how desperate some pastors were for adequate funds that they resorted to behavior which had to be censured by church authority. For example:
It is reported, and we have learned it with great sorrow, that there are some priests in certain localities who during the Mass itself descend from the altar and go around in the church asking alms of the faithful. We reprobate, and command the extirpation of this most disgraceful abuse, which is injurious to the Church and its sacred rites, and which provokes the derision and contempt of nonCatholics. Concerning this matter we lay the burden on the conscience of each of the bishops. (II Plenary Council of Baltimore, 1866)
Other practices which had to be condemned and corrected included: unauthorized extra Collections, hosting fundraisers such as fairs and picnics where all the bad-behaviors of worldly partying occurred, the solicitation of Mass stipends through commercial newspaper advertisements. If pastors charged “pewrent” (which was an acceptable practice at the time), they had to make sure they reserved a substantial number of free seats for the poor who could not pay. Some pastors, however, took it upon themselves to eliminate the free pews or reduce their number without the bishop’s knowledge. Pope Pius IX’s personal authority had to be invoked (twice) to suppress the custom which had grown up in American churches of collecting money at church entrances when Mass was being celebrated.
Authorized means of raising money from the lay faithful in 1800s America consisted of pew-rent, collections during Mass, seat-money, and house-to-house collections.
In sum, the dilemma of raising enough funds to support the Church from the gifts of the faithful was never quite resolved by the Church’s Chief Pastors. On the one hand, they affirmed that the faithful ought to be frequently reminded of their duty to support the Church—that this was of Divine Command and not a mere human construct—and to have this duty clearly explained to them. But on the other hand, the clergy were strictly admonished to avoid even the appearance of acting out of greed for money or of selling-the-Sacraments, or of turning the contributions into exactions rather than freewill gifts to God. To this end, ecclesiastical punishments were attached to what we might term as, the abuse of the right-to-ask.
Quick Links
MOST RECENT POSTINGS
January 31, 2021 - read more ...
January 24, 2021 - read more ...
January 10, 2021 - read more ...
January 3, 2021 - read more ...
December 27, 2020 - read more ...
December 20, 2020 - read more ...
December 13, 2020 - read more ...
December 6, 2020 - read more ...
November 29, 2020 - read more ...
DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF
MARY IMMACULATE OF LOURDES,
Newton Upper Falls, MA
November 22, 2020 - read more ...
November 15, 2020 - read more ...
November 8, 2020 - read more ...
November 1, 2020 - read more ...
October 25, 2020 - read more ...
October 18, 2020 - read more ...
October 11, 2020 - read more ...
October 4, 2020 - read more ...
September 27, 2020 - read more ...
September 20, 2020 - read more ...
September 13, 2020 - read more ...
September 6, 2020 - read more ...
August 23, 2020 - read more ...
1856-1925
"How can you be lonely with Christ in the Tabernacle?"
August 16, 2020 - read more ...
August 9, 2020 - read more ...
August 2, 2020 - read more ...
July 26, 2020 - read more ...
1550-1614 A.D.
July 19, 2020 - read more ...
July 12, 2020 - read more ...
June 28, 2020 - read more ...
June 21, 2020 - read more ...
June 14, 2020 - read more ...
June 7, 2020 - read more ...
May 31, 2020 - read more ...
May 24, 2020 - read more ...
May 10, 2020 - read more ...
May 3, 2020 - read more ...
April 26, 2020 - read more ...
April 12, 2020 - read more ...
March 22, 2020 - read more ...
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MASS PILGRIMAGE AND THE CAUSE OF ROYALIST FRANCE
March 15, 2020 - read more ...
March 8, 2020 - read more ...
March 1, 2020 - read more ...
February 23, 2020 - read more ...
January 26, 2020 - read more ...
January 19, 2020 - read more ...
NOVEMBER 24th, 1910
(THANKSGIVING DAY)
November 24, 2019 - read more ...
November 17, 2019 - read more ...
November 3, 2019
October 27, 2019 - read more ...
October 20, 2019 - read more ...
October 13, 2019 - read more ...
October 6, 2019 - read more ...
September 29, 2019 - read more ...
September 22, 2019 - read more ...
September 15, 2019 - read more ...
September 8, 2019 - read more ...
September 1, 2019 - read more ...
August 11, 2019 - read more ...
August 4, 2019 - read more ...
July 28, 2019 - read more ...
July 21, 2019 - read more ...
July 14, 2019 - read more ...
July 7, 2019 - read more ...
June 16, 2019 - read more ...
June 9, 2019 - read more ...
(Photos by Rod Phillips)
June 2, 2019 - read more ...
May 19, 2019 - read more ...
May 12, 2019 - read more ...
May 5, 2019 - read more ...
April 28, 2019 - read more ...
(Concluding Conference: April 12th, 2019)
April 21, 2019 - read more ...
(Conference V: April 5th, 2019)
April 14, 2019 - read more ...
(Conference IV: March 22nd, 2019)
April 7, 2019 - read more ...
(Conference III: March 22nd, 2019)
March 31, 2019 - read more ...
(Conference II: March 15th, 2019)
March 24, 2019 - read more ...
(Conference I: March 8th, 2019)
March 17, 2019 - read more ...
March 10, 2019 - read more ...
March 3, 2019 - read more ...
February 24, 2019 - read more ...
February 17, 2019 - read more ...
February 10, 2019 - read more ...
February 3, 2019 - read more ...
January 13, 2019 - read more ...
December 23, 2018 - read more ...
December 16, 2018 - read more ...
December 9, 2018 - read more ...
December 2, 2018 - read more ...
November 25, 2018 - read more ...
November 18, 2018 - read more ...
November 11, 2018 - read more ...
November 4, 2018 - read more ...
October 28, 2018 - read more ...
October 21, 2018 - read more ...
October 14, 2018 - read more ...
October 7, 2018 - read more ...
September 30, 2018 - read more ...
September 16, 2018 - read more ...
September 9, 2018 - read more ...
September 2, 2018 - read more ...
August 26, 2018 - read more ...
August 19, 2018 - read more ...
August 12, 2018 - read more ...
July 29, 2018 - read more ...
July 22, 2018 - read more ...
July 15, 2018 - read more ...
July 8, 2018 - read more ...
July 1, 2018 - read more ...
June 24, 2018 - read more ...
May 6, 2018 - read more ...
April 29, 2018 - read more ...
Conference V, Friday, March 23, 2018 A.D.
April 1, 2018 - read more ...
Conference IV, Friday, March 16, 2018 A.D.
March 25, 2018 - read more ...
Conference III, March 9th, 2018 A.D.
March 18, 2018 - read more ...
March 11, 2018 - read more ...
Conference II, February 23rd, 2018 A.D.
March 4, 2018 - read more ...
Conference I, February 16th, 2018
February 25, 2018 - read more ...
February 18, 2018 - read more ...
February 11, 2018 - read more ...
January 21, 2018 - read more ...
January 7, 2018 - read more ...
December 31, 2017 - read more ...
December 24, 2017 - read more ...
December 17, 2017 - read more ...
December 10, 2017 - read more ...
December 3, 2017 - read more ...
November 26, 2017 - read more ...
November 19, 2017 - read more ...
November 12, 2017 - read more ...
October 29, 2017 - read more ...
October 22, 2017 - read more ...
October 1, 2017 - read more ...
January 15, 2017 - read more ...
January 8, 2017 - read more ...
December 18, 2016 - read more ...
December 11, 2016 - read more ...
December 4, 2016 - read more ...
November 27, 2016 - read more ...
November 20, 2016 - read more ...
November 13, 2016 - read more ...
October 30, 2016 - read more ...
October 16, 2016 - read more ...
October 9, 2016 - read more ...
October 2, 2016 - read more ...