Masses celebrated on Sunday and solemnities are not offered for specific intentions. Ferial Masses during the weekdays and the Novenas held on the weekdays are offered for special intentions of the public, and such Masses and Novenas are offered for the following special intentions.

Masses for various needs

In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a votive Mass (Latin missa votiva) is a Mass offered for a votum, a special intention. In addition to the liturgical cycle of Sundays and feasts, the Roman Missal and Lectionary of Paul VI (1969) provide prayers and readings for Masses to be offered in response to various pastoral situations. There are three kinds of such occasional Masses (Gen Instr. Rom-Missal 326–341):

  1. Ritual Masses for the celebration of certain Sacraments
  2. Masses for Various Needs and Occasions
  3. Votive Masses

In the former Missale Romanum of Pius V (1570), as well as in most sacramentaries from the Roman tradition, the term Missae votivae referred to all three varieties of such occasional Masses. In the present Missal (Sacramentary), however, the term Votive Mass refers only to fifteen Masses which celebrate such objects of devotion as the Sacred Heart, the Holy Name, the Precious Blood, the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and the Apostles. In addition, the new Missal contains forty-six Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, and a great variety of Ritual Masses.

  1. Ritual Masses

Prayers for Masses that are celebrated with particular rites, e.g., the dedication of a church, marriage, holy orders (ordination), religious profession, Christian initiation (baptism, confirmation), etc.

  1. Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions

Prayers for Masses celebrated for particular religious or civil needs, e.g., for the pope, for vocations, for promoting harmony, for peace and justice, for elected officials, to avert storms, etc.

  1. Votive Masses

Prayers for Masses for particular devotions such as Masses in honor of the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary or the apostles.

  1. Masses of the Dead

Prayers for funeral Masses or other commemorations of those who have died, particularly on the anniversary of death.

The principle of the votive Mass is older than its name. Almost at the very origin of the Western liturgies (with their principle of change according to the Calendar) Mass was occasionally offered, apparently with special prayers and lessons, for some particular intention, irrespective of the normal Office of the day. Among the miracles quoted by Augustine of Hippo in “De civ. Dei”, XXII, 8, is the story of one Hesperius cured of an evil spirit by a private Mass said in his house with special prayers for him—a votive Mass for his cure.

The Votive Masses may be celebrated on the following days of the liturgical year:

  1. On weekdays in ordinary time when there is either an optional memorial of a saint or no memorial
  2. On obligatory memorials of saints, on weekdays of Advent, of Christmastime and of the Easter Season, only in the case of genuine pastoral need
  3. By permission of the bishop, when serious need or pastoral advantage dictates, on any day except the Sundays of Advent, Lent and the Easter Season, Ash Wednesday, and during Holy Week. These same directives also apply for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions.

The practice of Votive Masses grew during the Middle Ages after the genesis of the liturgical calendar. Christians who had a special devotion to Jesus, Mary, or a saint would ask priests to offer Masses of petition or thanksgiving in the spirit of that devotion. The faithful would also request Masses for special needs or situations that arose in their daily lives and in society. Ritual Masses also arose from the sacramental needs of the people.

Throughout the Middle Ages the votive Mass was a regular institution. The principle came to be that, whereas one official (capitular) high Mass was said corresponding to the Office, a priest who said a private Mass for a special intention said a votive Mass corresponding to his intention. The great number of forms provided in medieval Missals furnished one for any possible intention. Indeed, it seems that at one time a priest normally said a votive Mass whenever he celebrated. John Beleth in the thirteenth century describes a series of votive Masses once said (fuit quoddam tempus) each day in the week: on Sunday, of the Holy Trinity; Monday, for charity; Tuesday, for wisdom; Wednesday, of the Holy Ghost; Thursday, of the Angels; Friday, of the Cross; Saturday, of the Blessed Virgin (Explic. div. offic., 51). This completely ignores the ecclesiastical year.

Masses for the Dead

A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead (Latin: Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead (Latin: Missa defunctorum), is a Mass offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is usually, but not necessarily, celebrated in the context of a funeral.

The Suffrage Mass is a particular type of Votive Mass in which one or more Roman Catholic baptized believers ask to the celebrating priest to offer a Mass to God in favour of the salvation of one or more souls temporary living in the Purgatory. While the Holy Mass is always offered to God, it can also be dedicated to one or more Roman Catholic saints in order to ask their intercessory prayer to God.

For the Roman Catholic doctrine, any saint may pray God to intercede his divine grace in favour of any human living being, but within a hierarchical order of intercessory power: first Jesus Christ God by way of Mass (worship), secondly the Blessed Virgin Mary (hyperdulia), thirdly Saint Joseph (protodulia), and lastly the hierarchy of angels.

The pious practice of the Suffrage Mass is also founded on the belief in the existence of the Purgatory. For the Roman Catholic faith, at the time of the death there is a separation of the soul form the earthly body. The soul undergoes to the particular judgment of God who is Omniscient and therefore can’t fail in his judgement. The judgement is based on the personal sins and merits of salvation acquired during the earthly life. The sol can’t do anything to improve its afterlife condition after the death. There are three possible judgements of God corresponding to as many possible destinations of the soul: Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. Solely the soul who died in sanctity, to say without any stain of personal sin and also without the original sin, can be admitted in Paradise. Otherwise, if they have committed some mortal sins which weren’t absolved by a priest before their death, the destination is the Purgatory.

The soul is believed to stay in Purgatory for a finite time in order to repair its sins and have them forgiven by God. This is a concern for all the sins that weren’t confessed and absolved before the death. The expiation is necessary before the expiating souls can be admitted in Paradise. The number of months or of years of its duration is believed to be proportional to the gravity of the guilts committed during the earthly life. The Suffrage Mass is believed to have the power to shorten the expiating period if God decides to grant the grace of a lower penalty for the souls to which the Mass is directed. The prayer of saints to God can contribute to reach the same purpose.

When the expiation time had finished, St Michael the Archangel is believed to go in the Purgatory to liberate the expiating souls and bring them in Paradise. Paradise is dedicated to the vision of the truth and contemplation of the Face of God, which is the highest and last purpose of the human life. There, hierarchy of angels and souls pray and worship God, and live forever in communion while waiting the expiating souls of the Purgatory be definitely saved and any souls can get its resurrected flesh at the end of times.

Masses for the Holy Church

  1. For the Church, universal or a particular one.
  2. For the pope, especially on the anniversary of election.
  3. For the bishop, again especially on the anniversary of ordination.
  4. For the election of a pope or bishop
  5. For a council or synod
  6. For priests
  7. For the priest himself, or on an anniversary of ordination.
  8. For ministers of the Church
  9. For vocations to Holy Orders
  10. For the laity
  11. On the anniversaries of marriage
  12. For the family
  13. For religious
  14. For vocations to religious life
  15. For promoting harmony.
  16. For reconciliation.
  17. For the unity of Christians.
  18. For the evangelization of peoples.
  19. For persecuted Christians
  20. For a spiritual or pastoral gathering.

Masses for Civil Needs

  1. For the nation or state
  2. For those in public office
  3. For a governing assembly
  4. For the head of state or ruler
  5. At the beginning of the civil year
  6. For the sanctification of human labor
  7. At seedtime
  8. After the harvest
  9. For the progress of peoples
  10. For the preservation of peace and justice
  11. In time of war or civil disturbance
  12. For refugees and exiles
  13. In time of famine or for those suffering hunger
  14. In time of earthquake
  15. For rain
  16. For fine weather
  17. For an end to various storms

Masses for Various Occasions

  1. For the forgiveness of sin
  2. For chastity
  3. For charity
  4. For relatives and friends
  5. For our oppressors
  6. For those held in captivity
  7. For those in prison
  8. For the sick
  9. For the dying
  10. For the grace of a happy death
  11. In any need
  12. For giving thanks to God for the gift of human life
  13. For giving thanks to God