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Memorial offerings

Memorial offerings are devotional remembrances tied to a period of time rather than a specific Mass — a sanctuary candle burning for a week, an adoration candle held during a feast day, or another parish-specific dedication. This article covers how to configure the memorial types your parish offers and how to review requests as they come in.

The memorial pages​

Memorials are managed from two tabs in the Mass Intentions section of the admin sidebar:

  • Memorial Offerings — set up and maintain the memorial types parishioners can request (sanctuary candle, adoration candle, and so on). Open it from Admin Dashboard → Mass Intentions → Memorial Offerings.
  • Pending Memorials — review, approve, or reject requests that parishioners have submitted. Open it from Admin Dashboard → Mass Intentions → Pending Memorials. A badge on the sidebar shows how many requests are waiting for a decision.
How memorials differ from Mass intentions

A Mass intention attaches a specific Mass to a specific person. A memorial offering dedicates a devotional item or period — such as a candle — to someone, without taking up a Mass slot. Both can be requested by parishioners, but they live in separate workflows.

Configuring a memorial setup​

Before parishioners can request memorials, you need at least one memorial setup. Each setup defines a memorial type at a single location, with its own duration, weekly start day, and offering amount.

  1. Go to Admin Dashboard → Mass Intentions → Memorial Offerings.
  2. Click Add Memorial Type.
  3. Enter a Name (for example, "Sanctuary Candle" or "Adoration Candle") and an optional Description that parishioners will see.
  4. Choose the Location where the memorial is offered.
  5. Set the Start day of week — the day each new memorial period begins (for example, Sunday).
  6. Set the Duration in days — how long each memorial period lasts (one day, seven days, or any number you choose).
  7. Set the Required offering amount and Currency. This is the suggested offering parishioners pay when requesting this memorial.
  8. Optionally set an Active start date and Active end date to limit the window during which the memorial program runs.
  9. Click Save.

The new setup appears as a card in the grid. Once it is active, Sacramentum begins generating individual memorial periods on the calendar that parishioners can browse and request.

tip

You can have several memorial setups at the same location — for example, separate setups for the sanctuary candle and the adoration candle. Each has its own pricing, schedule, and duration.

Editing a memorial setup​

  1. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) on the setup card.
  2. Update any field — name, description, duration, offering amount, or active dates.
  3. Click Save.

If your changes affect when periods are generated (start day, duration, active dates, or offering amount), Sacramentum prompts you to confirm how to apply them to existing future periods. Periods that have already been requested or paid for are protected and never overwritten silently.

Activating, deactivating, and generating periods​

Each setup card has an Activate or Deactivate button at the bottom.

  • Activating a setup generates upcoming memorial periods for the next twelve months. The success message tells you how many periods were created and how many were skipped because they already existed.
  • Deactivating a setup stops new requests and removes future open periods. Periods that are already reserved, paid for, or held are kept so existing requests are not disrupted.

To regenerate periods for an active setup — for example, after editing the duration — click the refresh icon on the card. This extends the calendar twelve months from today and creates any missing periods.

Reviewing pending memorial requests​

When a parishioner submits a memorial request, it lands in the Pending Memorials tab for review. Some requests arrive paid (online checkout); others arrive pending payment when an admin enters them on a parishioner's behalf.

  1. Go to Admin Dashboard → Mass Intentions → Pending Memorials.
  2. Each row shows the person being honored (Offered For), the requester's name and email, the memorial type and location, the date range, the requested amount, and the payment status.
  3. Click Approve to schedule the memorial and notify the requester.
  4. Click Reject to decline the request. A dialog asks you to enter a reason; this reason is recorded for admin reference and is required.

After you approve, the memorial is locked in for the dates shown, the candle (or other dedication) is committed for that period, and the requester receives a confirmation email.

Approving requests in bulk​

When several requests come in at once, you can process them together.

  1. Tick the checkbox at the start of each row you want to approve, or use the header checkbox to select every visible request.
  2. Click Approve Selected at the top of the page.
  3. A progress dialog reports how many requests succeeded and how many failed as Sacramentum works through them.

Bulk approval respects the same rules as individual approval, including identity resolution and notification emails. Anything that fails — for example, because the period is no longer available — is reported in the progress dialog and stays in the pending list for individual handling.

warning

Rejecting a paid request can trigger a refund depending on your payment configuration. Review the payment status badge on each row before rejecting to make sure you understand the financial impact.

How parishioners request memorials​

Parishioners see your active memorial setups on the public Memorials page, which shows a calendar of upcoming periods. They choose an available period, enter the name of the person being honored, complete checkout (or submit for admin approval if payment is offline), and the request flows into your Pending Memorials queue.

For the parishioner-side experience, see Memorials.

Managing the memorial calendar​

Memorial periods are generated from your setups, but you can adjust individual periods if needed. The setup card itself does not show every generated period — instead, parishioners see them on the public calendar, and approved bookings appear in the parishioner's dashboard and your reports.

If you need to remove a setup entirely:

  1. Click the Delete button (trash icon) on the setup card.
  2. A confirmation dialog appears.

Sacramentum blocks deletion if any periods are already reserved or paid for. Deactivate the setup first, resolve any open requests, then delete it. Deleted setups are removed from the admin view but their historical bookings are preserved for audit purposes.

What's next​