Chantry

Chapels set aside specially for the chanting of Masses.

The chantry is keyed in particularly to the medieval idea that it was possible to shorten the time one's loved ones needed to spend in purgatory by the celebration of the Mass on their behalf. Those who could afford it, therefore, built special chapels and engaged full-time priests for this express purpose. Since the Mass was, in medieval times, always chanted, these chapels came to be called chantry.