A poor box, alms box, offertory box, or mite box is a box that is used to collect coins for charitable purposes. They can be found in most
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
churches built before the 19th century and were the main source of funds for
poor relief
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
.
Contemporary mite boxes are usually made of cardboard and given out to church congregations during the
Lenten
Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthe ...
season. The mite boxes are collected by the church, and the donations are given to the poor. Mite boxes are popular with children because they can fill them with small change, teaching them the principle of
giving alms to the poor. The Mite box promotes the spirit of contributing based on the intent to help others, and not on the monetary amount.
History
The origin of the ''mite box'' is very old. In 2
Kings
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations.
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...
12:9, the priest
Jehoiada
Jehoiada ( ''Yəhōyāḏā‘'', "Yahweh knows") in the Hebrew Bible, was a prominent priest in the kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Ahaziah (reigned c. 842 - 841 BCE), Athaliah (reigned c. 841–835 BCE), and Joash (reigned c. 836–79 ...
bored a hole in the lid of a
chest
The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen.
In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
and placed it near the first
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
.
However, this was to fund maintenance rather than alms.
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216.
Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...
, at the end of the twelfth century, allowed some mite boxes to be placed in churches so that the faithful people could at any time dispose their alms.
Many
Catholic parish churches in Ireland have two collection boxes, one "for the church" and the other "for the poor". The Irish lower courts also have a ''court poor box'', where a judge can direct a defendant to make a donation to a charity in lieu of a conviction.
Mite
The term ''mite,'' according to the dictionary, is defined as any of the following:
# a very small contribution or amount of money, such as a widow's mite.
# a very small object, creature, or
particle
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscle in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...
.
# a coin of very small value, especially an obsolete
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
coin worth half a
farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
*Farthing (English c ...
.
An alms box is a strong chest or box often fastened to the wall of a church to receive offerings for the poor.
The etymology of the word mite comes through
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
and
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...
from the
Middle Low German
Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...
''mīte,'' a small
Flemish
Flemish may refer to:
* Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium
* Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium
*Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium
* Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...
coin or tiny animal. In
biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
times, a mite or
lepton
In particle physics, a lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin (Spin (physics), spin ) that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main classes of leptons exist: electric charge, charged leptons (also known as the electron-li ...
was a small coin of almost no worth.
See also
*
Coinage of Alexander Jannaeus, King of Judea
*
Lesson of the widow's mite
The lesson of the widow's mite or the widow's offering is presented in two of the Synoptic Gospels ( and ), when Jesus is teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two ''mites'' (Greek ) are together worth a ''quadra ...
*
Lutheran Women's Missionary League
The Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) is the official women's auxiliary of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is an orthodox, traditional confessio ...
*
Tzedakah box
A tzedakah box () or pushke () is donation box, a receptacle for Tzedakah, charitable donations in Judaism.
History
The earliest mention of a tzedakah box is in connection with the priest Jehoiada, who crafted a chest with a hole in its lid, posi ...
References
{{Authority control
Alms in Christianity
Containers
de:Gotteskasten