Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Black Pearls ("we", "us", "the site"). By creating an account, posting content, donating, subscribing, or otherwise using the site, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not accept them, please do not use the site.

If you use the site on behalf of another person or entity, you represent that you have authority to bind them to these Terms.

Black Pearls is a place of remembrance and prayer under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows. You may post remembrances of the beloved dead, lay prayers and poetry on the Wall of Sorrows, light candles, pledge and pray rosaries, and — with an account — keep a private journal, examen, prayer circles, and novenas.

We may add, change, or remove features at any time. We do not warrant that any part of the service will be uninterrupted, timely, or error-free, though we do our best to keep it faithful and available.

You must be at least 13 years old (or the age of digital consent where you live) to create an account. If you are under the age of majority, you may use the site only with a parent or guardian's consent.

Accounts are provided through Clerk. You are responsible for keeping your sign-in credentials secure and for everything that happens under your account. Tell us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

What you write remains yours. You retain all ownership of the text, photographs, and other material you post ("User Content").

By posting User Content publicly, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute that content on the site — only as needed to operate the vigil. This license ends for a piece of content when you delete it, except where it has already been shared by others or kept in routine backups.

All public posts are read by a human moderator before they appear. We may decline, remove, or restrict content at our discretion — particularly content that does not belong in a place of prayer. Moderation decisions are made in good faith; we are not obligated to publish or retain any User Content.

You can report content that concerns you through the site's report tools or the contact page.

You agree not to:

Donations are freewill gifts processed by Stripe — they keep the candles burning and are not required for any prayer. They are gifts, not purchases, and may not be tax-deductible where you live.

Premium subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel. Manage or cancel anytime from Settings → Manage billing; cancelling keeps your access until the end of the paid period. Fees are charged by Stripe in the currency shown at checkout.

If a payment was taken in error, contact us and we will make it right — refunds for mistaken or unauthorized charges are handled case by case. Chargebacks filed in bad faith may lead to suspension.

The site itself — its design, code, branding, and original text — belongs to us and is protected by copyright and other laws. These Terms give you no rights to it except the limited right to use the service as intended.

If you believe content on the site infringes your copyright, write to us with enough detail to locate it and we will respond promptly.

The site relies on third parties to function: Clerk (sign-in), Stripe (payments), Resend (email), Vercel (hosting and storage), Neon (database), and AI providers for companion reflections. Their own terms and policies apply to their parts of the service; we are not responsible for their acts or omissions.

The service is offered "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied — including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

Nothing on this site is spiritual direction, counseling, legal, medical, or other professional advice. If you are in crisis, please reach out to local emergency or pastoral care — the site is a vigil, not a helpline.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — or for lost profits, data, goodwill, or use — arising from your use of the site.

Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the greater of the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or USD $50. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limits; where they do not, this section applies only to the extent permitted.

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your User Content, your misuse of the site, or your breach of these Terms.

You may delete your account at any time from Settings; deletion follows the process described in the Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these Terms or misuse the vigil, with or without notice where the law allows. Provisions that by their nature should survive — ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnity — survive termination.

We may update these Terms as the site grows. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date below and, for material changes, note them on the site. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the new Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the site operator resides, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and except where your local consumer law gives you rights that cannot be waived. Disputes will be brought in the courts of that jurisdiction unless your law requires otherwise.

Before filing anything, write to us — most disagreements at a vigil are better settled by a conversation than a court.

Questions about these Terms: write to us through the contact page or directly at navophoto@protonmail.com.