Ways to Dispose of Sacramentals and Blessed Items

Within the Catholic Church, there are many items of devotion and piety that are used to draw us closer to God. Rosaries, sacred images, prayer cards, saint medals, and candles are ‘sacramentals’ that are common items in many of our Catholic homes.

But what happens when you no longer have use for these religious objects? Your palm from Palm Sunday is all dried out, but it was blessed during the Palm Sunday Mass. You realize you have 95 rosaries, but you really don’t need more than five. Or your rosary has broken but you can’t just throw it away, so you have a drawer filled with broken beads.

Never Throw Religious Objects in the Trash!

Sacramentals have a sacred purpose in supporting our journey to heaven. Through the intercession of the Church, sacramentals supply special graces to us. This is why the Church asks us to handle them with reverence, even in the process of disposal.

While all religious items should be treated with respect, when a religious object is blessed by a priest, it deserves special reverence. It would be inappropriate to throw these holy items in the trash!

Most Catholics know that the trash bin is not the place for blessed objects. But without guidance on their correct disposal, old and broken sacramentals tend to accumulate in a drawer or closet—never to be used again, but unable to be thrown away.

Steps to Dispose of Religious Items

Follow these simple steps to dispose of your blessed items:

· The best way to dispose of religious objects is to burn them to ash. This includes anything flammable such as a cord rosary, Palm Sunday palms, or a blessed image printed on canvas. Then, collect the ashes and bury them, preferably on church grounds, in a Catholic cemetery or in your garden under the tree where there is no traffic.

· If you are unable to burn your religious items, they should be disassembled as much as possible and reverently buried. That way they cannot be used for a profane purpose if uncovered in the future. This is how you would dispose of a rosary with beads or a metal chain.

· Broken statues and worn medals cannot be disassembled further, so these are generally laid to rest whole. Holy water should be poured directly into the ground. Again, this is preferably done on church grounds, in a Catholic cemetery or in your garden under the tree where there is no traffic.

But please don’t bring them to the church and leave them in one of the closets. Church buildings are not a holy dumpster or a graveyard for broken holy items. Please, try to dispose of them at your home.

Fr. Chester