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Hi All,

I have a small hand-held censer which had previously been blessed over the course of Liturgy that is now rusted and tarnished quite beyond redemption. Is there any good way to dispose of it? I know I can't throw it away, and unlike icons this censer, being made of brass, clearly can't be burnt. What shall I do?

Thanks!

--
Ernest

Slava Isusu Khrestu

Hello Ernest
Our priest suggested that it be burried in a part of the yard where it will not be trodden upon as at the base of a tree. Here in time it will degrade. It can also be brought to church and it may be burried where the deacon deposits the ashes from the kadylo ( censer ).

Z Bohom
Kolya

Slava Na V'iki

Thank you, Kolya. Will do as your priest advised.

Z Bohom

Ernest

Burying the hand censer is good advice. If there is an accessible Catholic cemetery, it would be nice to bury it in consecrated ground.

Fr. Serge

X. B.

If you are friendly with a priest ask him to put it into the coffin before it is closed the next time he has a funeral.

Do you have to bury the censer's ashes in the soil? I throw them in the bin!

Father, bless!

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately there aren't too many of those around here. There is a public one, but bodies here typically get exhumed in less than two decades by government policy. There is a Catholic church which has a cemetery on its premises, though no newly deceased person has been buried there for a long while. In fact, that church has a collumbarium for purposes of entombment. What I dread most of all is having to explain to the parish priest what I would be trying to do ... I really wonder if the typical modern latin priest would be as sensitive to the treatment of sacramentals as we are. I do recall my catechist (a priest) who said one could just throw them away! I am quite tempted to bury it in the church yard of the Armenian church where we had Liturgy that time. Then again, with all the refurbishment they try to do, there is no guarantee it will not get accidentally dug up in no time. Ah well ... I may just decide to keep it for the time being, until a convenient and sensible place comes along. Sorry for the rant.

Kissing your right hand,
--
Ernest

X. B.

Ashes to ashes... "Do you have to..." is such a strong word. "Is it better to..." seams so much more "Christian". The (extinguished) ashes from a funeral can be placed on top of the coffin at the cemetery and buried with it.

B.B. (But isn't it a tad early for Pascha? )

Well, there aren't any Greek Catholic priests around here, and I doubt the Orthodox priests here will do it for me. But that's an idea. Thank you

I was wondering the same thing too. Would there also be a difference between the ashes from one's private home use (assuming the incense had previosuly been blessed) and those from church services?

X. B. from me / C. I. X. to you

Ernest,

The ashes at a funeral are a tangible sign of the prayers lifted up in their behalf. The bottom line is they are ashes, if it makes you feel good depositing them someplace special by all means do it. I believe on Judgment Day you will be asked if you fed the hungry, not dispose of the ashes in a special way. When I was a server growing up we use to empty the ashes into the priests BBQ pit after Liturgy.

PS I think the priest got a kick emptying smoldering charcoal on top of a couple thousand dollar box. Ashes to ashes and dust to sudt...

C^ABA...

Ernest,

A light bulb just switched on, we bury holy items so they don't get reused improperly (Satanic). It's like Pennsylvania tax on religious items, if it looks religious it is, if it does not look religious it isn't treated as if it was no matter the use. Is there a cross on top? You may just need to get rid of the cross. So like temple meat, it is not the affront to the sanctity of the object but possible scandal to others.

CHB

Thanks for the timely reminder and all the input, Mykhayl. Yes, there is a cross on top my censer. I guess at the time when it was blessed, there was a commitment on my part that it should never be subject to profane use (Satanic use by others would be unthinkable). Anyway, I think I am just going to wait till the occasion arises to bury it at a good location, disassembling it beforehand if possible. So far, experience has shown that rushing to do things do not yield positive results. I'll see what opportunities come by. In any case, it is not as if there isn't space at home to keep a rusty old censer

Slava Isusu Khrestu

At a Greek funeral our new priest did exactly what was suggested, that is "depositing the ashes on top of the coffin".

The family went into a state of shock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It had never been done before here! Maybe in Greece or "the old country "but not here in Canada.

As to putting hand censor into a coffin with "a " deceased ( if you are a family member and related, perhaps....but to ask the priest (funeral director probably would not do it) to deposit it is any casket....I think not.... the family of the deceased may have grounds for a law suit should it be discoverd later!!

Z Bohom
Kolya

I have never had the need or desire to dispose of a censer. However, I have had occasion to want to bury the thurifer.