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When a material
sacramental becomes so worn that it can no longer be used as a sacramental,
a Catholic won't casually toss it into the trash. To prevent desecration,
the sacramental should be returned to the earthly elements. Holy water, for
example, should be poured into a hole dug in the earth, in a spot no one
would walk over. Combustible sacramentals, such as scapulars and holy books,
should be burned and then buried. Larger sacramentals that don't burn should
be altered so that their form no longer appears to be a sacramental (ex.,
a statue should be broken up into small pieces) and then buried. Objects
made of metals can be melted down and used for another purpose.
Items lose their blessing or consecration if they are desecrated, are
substantially broken such that they can no longer be used for their sacred
purpose, or if they are publicly sold (if an item is sold by one individual
to another for only the price of the material itself -- i.e., if no
profit is made, the blessing remains. E.g., if you were to give somone, say,
a blessed rosary or sell it to him at cost, he would not have to have it
re-blessed; if you sell a blessed rosary to someone for profit, he would
need to take it to a priest.)
Note that on 23 June -- the Eve of the Feast of St. John the Baptist -- it
is custom to build large bonfires in which no longer useful material sacramentals
are burned. Read more about this tradition in the The
Catholic Year IV: Calendar-related Customs area of this site.
The Blessed Sacrament
In the sacristy
(also called "vestry") of a church -- the room where vestments, vessels and
oils are stored -- there is a special sink called a "sacrarium" (also "piscina")
which is used for cleaning sacred vessels. This basin's drainage pipe doesn't
lead to the sewer as do those of most sinks; instead, it goes directly to
the earth so that liquid sacramentals, such as Holy Water and oils, or even
the tiniest morsels of the Blessed Sacrament or drops of the Precious Blood
which might be found on Patens or in Chalices, will be disposed of correctly
and with reverence. If the accidents of a consecrated Host or chalice of
the Precious Blood were to become contaminated in some way such that it could
not be consumed, they are disposed of in the sacrarium.
See also the page
on Relics.
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