Disposal of Blessed Food

[Newman]

I am trying to determine a definitive answer on how to dispose of food that has been specifically blessed by a priest (for example, when food is presented for a blessing at church on Holy Saturday, or when a priest blesses a particular food item at the request of a parishioner). My question is not about food merely eaten at a meal where a priest is present and says grace prior to the meal, as I understand this to be more of a prayer than a specific blessing of food.

In a post in April 2018, TheLittleLady stated

Food does not become a sacramental (except for holy water or salt that has had a special prayer said over it). It can be treated as any other unused food

However, FrDavid96 stated in another thread in November 2009 as follows:

On the other hand, there are certain blessings which are more “solemn” (again, bear with me on the words). The most obvious would be the blessing of Easter foods on Holy Saturday. Some others are the blessing of bread on St Joseph day or bread on St Blaise day, If the foods have received this “more solemn” blessing, then the leftover parts which aren’t going to be eaten should be disposed in some respectful way. That usually meant burning them, but not everyone has a furnace to do so, as we did in the past. We should burn them if possible, otherwise bury them (w/o being scrupulous about it).

Is there a way to confirm which answer is correct?

Also, if the second answer is correct and blessed food is indeed a sacramental requiring proper disposal, what is the most practical way to deal with crumbs or residues of blessed food remaining on a plate? Is it necessary to wipe these off with paper towel and then bury or burn the paper towel? Do plastic bags that contained blessed bread, for example, need to be washed out onto the ground outside before being thrown away, since they may contain small crumbs that stick to the inside of the bag even after the bulk of the bread is consumed? Honestly, this seems excessive to me, and even FrDavid96 mentions not being scrupulous, but I am not sure if there is any way out of exercising this kind of care if blessed food is, indeed, a sacramental.

Any light you can shed on this is much appreciated.

 

[CRM_Brother]

It is somewhat a 'both… and…" scenario.

Yes, food does not become a sacramental when it is blessed and can be treated as any other unused food.

A wrench is thrown into the works when you approach it from a more solemn blessing. The blessing is not just on the food but also within the context of the purpose for which the blessing is given. The blessing of Easter foods on Holy Saturday are specifically geared toward that years Easter meal. It has been set aside in the eyes of God for an intended purpose. If that food was not fully used up in that purpose, how you treat the unused food depends on when you dispose of it.

If that blessed Easter food is left over after the Easter meal, the purpose of that blessing has come to completion and you are simply left with unused remnants. In this case it would perfectly acceptable to dispose of the food as any other unused food because its purpose has already been fulfilled. If, however, you dispose of the food before the completion of the blessing (like disposing of the blessed food on Holy Saturday night before the Easter meal), then you need to treat it with more respect. In those cases, you should probably just set the food aside until the meal for which it has been blessed has been completed and then dispose of it regularly.

 

[Margaret_Ann]

I’m Ukrainian Greek Catholic and we NEVER wasted blessed food, especially when it was blessed Paschal food. My late mother (eternal memory!) would get a paper lunch bag (the kind you’d give lunch to your kids for school) and put in: the eggshells from the blessed hard-boiled eggs, the rinds from the ham, the ends from the kielbasa etc in the bag. When the bag was full we put it in the fireplace and burned it. If we had bones, we gave them to the neighbors for their dog. (Mom eventually switched to boneless ham.)

Also, we always burned a blessed palm in the fireplace and a blessed candle when there was a storm.

Re plates: My mother told me to use paper towels to gather up all the crumbs etc on the plates and put them in the paper bag as noted above.

Re paska: I always made sure that there were no crumbs left before washing it. I put the crumbs in the paper bag (supra) and washed it after getting almost everything off.

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration when grapes, apples and other fruits are blessed. Since I don’t have a fireplace in my condo , I can’t burn anything (except maybe a candle). So I have to get blueberries or another fruit that doesn’t have seeds in it. Then I don’t have to burn anything.

Aug. 15 is the Feast of the Dormition when we bless flowers and herbs. I’m going to have to go the herb route for the same reason.

 

[Lasse]

My wife and I do something similar, although we are not Catholic. We collect things that we intend to burn or place respectfully somewhere in nature because they are blessed or because they have sacred images, crosses, quotes from the Bible etc. on them.

The same goes for things that you put in your mouth after receiving communion, such as olive cores, tobacco etc. I am not overly scrupulous about it, but it is a way of showing respect.