Holy Oil, Improper disposal, and sin

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EmRose87

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I was recently transferring my holy oil, and I had to in short wash my hands, and the containers in my sink, thus sending some holy water down the drain (which I knew wasn’t right and didn’t want to do, but I couldn’t run around with oily hands and didn’t know what to do :confused:) There were some coffee filters which got the holy oil on them, and I quickly buried them outside. Someone just respond to this - I’m feeling tremendous guilt. I don’t know if now I’m in mortal sin. :(:(😦
 
In my uneducated estimation you did nothing wrong, as God doesn’t require of us the impossible. Look at the priest who blesses the faithful with holy water: much of the sacramental ends up on the floor and on the pews. Ask your priest if you are unsure, but I’d wager he will say that blessings which are scattered are a good thing.
 
Stylites said:
In my uneducated estimation you did nothing wrong, as God doesn’t require of us the impossible. Look at the priest who blesses the faithful with holy water: much of the sacramental ends up on the floor and on the pews. Ask your priest if you are unsure, but I’d wager he will say that blessings which are scattered are a good thing.
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Ordinarily one must dispose of sacramentals via burial or burning. A Byzantine Catholic explained the custom (which seems to be about the same for the Ruthenians as for us) to me as being because you don’t want people to come across holy things and not know that that’s what they are.

That said I wrote and then deleted my own response to the question because I was quite unsure of it.
 
Mortal sins can’t be committed by accident! Don’t you remember the conditions for mortal sin? One of them is ‘deliberate intent’.

Stop being so scrupulous. It’s a dangerous frame of mind to slip into.
 
I know it sounds like scrupulosity, but I have a weekly confessor/spiritual director and he’s never had a concern about that with me. I did DELIBERATELY, put some holy oil down the drain, but it was because I didn’t know what to do. THAT is the concern.
 
EmRose87 said:
I know it sounds like scrupulosity, but I have a weekly confessor/spiritual director and he’s never had a concern about that with me. I did DELIBERATELY, put some holy oil down the drain, but it was because I didn’t know what to do. THAT is the concern.
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Yes, you did deliberately put the oil down the drain. But were you thinking, ‘I know this is a mortal sin, but I’m going to do it anyway’.

See the difference?
 
I was think gosh I wish there were some better way to do this, but I can’t well bury my measuring cup and sit around with oily hands until morning when i can get to a sacrarium LOL - so NO I was NOT thinking I KNOW this is mortal sin and I’m going to do it anyways. I was more, “Is what I am doing right now a mortal sin?” - so I didn’t have knowledge either it would seem?

Thanks for the responses everyone BTW 😃
 
a) You did the best you could in the situation, you did not intend to profane the oil, so this is not a sin. Don’t worry!

b) In the future, if you should be in this situation again and nowhere near a sacrarium, here’s what I would suggest:
Have some water in a jug in advance
Make sure you only get oil on one hand (in the same way that when cooking it is suggested to keep one hand clean for turning the page in the recipe book, using the spoon etc, although that’s no fun when it comes to kneading!)
Using the other hand, take the vessels to be cleaned (on a tray if necessary) out to your garden and there wash them and your hand over the ground (in a flower bed or something where you won’t walk)
Whatever’s left after that will be minimal and you will have done your best to dispose of it properly, so go ahead and finish off at the sink by washing your vessels with soap, drying them on a teatowel and so on as you would do with any non-sacramental.

If you don’t have a garden or any suitable outdoor space you’ll have to think of another plan, I’m just offering a potential solution.
 
Thank you for taking the time to make such a thoughtful suggestion 🙂 sounds good to me!
 
I am a little confused.:confused:

When talking about “holy oil” what exactly are you talking about?

Sacred Chrism is to only be used by a priest/deacon or Bishop for the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation & Holy Orders and the Oil of the Sick is reserved for the Sacrament of the Sick, again something only a priest may do.

I have never heard of the faithful having their own stash of holy oil-
holy water, yes, but not oil. 🤷
 
EmRose87 said:
I I’m feeling tremendous guilt. I don’t know if now I’m in mortal sin.
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of course there is no sin, you did not do any action remotely sinful, nor did you have any intent to sin. But it is a real problem that you feel guilt over a minor accident, you should ask the priest to help you overcome that. It can lead to scrupulosity, a very real burden. and no, that condition is not sinful. Don’t know why you have holy oil in the first place, you surely don’t mean any of the oils consecrated by the bishop, but if it is a sacramental that has been blessed by a priest, certainly it should be respected but there is NO reason if any sacramental becomes damaged and can no longer be used it cannot be disposed of in the normal way. when it can no longer be used for the purpose intended, devotional use, then it is no longer blessed. A great deal of what amounts to superstition surrounds this, so your best guide when you are perplexed by anything like this is to simply ask the priest. You are going to get so much conflicting advice here you will be even more puzzled.

if you are talking about an ordinary blessed sacramental for lay use such as oil, salt, or water under no circumstances should such be poured down the sacrarium, the special sink in the sacristy, that is reserved for the Sacred Species and cleaning the vessels that have held the Sacrament. It is wrong to confuse sacramentals with the actual Blessed Sacrament.
 
Sorry, Annie was right, I had a mental slip up when I mentioned the sacrarium, which of course should not be used except for the Blessed Sacrament.

Oneofthewomen - lay people may have blessed oil for use in the home, which is entirely separate from the holy oils of Chrism, Catechumens & the Sick. Some bishops discourage/forbid it so as to avoid confusion with the holy oils, but there are plenty of places which still allow it; maybe they just don’t do it around your way. It is similar to blessed salt. Lay people cannot anoint under any circumstances, but so long as there is no misunderstanding over the difference between blessed oil and the Holy Oils and their respective uses.
 
Batfink said:
Oneofthewomen - lay people may have blessed oil for use in the home, which is entirely separate from the holy oils of Chrism, Catechumens & the Sick. Some bishops discourage/forbid it so as to avoid confusion with the holy oils, but there are plenty of places which still allow it; maybe they just don’t do it around your way. It is similar to blessed salt. Lay people cannot anoint under any circumstances, but so long as there is no misunderstanding over the difference between blessed oil and the Holy Oils and their respective uses.
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I’ve never heard of it. I assumed it was some kind of traditional thing connected with a relic, perhaps of Latin American origin. Mind you, I’ve never come across blessed salt, either.
 
Batfink said:
Sorry, Annie was right, I had a mental slip up when I mentioned the sacrarium, which of course should not be used except for the Blessed Sacrament.

Oneofthewomen - lay people may have blessed oil for use in the home, which is entirely separate from the holy oils of Chrism, Catechumens & the Sick. Some bishops discourage/forbid it so as to avoid confusion with the holy oils, but there are plenty of places which still allow it; maybe they just don’t do it around your way. It is similar to blessed salt. Lay people cannot anoint under any circumstances, but so long as there is no misunderstanding over the difference between blessed oil and the Holy Oils and their respective uses.
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I have heard of having “blessed oil”, although was told by a priest & Bishop that this practice has fallen out of favor for exactly the reason you post above- to avoid confusion w/ the Holy Oils used in the sacraments.

Which brings me to another question-
even if it is only a “sacramental”, what would be the reason for having “blessed oil”?
Would one use it to annoint one’s self & family?
Do you use it for cooking?
 
I would not dispose of oil down the sacrarium. I did that once in the parish and clogged it. The drain goes directly into the ground and the oil does not absorb into the dirt that quickly. When we dispose of the holy oils in the parish we did a hole an pour it in there.
 
Practically, it is not wise to put oil down a sink drain but this seems to have been a small amount, broken down by detergent. I see no problem with how it was handled. Burying the filters was ok but it seems that burning them would have been best, as is usually done with the “real” holy oils and Chrism. No matter how I look at this scenario, I can’t see any possible sin.

Regarding the sacrarium, I wouldn’t want the impression to be out there that the Blessed Sacrament is actually poured down that drain. That is totally forbidden.

Only the *water *that is used to purify the vessels is to be disposed of using this special drain. Any of the Blessed Sacrament that was still left in the vessels is then dissolved or diluted to the point that the Lord is no longer substantially present in the water.

Dan
 
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