How do you dispose of a broken rosary?

[vjones91]

I have a broken rosary, which has not been blessed, but was used a lot (hence the breaking). What is the best way to dispose of it, since it is beyond my ability to repair? Can it be thrown away? Thanks for your help!

 

[Phemie]

I have a broken rosary, which has not been blessed, but was used a lot (hence the breaking). What is the best way to dispose of it, since it is beyond my ability to repair? Can it be thrown away? Thanks for your help!

Bury it.

At the church recently we did a big clean up and found some broken crucifixes and other broken items. We took them to the cemetery and buried them by the large cross.

 

[LilyM]

Maybe you might like to take it to a jewellery shop (if it’s made of metal) - they should have the tools to do any repairs for you. Almost certainly cheaper than buying a new one.

Otherwise, since it isn’t blessed it isn’t a sacramental and technically doesn’t need special treatment in its disposal … but being a tool of prayer I’d be unwilling to do anything so undignified with it as throwing it in the trashcan or anything. Perhaps bury it respectfully or something.

 

[Irish_Kathy]

Maybe you might like to take it to a jewellery shop (if it’s made of metal) - they should have the tools to do any repairs for you. Almost certainly cheaper than buying a new one.

Otherwise, since it isn’t blessed it isn’t a sacramental and technically doesn’t need special treatment in its disposal … but being a tool of prayer I’d be unwilling to do anything so undignified with it as throwing it in the trashcan or anything. Perhaps bury it respectfully or something.

If there’s a Catholic Bookstore near you, they might be able to repair it too. It might even be less expensive then if you took it to a jewlery store.

 

[vjones91]

Thanks for your advice, I will go with the burying option. It did seem wrong to throw something away that was used in prayer, even thought it was not blessed. The links keep breaking between the beads, I will repair one section, then another section breaks, so it is time for a new one.

Thanks

 

[Irish_Kathy]

Thanks for your advice, I will go with the burying option. It did seem wrong to throw something away that was used in prayer, even thought it was not blessed. The links keep breaking between the beads, I will repair one section, then another section breaks, so it is time for a new one.

Thanks

That happens with me with one particular rosary I have too. My sister gave it to me a few Easters ago. She said it was blessed by Pope John Paul II. I love it with all my heart, but the links keep coming apart on it. Partly because I have used it to pray with often. My quick trick for fixing it is to put the links back together and use tweezers to pinch them together tighter.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I would break it up before burying; so it isn’t recognizable.

 

[Irish_Kathy]

I would break it up before burying; so it isn’t recognizable.

No insult intented, but I think that would be a bit disrespectful, especially if the rosary were blessed. To me, it also sparks of the story Scott Hahn has recounted in books about his Grandma’s rosary.

 

[T700]

No insult intented, but I think that would be a bit disrespectful, especially if the rosary were blessed. To me, it also sparks of the story Scott Hahn has recounted in books about his Grandma’s rosary.

Funny how perceptions differ. In the Anglican tradition that I come from, physically destroying a sacred object that is no longer fit for service is a mark of respect. For example, if a plaster statue of the Blessed Mother was damaged and could not be repaired, they would have smashed it to bits before discarding it. The idea being to prevent scandal, should someone look in the rubbish or even see it being buried.

Unless there is some bit of canon law that covers this, my inclination would be to follow local custom.

Paul

 

[Inity]

I have a broken rosary, which was once presented to me by a mother superior of one Dominican congregation. Though I don’t have a way to repair it (almost all links between beads are broken), I don’t want to throw such a gift away. I’m keeping all the beads in a small box… may be the beads can be used later, with handmade jewelry - I’ll think about it 8)
I have another similar rosary presented to me after a meeting with John Paul II in 1994. I don’t use it in prayer much, because don’t want it to be broken. =)

 

[Jimdandy]

I have a broken rosary, which was once presented to me by a mother superior of one Dominican congregation. Though I don’t have a way to repair it (almost all links between beads are broken), I don’t want to throw such a gift away. I’m keeping all the beads in a small box… may be the beads can be used later, with handmade jewelry - I’ll think about it 8)
I have another similar rosary presented to me after a meeting with John Paul II in 1994. I don’t use it in prayer much, because don’t want it to be broken. =)

you may like to ‘re-string’ the rosary as a chaplet using new chains, o-rings, etc.-check ebay and the web for places that sell rosary parts-some Wal-Marts carry craft items in stainless steel and in sterling silver also.

 

[Irish_Kathy]

I have a broken rosary, which was once presented to me by a mother superior of one Dominican congregation. Though I don’t have a way to repair it (almost all links between beads are broken), I don’t want to throw such a gift away. I’m keeping all the beads in a small box… may be the beads can be used later, with handmade jewelry - I’ll think about it 8)
I have another similar rosary presented to me after a meeting with John Paul II in 1994. I don’t use it in prayer much, because don’t want it to be broken. =)

That sounds more like something I’d do with the beads. I might even go to Kirners, a local Catholic Bookstore, and see what they would do with them. How great that you were able to meet Pope John Paul II.

As for Paul – Thanks for sharing about Anglican Tradition. It is indeed a side I never thought of before –

“Funny how perceptions differ. In the Anglican tradition that I come from, physically destroying a sacred object that is no longer fit for service is a mark of respect. For example, if a plaster statue of the Blessed Mother was damaged and could not be repaired, they would have smashed it to bits before discarding it. The idea being to prevent scandal, should someone look in the rubbish or even see it being buried.”

Unless there is some bit of canon law that covers this, my inclination would be to follow local custom.

Paul

 

[LilyM]

That sounds more like something I’d do with the beads. I might even go to Kirners, a local Catholic Bookstore, and see what they would do with them. How great that you were able to meet Pope John Paul II.

As for Paul – Thanks for sharing about Anglican Tradition. It is indeed a side I never thought of before –

“Funny how perceptions differ. In the Anglican tradition that I come from, physically destroying a sacred object that is no longer fit for service is a mark of respect. For example, if a plaster statue of the Blessed Mother was damaged and could not be repaired, they would have smashed it to bits before discarding it. The idea being to prevent scandal, should someone look in the rubbish or even see it being buried.”

Unless there is some bit of canon law that covers this, my inclination would be to follow local custom.

Paul

Don’t know about canon law, but as a matter of common sense a sacred object which is to be buried should indeed first be broken up, smashed up or otherwise rendered unrecognisable and unusable, and therefore impossible to MISUSE should its remains in future be found by anyone.

In this case, the object not being blessed, these extraordinary precautions are unnecessary.

 

[tony_k]

This happened to a rosary I had been using a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to throw it away, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I was home visiting my parents and went on a walk with my nephew to the neighborhood park. There’s a memorial tree planted there for a friend of mine who died in an auto accident at age 19 ( I was 18 when he died and I’m 46 now ). I gathered the disintegrating pieces from my pocket and laid them next to the memorial marker. It was kind of strange because I hadn’t really thought about this until I got there. Plus, the strand didn’t just break at one place, the individual links were disintegrating in multiple places all at the same time.
The parents of my friend are still alive. They quit going to church after he died. His mother told my mother some years ago she no longer believed in anything. They might visit the tree and maybe it will have some kind of positive impact, although I’m not sure what. They’ll at least know that other people are thinking about him.

 

[Irish_Kathy]

This happened to a rosary I had been using a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to throw it away, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I was home visiting my parents and went on a walk with my nephew to the neighborhood park. There’s a memorial tree planted there for a friend of mine who died in an auto accident at age 19 ( I was 18 when he died and I’m 46 now ). I gathered the disintegrating pieces from my pocket and laid them next to the memorial marker. It was kind of strange because I hadn’t really thought about this until I got there. Plus, the strand didn’t just break at one place, the individual links were disintegrating in multiple places all at the same time.
The parents of my friend are still alive. They quit going to church after he died. His mother told my mother some years ago she no longer believed in anything. They might visit the tree and maybe it will have some kind of positive impact, although I’m not sure what. They’ll at least know that other people are thinking about him.

Hi Tony – That sounds like a lovely memorial to me. I’m sure his parents appreciate it.

 

[EasterJoy]

In this case, the object not being blessed, these extraordinary precautions are unnecessary.

Still, even if you can’t use it any more, you like to know what might become of an intact crucifix, blessed or not.

It seems that the object should either be buried in a way that is recognizable for its respect, should the item be recovered later (i.e., in some sort of container), or else rendered unrecognizable before disposal in the trash, i.e., by smashing or substantially incinerating it.

As for those things that are blessed, there must be a way to “decommission” such objects, since it can be done with a church or even an altar.

 

[Karl_M]

If you can’t save it and it must be disposed, it would depend on whether or not it has been blessed.

If it has been blessed, it should be buried. If it hasn’t been blessed, it can be thrown away. However, in both cases, it would be advisable to wrap it in cloth or something, so it wouldn’t disturb anyone who happened to find it.

As an aside, I would either bury the crucifix (blessed or not) or save it for some other use.

Here is a related question: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=134491&goto=nextoldest

 

[Genesis12345]

I couldn’t understand why your rosary wasn’t blessed. You would receive more graces had it been blessed.

I know if a religious article, ie, a Crucifix is broken you are suppose to bury it the ground, but since your roasry was not blessed, I preseme just discared it.

 

[Elvis_Guy]

I keep one in a teak box…a retired rosary…it was blessed…but my Wife had given me a lovely cherry-wood and sterling 15 incher (I prefer…like most guys a set that’s not too long) I had it blessed…my fave set…the others were cool a black glass and bronze…but it was blessed by a good man…so I’m not a pack rat !!! But it was close to my heart it sits in my study in the Moroccan box! Deserves a good place!

 

[Elvis_Guy]

If you can’t save it and it must be disposed, it would depend on whether or not it has been blessed.

If it has been blessed, it should be buried. If it hasn’t been blessed, it can be thrown away. However, in both cases, it would be advisable to wrap it in cloth or something, so it wouldn’t disturb anyone who happened to find it.

As an aside, I would either bury the crucifix (blessed or not) or save it for some other use.

Here is a related question: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=134491&goto=nextoldest

Karl thank you…I fibbed…by accident…really I had forgotten till I saw your post…I did have an earlier one than the one mentioned, it was not well made! And broke as I put it in my pocket! But you are old School like me…what Karl mentioned and what I also did was bury the crucifix right side up under my favorite oak! Thanks for reminding of that…it’s an old tradition! Deeply symbolic and respectful ! Thanks Karl!