Throwing away blessed candles

[giuseppe96]

I’m planning on getting some beeswax candles and tea lights blessed for use in prayer and praying for others. I understand that we are not to throw away any blessed items, but to burn and/or bury them. What would I do with the metal remains of tea lights and the stubs of the candles? I wouldn’t think that burying them would be good for the soil. What do you do?

 

[C.Ray]

I think once the candle is burned down to a nub or puddle of wax there would be no problem throwing it out.

You’ve properly and respectfully used the candle as intended; whatever is left over is probably not something to be scrupulous about.

 

[Mary888]

I think the wax burns completely, and the wax was the material to be burned in offering to God. The metal is just the support. It would be the question as - is the table on which an icon sits as holy as the icon itself or holy in any way? (presuming the icon has been blessed).

 

[gentlemanvalentine]

If I were you I’d ask the priest who is blessing them what to do.

 

[Cirdan_XII]

Just as an aside that doesn’t really answer the question (and I don’t recommend doing this on purpose), but I did once accidentally throw several burnt out tea lights into the fireplace of my living room (they were in a brown paper bag that I believed was empty) and when cleaning out the ashes afterwards I found the metal stub pieces that hold the end of the wick but I didn’t find the aluminium (?) shell so assume this was melted or otherwise consumed by the fire.

Such a fire is of course much hotter than a simple candle flame.

 

[Diaconia]

You can simply discard the remains of the candle - there is no need to bury them or anything of the sort.

Using beeswax candles are beautiful, as they give a lovely scent, and reflect the work of “mother bees” as described in the Exsultet.

Deacon Christopher