What do I do about this?

[joandarc2008]

So I am going through a divorce and I found in my stuff something that I would consider a Sacramental - it was a certificate of daily for my husband from his family by a group of nuns. I know it is something I should not put back in my husbands hands because he is actively practicing occult magic. I contacted my Mother in Law and asked for her address to send it back to her and she told me since it was not of monetary value and only sentimental to just “throw it away.” I am uncomfortable doing that - is this something I should take to my parish to have disposed of or am I OK tossing it because at this point it is not something I want to keep with me. God bless.

 

[Domnall]

Well, it seems like it shouldn’t be thrown away. Also, if there is the chance it may have been blessed you shouldn’t throw it away.

My humble opinion is that you mail it back to your mother-in-law.

 

[TheMc]

So I am going through a divorce and I found in my stuff something that I would consider a Sacramental - it was a certificate of daily for my husband from his family by a group of nuns. I know it is something I should not put back in my husbands hands because he is actively practicing occult magic. I contacted my Mother in Law and asked for her address to send it back to her and she told me since it was not of monetary value and only sentimental to just “throw it away.” I am uncomfortable doing that - is this something I should take to my parish to have disposed of or am I OK tossing it because at this point it is not something I want to keep with me. God bless.

I’m not sure I understand what a a certificate of daily for my husband from his family… is, but I think I can help anyways…

First: Don’t give any sacramentals to people practicing occult magic. Just not a good idea. This is a biggie.

Second: It is perfectly acceptable to respectfully destroy, then throw away blessed objects.

If it was a prayer book, burning or ripping out the pages would do it. An old rosary? Tear it apart. I know I sound like I’m nuts, but this is true. If the object is destroyed, ripped apart, unrecognized, then it looses it’s blessing, and you can do whatever you want with it. For books and papers, if it’s not hard, I think burning is the best way, but it doesn’t matter too much…

Hope this helps!

 

[joandarc2008]

Well, it seems like it shouldn’t be thrown away. Also, if there is the chance it may have been blessed you shouldn’t throw it away.

My humble opinion is that you mail it back to your mother-in-law.

I can’t I no longer have her address and I will not cause her any more pain nor his daughter that they are raising should she get the mail. Yes I am probably one of the more charitable wives considering the situation - I made sure every family heirloom was returned to that family - not for my in-laws but for a step daughter I never got to say goodbye to.

 

[PatriceA]

Is there an address or somebody you can contact from the group of nuns? Maybe they can give you some advice.

 

[zab]

It sounds like it may be a Mass card that perhaps the nuns were have daily Masses offered for your husband. If this is the case, the card itself can be thrown away even if it has a nice picture on it. It is the Masses and prayers that are of spiritual value.

 

[Corki]

I am not sure I understand what this item is.

It sounds like it might be a certificate indicating that the family would be included in the daily prayers of the group of nuns. If that’s the case, it isn’t a sacramental at all. The nuns will still pray - and that’s the most important thing. It is more like a receipt or an acknowledgement that the family is “on the list”.

 

[Barbkw]

Give the item to a Catholic who wants it. Contact a prayer group or a Carmelite lay community, etc.

P.S. Prayers for you, sorry about the divorce.

If you don’t mind my asking, is your soon to be ex-husband a Catholic?

 

[joandarc2008]

I am not sure I understand what this item is.

It sounds like it might be a certificate indicating that the family would be included in the daily prayers of the group of nuns. If that’s the case, it isn’t a sacramental at all. The nuns will still pray - and that’s the most important thing. It is more like a receipt or an acknowledgement that the family is “on the list”.

Yes that is what it is - it is nice certificate - I just was not sure. So if that is the case what is the proper method of disposal?

 

[joandarc2008]

Give the item to a Catholic who wants it. Contact a prayer group or a Carmelite lay community, etc.

P.S. Prayers for you, sorry about the divorce.

If you don’t mind my asking, is your soon to be ex-husband a Catholic?

Yes in name only - he used to attend mass with me now he doesn’t go at all. Long drawn out story. It is better for me to be gone anyway. I left my home in Florida over a month ago and thought I had left everything that my in-laws should have had at their Church but apparently not.

 

[Corki]

Yes that is what it is - it is nice certificate - I just was not sure. So if that is the case what is the proper method of disposal?

You are ok just throwing it away. If it has religious art or scripture verses on it, I would burn it, but that’s just me. It’s not a blessed item or a sacramental so you can dispose of it as you do any paper. (recycling?)

 

[Pregustator]

A certificate isn’t a sacramental: it’s just a piece of paper, no matter how elaborate it may be. Certificates normally would not be blessed for any reason.

 

[corsair]

Recently, I had a talk with our local pastor about disposal of religious items that had been given to me and were not serviceable anymore. His answer was to burn them , completely.

 

[joandarc2008]

Thank you everyone - I just wanted to make sure I did the right thing.

 

[otjm]

Recently, I had a talk with our local pastor about disposal of religious items that had been given to me and were not serviceable anymore. His answer was to burn them , completely.

This, however, is not a religious item. It is simply a note. And if one is truly intent on giving proper respect to religious items, then one would not treat a non-religious item as a religious item.

 

[otjm]

So I am going through a divorce and I found in my stuff something that I would consider a Sacramental - it was a certificate of daily for my husband from his family by a group of nuns. I know it is something I should not put back in my husbands hands because he is actively practicing occult magic. I contacted my Mother in Law and asked for her address to send it back to her and she told me since it was not of monetary value and only sentimental to just “throw it away.” I am uncomfortable doing that - is this something I should take to my parish to have disposed of or am I OK tossing it because at this point it is not something I want to keep with me. God bless.

you can dispose of it any way you see fit, as it is simply a note, not a blessed item.

However, before throwing it away, I would make an effort to contact the nuns and ask them to pray harder. He needs it.

 

[joandarc2008]

you can dispose of it any way you see fit, as it is simply a note, not a blessed item.

However, before throwing it away, I would make an effort to contact the nuns and ask them to pray harder. He needs it.

Trust me I have asked everyone I know to pray for him but in the end what can you do for a man that told you a year into your marriage that he believed he already had a reserved seat in Hell and a demon with him. Yeah, there are bigger issues there. Better to be living as married but alone if the anullment does not happen then to have stayed in that situation. Thank you all for your help - I guess where my question lay was the difference between the prayer requests and the indulgence certificates. I have an indulgence certificates from a Franciscan Hermitage and I managed to hold on to that - which is funny because he took every other blessed item he could find. This is more a prayer note - I just wanted to make very sure before I did the wrong thing. Thank you all.