Religious items

[cabhairdom]

An elderly relative died in Ireland and has lots of religious statues, medals and rosaries to be disposed of. I'm clearing the house.
What do I do ???
Because of Catholic guilt / superstition I'm loath to bin them !
Any suggestions please ?
Is there any where that would take them ?
Perhaps others have had this problem. What did you fo please ?

Sorry for your loss, Op.
Oh that’s a good question.
I admit to throwing a lot of prayer pamphlets and similar into the recycling when in a similar position. Family took some of medals and statues. Anything damaged did get thrown away. Luckily there wasn’t that much to deal with.
You could wash and wrap the stuff and then donate to a Catholic charity shop/church fair when such things return,
Take the stuff to the RC part of the cemetery and put things on old graves that are no longer visited - or would that be littering?
Grit your teeth and remind yourself they are only material possessions that are not imbued with sanctity and dispose of them as you would any other unwanted ornament or paste jewellery.

Thank you FadedRed

Hold onto the Child of Prague, which you might need for a Communion or a wedding.

Ring around the local charity shops and see if they’ll take them. They can be a bit of a kitsch thing.
You might find that the local priest can advise you as they might have strong feelings about relics in particular.

Charity shop. There's plenty of customers who would love statue or picture but can't afford to buy one new.

For some of the other stuff that had to stay in the family it was just given to the 'holiest' amongst us.

thelegohooverer
"Hold on to the Child of Prague....."

Would that there was only the one !!!!!

Idols the lot of them. There is no God in plastic statues or rosaries, I'd bin the lot with no concerns whatsoever. If you feel guilty, do a few weekends at a homeless shelter, that should be more than enough atonement.

My Granny has quite a few, including a fairly sizeable one. I do wonder what we'll do with them when she's gone. She also has pictures of the Sacred Heart with a light thingy in front of it.

Or send them to me, I love all this kitsch stuff and it's all incredibly pagan. I get all of my own pagan ritual items from catholic shops.

Shehasadiamondinthesky "I'd bin the lot."
Good advice. I'll take it.

What's a Child of Prague please and why do you need it for a wedding?

Ooh. I found this! Learn sth new every day ...

onefabday.com/child-of-prague/

I only recently managed to convince my fantastically devout 75 year old mother that the Child of Prague was just the child Jesus in fancy clobber, not some entirely different religious bod.

Bin it all, OP. Though when I cleared my grandmother’s house and burnt a load of statues, holy water fonts etc, the smoke was noxious and covered two townlands, so caution advised!

Oh Bainne

This thread reminds me of the first time I stayed in my husband's granny's house, before we were married. She put me in the "good spare room", which had a picture rail the whole way round with dozens and dozens of religious statues, beads and whatnots, some with glowing lights. I'm C of I, and had never seen the like of that room. I had horrendous dreams that night and never stayed there overnight on my own again!!

OP, I'd bin the lot, especially since your relative probably had their favourites buried with them.

@Bumpsadaisie

What's a Child of Prague please and why do you need it for a wedding?

It's a statue that people put outdoors the night before a wedding or such event, in the hope that the statue will keep the rain away for the big day.