How to Dispose of Blessed Food and Other Items?

[All4Christ]

So - I just heard someone say that we aren't allowed to throw away any of the food from our Pascha baskets because they are blessed. Is this true? Also - if it is true - why? I understand why you couldn't throw away any of the Eucharist (since it is the body and blood of Christ), but I don't quite understand why other items couldn't be thrown away if they get old / moldy (i.e. for me - I'm a single person - and I'm having a very hard time finishing all the food from my Pascha basket). No disrespect is intended - I'm just trying to understand what the Church believes and why it believes that.

Thanks!

 

[Ambrosius]

If it is blessed it should be disposed of in a fitting manner, which I think is being buried somewhere where it's not going to get walked over (the other, all purpose but probably a bit much thing to do would be to burn it). I think you could also put it out for animals to eat.

 

[All4Christ]

If it is blessed it should be disposed of in a fitting manner, which I think is being buried somewhere where it's not going to get walked over (the other, all purpose but probably a bit much thing to do would be to burn it). I think you could also put it out for animals to eat.

Thanks for replying. I'll find someway to do that (a bit difficult in town in an apartment building, but somehow I'll do it).

One more thing though...why?

 

[Ambrosius]

That part I haven't heard an explanation for as much as ways to do it - but from what I can remember I *think* it is basically that any things that are blessed are usually set aside for holy purposes. Treating something that is blessed in a disrespectful manner like throwing it away with trash or burying it were you walk is being disrespectful of the prayers and intentions said over them I think.

 

[All4Christ]

I guess that's still a foreign concept to me then. I mean...isn't all food blessed? How is this different than food that a priest blesses at a church picnic or some other thing like that? I guess that food (to me) just seems very different than holy water, icons, etc.

 

[Ambrosius]

Well, I could be wrong. That is just what is seems to me. I think the prayers said over the Pascha baskets are different though, since they are censed and everything.

Anyway, I wouldn't be eating anything that's 15 days old!

 

[All4Christ]

Well, I could be wrong. That is just what is seems to me. I think the prayers said over the Pascha baskets are different though, since they are censed and everything.

Anyway, I wouldn't be eating anything that's 15 days old!

I know! Me either I actually put it into the freezer last week since I had heard that but had no clue what to do with it since I don't have a place to bury it and obviously can't have a 'burning' session in my apartment, lol. At least it slows down the decay until I can find a way to properly dispose of it.

 

[gzt]

That's why you need to make a smaller pascha basket of food you will end up eating.

when it's been blessed, it has been set aside. It's like antidoron or holy water. Don't push on the concept too much.

 

[All4Christ]

That's why you need to make a smaller pascha basket of food you will end up eating. when it's been blessed, it has been set aside. It's like antidoron or holy water. Don't push on the concept too much.

I'm not trying to push it too much. I accept what the church teaches and do not mean disrespect when I ask questions. As far as making a smaller basket - I tried to but wanted to follow the tradition of having each type of food for the symbolism. Small amounts of the food when following that tradition still adds up. I still am fairly new to these traditions and am working on finding the right balance.

I hope that we are not discouraged from trying to understand what the Church teaches, as long as we ultimately recognize that the Church leads us to do the right thing even if we don't understand. It's not always easy to get everything right or to understand everything without trying to get help from those who better understand the beliefs of the Church. Please realize that some of us who are converts don't fully understand everything. There is much to learn...a lifetime of learning.

 

[Ambrosius]

I think there is a fear of over intellectualizing stuff and going Thomas Aquinas on stuff. People don't seem to accept that some people just want to know why and they're not necessarily going to go nuts and legalistic about it.

 

[gzt]

Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to come off like that. But, like with holy water, when you try to push on the concept of blessed food, unless you're starting from the right point, you begin to think of it like weird magic stuff, which it emphatically isn't. I like what Schmemann had to say about holy water, it extends to other blessed objects, but I really can't reproduce the argument here.

 

[-Kyriaki-]

My problem with holy water is always trying to figure out how to wash out the glass you used to drink it with...because holy water + water = more holy water.

I just rinse it once into the garden and after that try not to overthink it

 

[angrylittlefisherman]

Essentially anything blessed by the clergy, like the antidoron or icons, all cannot be mixed into the regular garbage. Grace has been imparted to it, or into it, if you will, and sets it apart. Anything that touches the altar is burned, even if it is just kleenex to wipe it down. Burying is an appropriate way to deal with this if you cannot burn it.

 

[angrylittlefisherman]

My problem with holy water is always trying to figure out how to wash out the glass you used to drink it with...because holy water + water = more holy water.

I just rinse it once into the garden and after that try not to overthink it

That is pretty much the appropriate action there When the acolytes help the priests wash at the end of the service we pour the water into the planter box outside the church. I have seen some people who use a small shot glass that they simply place over the top of the bottle of holy water on their altar at home, if it drips onto the altar then well...meh.

 

[Blackknight]

Shoot, I just remembered that I still have blessed eggs that have been sitting in the kids' bag since Pascha. They haven't started to stink yet though.

 

[All4Christ]

Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to come off like that. But, like with holy water, when you try to push on the concept of blessed food, unless you're starting from the right point, you begin to think of it like weird magic stuff, which it emphatically isn't. I like what Schmemann had to say about holy water, it extends to other blessed objects, but I really can't reproduce the argument here.

I'll have to look up what he says about that - do you know what book (or other writing, etc) that he talks about that?

 

[ProtectionofMotherofGod]

My priest says it is ok to share what is left over with the little critters outside. Birds love kulich and chipmunks dig out the raisins from my Pascha cheese. ALL the meat was eaten. Meat! Meat! Meat! (You all know how that goes after the Great Fast. )

 

[angrylittlefisherman]

One time when blessing my house, I was carrying a bowl of holy water and my priest turned around and smacked the bowl out of my hands, it did not matter at all, there was just more grace in the house. Which I need.