what to do with my late dads religious possessions

flahers

My dad was a very religious man and since his passing eight years ago I have never had a chance to go through his bits and pieces as my mam was still living in the home up until a year ago, She is now in a nursing home and as an only child I have the job of clearing the house soon as we will need to either sell or rent to fund some of her stay in the home. I went up the other day and packed all the religious prayers, bibles, prayerbooks, memory cards, medals etc into 2 large boxes and now I am wondering what to do with them as I feel it might be disrespectful to throw them into the bin yet I cant accumulate everything in my home as there is no room and I doubt my children would have any interest, Any ideas please ?

howamidifferent

Leave them all in the nearest church.

Stealthfins

I'd hold onto the memory card's.
I kinda like looking back at my ancestors.
My parents are in their 70's and have memory card's of their grandparents,amazing photos from the turn of the 20th century.

nuckeythompson

Memorial cards I found useful when doing the family tree.

homer911

Where are you located - there may be a religious bookshop nearby who would be glad to receive them to give away to people..

Manach

While there might be some keepsakes worth having, most charity shops would be welcoming of such material based on the occasional pieces I've seen present.

nuckeythompson

Who was his favourite saint or church? That will indicate where you could donate them too

lazybones32

Recycle them or donate them to a charity shop or put a notice in a local bulletin.

It can feel disrespectful to put our departed's belongings in the bin but it's not being done as a mark of disrespect.

antiskeptic

lazybones32 wrote: »

It can feel disrespectful to put our departed's belongings in the bin but it's not being done as a mark of disrespect.

+1

There is the sense of preciousness about a parents belonging but ultimately stuff belonged to their life and not yours. It ought to, I came to understand through experience, go to the grave with them. Once decided on that, I had little issue with binning things, unless it would be clearly useful to another or have sentimental value to me.

Charity shop thus.

cattolico

Well, if your fathers belongings mean so little to you then burn them. Why ask here? Your might be surprised what your children would think of their grandfathers possesions.

BreadnBuddha

cattolico wrote: »

Well, if your fathers belongings mean so little to you then burn them. Why ask here? Your might be surprised what your children would think of their grandfathers possesions.

Religious possessions.

Not the same as a well thumbed poetry book, a pocket knife, a safety razor or similar.

To many, me included, someone elses religious possessions are nothing I'd ever feel any sentiment about. A persons faith and the articles the gather in the following of that faith are personal, but of little true value (in any sense) to others.

OP, it's most likely that the very best person to advise would be found via your late father's church. A visit to the parish office will likely find a good home for the items in question.

balliali

I'm sure many of your Dad's friends would be only too thrilled to get some of his religious mementos, and often some of the memorial cards. They are so personal and I know that I treasure keepsakes I have been given from departed neighbours and friends. You could also scan the memorial cards onto your computer so that they will be there if ever you need to know dates etc from them. In the meantime, they won't take up much space in an attic.

Ken.

Would your mother like some of the stuff for her room in the nursing home?. I wouldn't touch a thing till I'd chatted with her.

cattolico

BreadnBuddha wrote: »

Religious possessions.

Not the same as a well thumbed poetry book, a pocket knife, a safety razor or similar.

To many, me included, someone elses religious possessions are nothing I'd ever feel any sentiment about. A persons faith and the articles the gather in the following of that faith are personal, but of little true value (in any sense) to others.

OP, it's most likely that the very best person to advise would be found via your late father's church. A visit to the parish office will likely find a good home for the items in question.

Anyway if he is so short sighted about what his father held dear, the such is life.
I bought a bible in temple bar stall market one. It turned out that it belonged once to columba marmion, was offer 600 euros later, when i paid 10. Not a chance I would ever sell.

BreadnBuddha

cattolico wrote: »

Anyway if he is so short sighted about what his father held dear, the such is life.
I bought a bible in temple bar stall market one. It turned out that it belonged once to columba marmion, was offer 600 euros later, when i paid 10. Not a chance I would ever sell.

I would hope what his father held dear was his family and his faith, not necessarily the physical objects used to guide him in following his personal beliefs.

The OP no doubt already has mementos and keepsakes from their fathers life and times and I hope they're somewhat comforted in knowing their father had faith and that it would have comforted him in his own times of need. If they don't have a need to possess the religious items he left behind, passing them on to someone who shares the same belief as their father is perhaps the most fitting use of these items now.

The remembrance cards and other 'personal' items needless to say should be passed to other family members rather than simply discarded in any fashion. A bible or a prayer book on the other hand is only valuable in the hands of one who shares that faith and beliefs.

It has little to do with being short sighted, to be fair. The OP would like to know where to bring these items, not to be told he or she should keep them. If that was something to be considered then it's unlikely anyone's suggestions on how to effectively dispose of them in a respectful manner would have been sought.

In relation to the bible you bought at a market stall, I'm amused that both you and the would be purchaser are so concerned with the value of it, beyond the words it contains. It's a nice thing to have, but your faith doesn't require you to have it and dare I say, you probably could have done more by selling it and doing something more charitable with the proceeds.

BreadnBuddha

ken wrote: »

Would your mother like some of the stuff for her room in the nursing home?. I wouldn't touch a thing till I'd chatted with her.

With respect Ken, the OP is obviously considerate, so I'd be pretty certain this has already been considered.

I can also think of several reasons the OP's mother would be in a nursing home where the presence of such items may be a source of confusion and distress.

Mourinho

Are the memorial cards the funeral cards with the picture of the deceased? Some lads I know kept every single card of lads even if they only knew them in passing. Maybe ask your mam about family member and close friends cards and keep them in the attic or somewhere in a small box, I bet at some stage your children might at least be curious to see pics of relatives like great grand parents and that, unless you ye were very good at taking family photos which most I know are not unfortunately, the odd picture here and there

The relics like crosses, rosary beads, etc again ask your Mam and maybe any siblings of his they may like a cross or pair of beads possibly.

Once all is gone to anyone that wants something, the likes of general crucifix statues and if there are any religious pictures if you can't find a specific charity ask the local priest I'm sure he might be able to tell you of somewhere that might like them.

Can I just say tho, even if your not religious I would suggest keeping a pair of his rosary beeds, they will be a nice keep sake, comfort when you think of him from time to time, might sound strange but holding them in your hands knowing it was something he often held might be a nice thing?