Pussy willows, along with any other blessed items such as old prayer books, icons, Bibles, etc, should always be disposed of properly and with great reverence. Normally these items are either burned or buried. Nothing which is consecrated, blessed, or considered to be “holy” should ever be thrown into the garbage. This is disrespectful to the item, as well as to our Faith.
Periodically blessed pussy willows are collected and burned in the woodstove of our Shanty. For those other items such as icons, prayer books, service books, Bibles, crosses, medallions, etc, these are usually collected and kept until a later time when a special fire can constructed at St. Theodosius Cemetery for this purpose.
In addition to disposing of items by such means, sometimes at the passing of a pious parishioner I will ask the family if I can bury these religious artifacts with the deceased. If they are agreeable, the objects are then placed inside the casket and under the lining so as to be out of sight during the viewing.
