# Need help identifying something found with my Catholic MIL's things! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296 "2019-02-10T19:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/1 "2019-02-10T19:38:42Z")
I’m cleaning up some old boxes from my late mother-in-law’s house. She was a devout Catholic and I am not, and I’m having trouble figuring out what this is: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/I75kGhO.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/HsUiAw1) I’ve cleaned it up and it seems to be silver, but may not be real silver. Googling points a bit to it being a pyx, which I’d never heard of, but that’s possible - my MIL cared for her mother at home for years and might have been transporting consecrated hosts to her. But I have no idea what that is inside. Ashes? Decayed something? Incense? It smells nice, but not strongly fragrant. The box is hinged, the bottom is rounded, and there’s no latch or finding that would make it useful as a pendant. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/2 "2019-02-10T19:49:12Z")
My guess it’s an [anointing oil container](https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/catholic-sterling-silver-holy-1928199251). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/3 "2019-02-10T19:50:21Z")
I’ve never seen anything like that. The stuff inside looks very unlike cremation ashes. Catholics now allow cremation, but forbade it as recently as 1963. It looks like wax. We had a box that was kept in our attic, which got pretty hot in the summer. When I opened it, I discovered that it contained a bullet-like container, a crucifix, and some plastic-like substance that “glued” the rest together. It turned out to be an “Extreme Unction Kit” – a Crucifix, a container of holy oil or water, and a candle, which had melted and flowed to become the “plastic” holding it all together. My guess is that this was maybe a candle, but it got melted in hot weather and flowed together to fill the container completely. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/4 "2019-02-10T19:56:42Z")
If you suspect it to be silver check for a hallmark. As for the item itself, could it be a snuffbox? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/5 "2019-02-10T20:09:18Z")
Did a little more digging, and it’s almost certainly the anointing oil container in a sick call set (which is basically the same as an “extreme unction kit”). [Here’s a typical set (the container on the left is the oil container, the one on the right is the pyx for storage of Eucharists).](https://www.christianexpressions.com/portable-clergy-sick-call-set) These days only priests commonly use these sets, but [they were common in the past for invalid Catholics.](https://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8617p03.pdf) How you can tell a priest set from a laity set, or if there was any difference, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/6 "2019-02-10T20:19:12Z")
Thanks! That “Extreme Unction Kit” sounds cool. My husband is guessing that it’s Ash Wednesday ashes inside (it does seem like ashes), but I’m not sure why my MIL would have them. Maybe a priest left the container at the house during a visit. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/7 "2019-02-10T20:26:57Z")
Was she a lay minister? I grew up Catholic, and IIRC, lay ministers could apply ashes to the foreheads of Catholics, and perform other rituals. Maybe she had the ashes from a time she was taking communion and ashes to someone who was unable to attend Ash Wednesday mass. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/8 "2019-02-10T20:36:33Z")
I expect to see Liam Neeson starring as a vengeful priest[reprising his Simpsons appearance] in ‘Extreme Unction’ somewhere on cable fairly soon. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/9 "2019-02-10T21:32:20Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > If you suspect it to be silver check for a hallmark. Definitely no mark on the outside, but I haven’t cleaned out the inside yet. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/10 "2019-02-10T21:46:43Z")
Ohh, there’s an 800 mark inside. Sterling is 92.5%, I think, and this is 80%? I’ve never seen an 800 before. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/bXAMefi.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/iGhmnF4) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/11 "2019-02-10T21:59:02Z")
I would have thought it was a pyx, used to carry the Host to shut-ins, because the image on the lid is from the institution of the Eucharist at the last supper, when St John laid his head on Jesus’s chest: John 13:23-25 (plus the bread and the cup) > **[Bible Gateway passage: John 13:23-26 - King James Version](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2B13%3A23-26&version=KJV)** > > Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered,... ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/12 "2019-02-10T22:06:46Z")
Yep, holy oil. My parents had one. Way back in the old days Catholic school kids were taught how to do an emergency baptism and how to give last rights - at least we were taught, might not have been universal ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/13 "2019-02-10T22:33:47Z")
[quote=“Northern\_Piper, post:11, topic:829296”] I would have thought it was a pyx/QUOTE] It does seem the right size for that, and she did care for her mom, and I’m just remembering, also her husband, at home for years before each of them died. I love how you matched the image on the front to its use. Thank you so much! ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/14 "2019-02-10T22:39:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I would have thought it was a pyx, used to carry the Host to shut-ins, because the image on the lid is from the institution of the Eucharist at the last supper, when St John laid his head on Jesus’s chest: John 13:23-25 (plus the bread and the cup) > > [John 13:23-26 KJV - Now there was leaning on Jesus' - Bible Gateway](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13%3A23-26&version=KJV) It does seem the right size for that, and she did care for her mom, and I’m just remembering, also her husband, at home for years before each of them died. I love how you matched the image on the front to its use. Thank you so much! ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/15 "2019-02-10T23:23:13Z")
> [@Nayna](#): > > Ohh, there’s an 800 mark inside. Sterling is 92.5%, I think, and this is 80%? I’ve never seen an 800 before. 800 silver is indeed 80% percent silver; it is sometimes called “continental silver,” because it used to be a pretty common formulation for silver items made in Germany, Austria, and other areas in central Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/16 "2019-02-10T23:48:26Z")
Probably some Ash Wednesday ashes. Anyone who is trained to bring the Host to the homebound could also be one of the lay administrators of ashes on Ash Wednesday, so she probably brought some home for her parents. A pyx would be the right size for it. The ashes are made from the burned palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday, moistened with holy water. By the way pyxes are in common use by laypeople who bring the Eucharist to the homebound, in fact I think I might still have mine somewhere. I got it when I used to go the nursing home after Mass. It isn’t silver. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/17 "2019-02-11T03:10:26Z")
You’re welcome, **Nayna**. One of the clues that it’s meant to show St John (in addition to his position close to Jesus) is that he doesn’t have a beard. St John is traditionally considered to be the youngest of the disciples, so he’s usually shown as a beardless youth. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/18 "2019-02-11T03:47:42Z")
This is all so cool! I love how the drudgery of cleaning my basement on a snowy Sunday turned into this amazing discussion. Thanks, all! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/19 "2019-02-11T13:57:02Z")
> [@Nayna](#): > > Thanks! That “Extreme Unction Kit” sounds cool. You know what’s really cool? The [sick call crucifix](https://www.catholiccompany.com/sick-call-set-crucifix-walnut-resin-13-inch-i2337/). It hung on your wall like any normal crucifix, but secretly held candles, oil and/or holy water. Just slide off the cover and it instantly transformed into a sickbed shrine. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296/20 "2019-02-11T15:29:37Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > You know what’s really cool? The [sick call crucifix](https://www.catholiccompany.com/sick-call-set-crucifix-walnut-resin-13-inch-i2337/). It hung on your wall like any normal crucifix, but secretly held candles, oil and/or holy water. Just slide off the cover and it instantly transformed into a sickbed shrine. That’s like having a shotgun over the mantle if vampires show up… a crucifix with holy water inside! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-something-found-with-my-catholic-mils-things/829296.md?page=2)