A Note To Anyone Thinking About Buying Or Selling Sacred Objects
If you are thinking about buying or selling sacred objects you might want to think twice. Buying or selling a sacred object is simony, which is a serious sin. The word simony comes from a man named Simon, who tried to purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit from St. Peter in Acts 8:19. There are two kinds of simony: 1 - Simony of divine right is the deliberate intent to buy or sell a spiritual thing, or a temporal thing connected with a spiritual thing. By spiritual things is meant graces, sacraments, prayers, etc. A temporal thing connected with a spiritual thing is, for example, an indulgence. The price could be money or any other consideration of value, even praise. 2 - Simony of a Church right consists of the exchange of things as goods because of the irreverence to a spiritual thing connected with the exchange. For example, the demanding of compensation, in addition to the recognized stipend offering for the expenses connected with divine service, such as for candles, etc. When simony involves dishonering a sacred thing it also becomes sacrilege, which is the unbecoming treatment of a person, place, or thing that has been consecrated or dedicated to God.
Your personal feelings about the sacredness of an object don't lessen your guilt. If you are trying to buy or sell an object that you know is sacred, or even suspect might be sacred, to another denomination or faith (not just Catholics) you are guilty of simony, and possibly sacrilege, no matter what your own feelings about the object are.
