Many items often seen in Christian homes well into the 1960s no longer seem to fit into today's religious scene and, like many secular items of that era, are finding their way into the nostalgia market.

For instance, it has been years since most Catholic parents nailed a small holy water font to the door jamb of their child's room. Likewise, "sick call" boxes, once a fixture in many Catholic households, are rarely seen in homes anymore.

Yet, all of these religious items filled key devotional roles for people only 30 or 40 years ago. Now they are being sold like so much generational flotsam and jetsam, articles from a seemingly earlier religious era.

As the sale of antiques and collectibles increases in metro areas across the United States, it's not surprising that religious items would join the many baby boomer toys, depression glass, old books and everyday household curios that line the shelves of area antique stores.

In particular, since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, many Catholic devotional items have been abandoned in favor of a faster-paced spirituality that fits this age of busy lifestyles.

How long has it been since you met a person who spent several minutes kneeling before a home shrine with vigil lights ablaze and the eyes of the Blessed Virgin Mary blinking ardently?

Around the Twin Cities, several antique dealers will show you such small home shrines or altars, which once were part of some Catholic's faith.

A battered example of that old-time spiritual exercise is on display at Trinity Antiques, in St. Paul, Minn., and owner Jasmine Phoenix will gladly lead you to it. It's an impressive affair with light flowing through a replica of the Lord's Supper. Jesus stands at the top of the piece with 12 electrified candles forming a perfect diagonal line on each side. A cross is placed near the top.

This may not fit well with the decor in most suburban family rooms. But in days gone by, such items were essential to some.

Talk to families who have attended Catholic churches through the generations and you will find all kinds of items that seem to have disappeared from the contemporary scene. The scapular, for example, consists simply of two pieces of imprinted fabric joined by two pieces of string. It is worn over the chest and back as a sign of devotion to a cause or a special order.

Few of these, however, are showing up in stores. This may be testimony to the fragile nature of the items or to the abandonment of many old Catholic practices.

But Tim Doran, manager of the St. Patrick Guild store in St. Paul, says some priests still hope young people in their congregations will wear scapulars.

"I still carry all of the patron saints, and I wear a St. Christopher medal," says Doran, whose family has owned the four St. Patrick Guild stores in the Twin Cities for 50 years. "My son had his first communion at Nativity Catholic Church in St. Paul last year and every child received a scapular. We carry scapulars at St. Patrick's Guild, and we sell quite a few. A lot of it depends on the pastor of the parish."

The same decline in use is true of so-called sick call sets, which consist of a wooden box that usually hangs on the wall of a bedroom. The sick call set functioned as a one-stop sacramental supply storage unit. When a member of a family became gravely ill, the sick call box became a spiritual necessity used by a priest making a home visit.

One such set at C.W. Exchange in St. Paul depicts Mary holding a dying Jesus accompanied by the words "Blessed Be Thy Holy Name." In the lower portion of the box is a drawer that contains two candles, a vial of holy water and a ciborium that would hold consecrated wafers.

When the priest was called to minister to the sick and dying person, he would come without equipment because the supplies necessary would be in the sick call set. The candles would be lighted, the person sprinkled with holy water and Holy Communion given to the patient.

Catholic supply stores in the Twin Cities still carry the sets, although their popularity has waned.

Antique dealers sense there may be a market, though relatively small, for religious antiques. Some deal only with statues and religious pictures, refusing to sell unless the buyer seems to be serious and sincere.

For example, Kathy Carson, who displays antiques at several malls and major shows in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, says she tries to scope out people who come looking for religious antiques. "I hope they treat all of these things with respect," Carson says. "I have refused to sell to people who I thought maybe would use them for satanic rituals."

That's also the case at C.W. Exchange, where owner Calleigh Wenzel has a dozen rosaries hanging over the shade of a lamp on her desk. Those rosaries are not for sale, Wenzel said, because she still uses them in her daily devotions.

But Wenzel has other major religious relics for sale, including large porcelain statues of the Blessed Virgin and Jesus. She also has a set of three 18-inch tall bejeweled and gold-leafed Wise Men priced at $500 each. And one of the most cherished items in her shop is a 12-piece Hummel Nativity set that will set you back about $2,400.

But if you are searching for large, religious antiques, the mother lode is located inside Architectural Antiques in Minneapolis. Just inside the door you will see a tall pulpit sitting in front of a 13-foot-tall stained-glass window. The window, which has no obvious religious symbols, has been sold for $9,000 and will soon be shipped to Denver, where it will be installed in a private residence.

The window was found in St. Pius Catholic Church in Shefield, N.D., a congregation that had been defunct for 30 years, according to Scott Anderson, a manager at Architectural Antiques.

But there are other large antiques, most of them taken from closed churches, and some that might make interesting artifacts for the appropriate private citizen or congregation.

For instance, there is a plaster-over-tin statue of Father Junipero Serra, the famed California missionary, shown kneeling as he holds a cross aloft in one hand and a small replica of a mission church in the other. You can cart that treasure home for $400. Way in the back of the Architectural Antiques showroom are many more religious statues painted in familiar pastel colors.

All across the Twin Cities religious antiques from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are being sold.

At Theater Antiques in Minneapolis, owner Thom Carchedi says the area antiques business is determined by the mix of the neighborhood. At his establishment in the Uptown area, many of his customers are young people. "The kids like this stuff," Carchedi says. "I think there are various reasons the kids buy this stuff. Some punk kids will wear a rosary as a necklace - as a sacrilege.

"Some buyers are collectors. They hang rosaries one on top of another. They all sell in the $20 range. One man collects only crosses or crucifixes with the skull and crossbones at the bottom."

Stephan Czyzewski, who has bought and sold books for 48 years at the E.M. Lohmann Co., St. Paul, says any crucifix with a skull and crossbones involves St. Francis of Assisi.

"It was in a vision St. Francis had," Czyzewski said. "The words that accompany it are 'Memento mori,' which means, 'Remember, man ...' In other words, you are going to die. You will not be here forever - you will die."

Even though pirates may have borrowed the symbol and used it as a warning to their victims, Czyzewski says, there is no doubt the skull and crossbones originated as a Christian symbol.

That may seem bizarre, but there are other religious items in antique shops that may make your skin itch.

Way in the back of an antique store in Stillwater, Minn., for example, there is a 3-D picture of Jesus staring with slightly protruding eyes. His beard and mustache are short and neatly trimmed. Under his arm he has tucked a young lamb. In his other hand, he holds a shepherd's staff.

The picture, priced at $60, pops out of the frame like a very old and eerie snapshot of real life.

Clark D. Morphew