Need answer

[Briguy]

Hi all, I have not been here for a couple months but had a question I thought could be best answered on this board. Friends of my wife and I are selling their house. One of them have a Catholic mother. She has said that she is going to (or has) bury a statue of a certain Saint upside-down in their front lawn and that would make the house sell. I usually have to defend Catholic teaching to my Christian friends because they have facts wrong a lot. This however, I can't defend, but then again I just don't understand it at all. It almost seems like vodoo (for lack of better word) or something. Help me out here, what is the burying of a statue all about?? Thanks much!

In Christ,
Brian

[homeschoolmom]

It's St. Joseph... and when you figure it out, you can explain it to me.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Briguy' date='Sep 14 2005, 08:55 AM']Hi all, I have not been here for a couple months but had a question I thought could be best answered on this board. Friends of my wife and I are selling their house. One of them have a Catholic mother. She has said that she is going to (or has) bury a statue of a certain Saint upside-down in their front lawn and that would make the house sell. I usually have to defend Catholic teaching to my Christian friends because they have facts wrong a lot. This however, I can't defend, but then again I just don't understand it at all. It almost seems like vodoo (for lack of better word) or something. Help me out here, what is the burying of a statue all about??  Thanks much!

In Christ,
Brian
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You and I both Brian. As not all Baptists quite 'get it' some Catholics are a little wierd too. Certianly it is not voodoo, but I would throw it in the superstition catagory (like the old 'you can't see the bride before the wedding thing).

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Sep 14 2005, 07:58 AM']It's St. Joseph... and when you figure it out, you can explain it to me.
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Yup old St. Joseph is buried in the ground of a piece of property that one wants to sell or wants to buy/recieve. ( upside down is a new twist on me) It is a Eastern European tradition, and it is normally accompanied by daily prayer to St. Joseph for the intention. It is not necessarly superstitious as the burying of the statue was traditonally though of as a means of dedecating the property to St. Joseph as an act of peity and honor due to him for intervening on your behalf in the matter. St. Joseph is the Patron of Families and the intervention is in this regard, traditionally the property in question must be being bought or sold for the good of the Family and not just out of greed. As a convert this one kind of jumped out at me right at first but after looking into it I don't see any differance between it and say praying the rosery for an intention. This tradition is just a bit more dramatic. All that said, this could easily be turned into a superstition, and it should be made clear to people practicing it that it is the dedecation to St. Joseph as a powerful patron that is the root of good frortune in the matter not the act of burying the statue.

[Brother Adam]

btw, thank you for practicing intellectual honesty whenever your friends say something about our faith that you know just isn't true! My own fundamentalist best friend started doing that a little while back and I deeply appreciate it. Only problem is now he's gotta figure out how to tell his future fiance that he believes contraception may be an attack on the dignity of the human person. hehe.

[Sojourner]

News article on this subject:
[quote]John and Sarah Donaldson decided they needed to move into a slightly bigger house, and found one they loved. They put in an offer, which was accepted, and in short order moved in. But their original home is still on the market.

The couple is paying two mortgages now, which creates a financial crunch. A friend of Sarah’s suggested she try an old Catholic aid to sell homes – bury a statue of St. Joseph in the yard of the home you’re trying to sell. Even though she’s not Catholic, Sara said she has been giving it serious consideration.

The Donaldsons are not alone in their quest for unusual aids in selling a home, and they’re definitely not the first to consider appealing to St. Joseph. Emily Papesh, a manager at the Village Dove, a Catholic bookstore, said each of the three Village Dove bookstores sells an average of five St. Joseph statues every day during peak real estate listing times.

The tradition dates back hundreds of years, Papesh said. A group of nuns looking to buy property for a convent buried St. Joseph medals on the property, then appealed to the saint for the resources to purchase it. They got those resources, and a tradition was born. Over the years the medals became statues, and the ones appealing to the saint became sellers rather than buyers.

Papesh said her store carries plastic statues and prayer cards, as well as kits that come with a painted plastic statue. “After you sell the house, you’re supposed to dig it up and put it in a place of honor in your new home,” she said.

People of many different faith backgrounds come in looking for the statues, Papesh said, and they have different ways of viewing the tradition. Some see it as a superstitious good-luck charm, while others view it through the eyes of faith.

“We try and emphasize the prayer a little more than the statues,” she said. “Lots of people look at it like a superstition, but it’s not supposed to be.”

People who come looking for a St. Joseph statue often preface their request with, “I’ve got a really weird question,” Papesh said. “I can always tell if somebody is going to ask about St. Joseph,” she said.

The real question, of course, is whether it works. “Yes,” Papesh said. “I’ve never had anybody come in and say it hasn’t.”

Anecdotally, she’s heard of people whose houses had been on the market for months who bury a statue and the house sells within a week. She said some people believe that buying more expensive statues will work more quickly, but she doesn’t believe it does.

Realtor Sue Applegate has run across the phenomenon many times over the years. “I went through a time when I would buy two or three St. Josephs and stick them in my briefcase just in case,” she said. “A lot of clients talk to me about it at listing meetings.”

Applegate – who is not a Catholic – said she never brings it up, instead waiting for clients to ask about it.  “A lot of sellers have theirs bought and buried before I ever meet with them,” she said.

Rather than being spread by Realtors, Applegate said she thinks most people hear about St. Joseph from neighbors and friends. And, she said she occasionally runs across other interesting house-selling aids. In one case, a woman selling her home had found a spell online that she felt would help her house sell. “It was a spell that you cast in your house to make the buyer fall in love with your house,” Applegate said.

In addition to the incantation, the process involved having lighted pink candles and pink flowers on hand whenever prospective buyers were going through the home.

Applegate doesn’t put much stock in such aids.

“We wish we had a spell that would make our homeowners strip their wallpaper,” she said. “That’s what makes a house sell.”

Applegate said in her professional experience neither St. Joseph – nor spells – have made a measurable difference in the time a house stays on the market.

“It doesn’t hurt, but I’ve never linked it to a quick sale,” she said. “It’s just not been the case for me. ... Price fixes everything, not St. Joe.”

Nonetheless, she will go along with sellers who want to try out such traditions, within reason.

“I’ll do anything that’s legal,” she said.

But going along with clients’ wishes helps to cement the bond between Realtor and client, which makes the business go more smoothly – and maybe the house sell more quickly.[/quote]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 14 2005, 09:12 AM']btw, thank you for practicing intellectual honesty whenever your friends say something about our faith that you know just isn't true! My own fundamentalist best friend started doing that a little while back and I deeply appreciate it. Only problem is now he's gotta figure out how to tell his future fiance that he believes contraception may be an attack on the dignity of the human person. hehe.
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Hehehe...this is a good challenge for him.

[DeeDee]

[quote name='Briguy' date='Sep 14 2005, 05:55 AM']Hi all, I have not been here for a couple months but had a question I thought could be best answered on this board. Friends of my wife and I are selling their house. One of them have a Catholic mother. She has said that she is going to (or has) bury a statue of a certain Saint upside-down in their front lawn and that would make the house sell. I usually have to defend Catholic teaching to my Christian friends because they have facts wrong a lot. This however, I can't defend, but then again I just don't understand it at all. It almost seems like vodoo (for lack of better word) or something. Help me out here, what is the burying of a statue all about??  Thanks much!

In Christ,
Brian
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Why don't your friends just get a reputable real estate agent. I never heard of burying a statue. It sounds creepy.

[toledo_jesus]

[quote name='DeeDee' date='Sep 14 2005, 12:17 PM']Why don't your friends just get a reputable real estate agent. I never heard of burying a statue. It sounds creepy.
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you never heard of getting St. Joseph to help you out?!?!?! That was one of the few things I grew up actually hearing about.

[Ora et Labora]

I grew up hearing that to. But we have never done it! And I dont think ever will either....

[ofpheritup]

I have heard of it and have had people tell me they have done it themselves. WHY? To me it is superstitious (?).
It gives me the "ookies." Whatever gives me the ookies I don't do.

Plus I think someone just came up with a new way to make a buck.
SCAM.....SCAM

[MissScripture]

It's not actually a new way, per se...
I've heard of it, but we've never used it...actually, our problem was keeping our old house long enough to move into our new house.
My grandparents almost used it, though, after a good 2 years of the house on the market.

[cmotherofpirl]

This is one of the very common strange practices you hear about ethnic catholic traditions.
St Joseph is probably amused.

[White Knight]

Weird.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Sep 14 2005, 09:07 AM']Yup old St. Joseph is buried in the ground of a piece of property that one wants to sell or wants to buy/recieve. ( upside down is a new twist on me) It is a Eastern European tradition,  and it is normally accompanied by daily prayer to St. Joseph for the intention. It is not necessarly  superstitious as the burying of the statue was traditonally though of as a means of dedecating the property to St. Joseph as an act of peity and honor due to him for intervening on your behalf in the matter. St. Joseph is the Patron of Families and  the intervention is in this regard, traditionally the property in question must be being bought or sold for the good of the Family and not just out of greed. As  a convert  this one kind of jumped out at me right at first but after looking into it I don't see any differance between it and say praying the rosery for an intention. This tradition is just a bit more dramatic.  All that said, this could easily be turned into a superstition, and it should be made clear to people practicing it that it is the dedecation to St. Joseph as a powerful patron that is the root of good frortune in the matter not the act of burying the statue.
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You took the words outta my mouth. :

[quote name='DeeDee' date='Sep 14 2005, 12:17 PM']Why don't your friends just get a reputable real estate agent. I never heard of burying a statue. It sounds creepy.
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We are in the process of selling our house. We have a reputable real estate agent recommended by our loan officer at the bank. Very thorough, upfront, honest woman. Even she suggested burying St. Joseph in our front lawn. She said she's sold more houses than she can count with the aid of St. Joseph, that many of her clients do it. In her words "It works"--and I am not even sure the woman is Catholic! I've already prayed one novena to him, and will keep praying for his intercession in selling our house as quickly as possible.

So anyone wanna buy a house in Steubenville??? 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, brand new furnace. : Only 55k!! Slightly rural, so you're out of the city, but literally 5-10 minutes from just about everything.

Edited September 16, 2005 by IcePrincessKRS