Bury a Statue of St. Joseph for the Intention of Selling a House?

[Body43ofChrist]

When my family sold our house, we buried “St. Joseph.” To begin with for a year, we were quite superstitious after having put our house on the market. By the time we buried the statue, and had said the prayers, we had two weeks to move! So, I guess some could say it is superstition or Divine Intervention. Either way, it won’t work unless you have the “faith of a mustard seed.”

 

[Russ_of_Tokyo]

This isn’t Catholicism, but sacrilege for the sake of gain!

We need to be careful and avoid terse “drive by shooting” posts like this one; it only causes hard feelings. At least take the time to elaborate. Is it really “sacrilege” in every case? Is it always merely “for the sake of gain?”

 

[CatholicLife]

In my culture, they say that if you have an upside down statue of Saint Joseph, it will get you a boyfriend/girlfriend…Lol

It’s a statue of St Anthony you have to put upside down.
They also say you have to take Baby Jesus away that way he’s forced to find you a partner .

 

[felsguy]

In my culture, they say that if you have an upside down statue of Saint Joseph, it will get you a boyfriend/girlfriend…Lol

For some, it may take a statue of ST. JUDE

 

[Jvrlns]

For some, it may take a statue of ST. JUDE

In my country it’s a statue of St. Anthony of Padua, you brake one arm of the statue and don’t stick it back till you get a girlfriend/boyfriend. But somehow I think blackmailing a saint will get you nowhere

 

[MorEphrem]

After reading the preceding posts I still find this superstitious. Asking for the intercession of St. Joseph is fine, but if you think about the theological intent of burying a statue the idea is that it somehow mediates blessings simply by being present; that seems to fit the definition of a charm because it isn’t that God’s will be done but that you desire X action and it serves to increase the probability of X action. It’s just like people who put a statue of Mary outside their house or have a specific icon in their icon corner; the simple presence of the icon won’t do anything if you don’t pray.

In my country it’s a statue of St. Anthony of Padua, you brake one arm of the statue and don’t stick it back till you get a girlfriend/boyfriend. But somehow I think blackmailing a saint will get you nowhere

 

[Spencerian]

After reading the preceding posts I still find this superstitious. Asking for the intercession of St. Joseph is fine, but if you think about the theological intent of burying a statue the idea is that it somehow mediates blessings simply by being present; that seems to fit the definition of a charm because it isn’t that God’s will be done but that you desire X action and it serves to increase the probability of X action. It’s just like people who put a statue of Mary outside their house or have a specific icon in their icon corner; the simple presence of the icon won’t do anything if you don’t pray.

Agreed. This is why the Church disapproves of it. You should be able to gain the same effects of intercession through prayer with the statue peacefully setting atop your desk or mantleplace–or with no statue at all. Why upside-down? The lack of an answer to this suggests this as superstition, not devotion, on behalf of using the statue.

Intercession does not require physical objects, although it can help you focus your prayer.

 

[TimothyH]

Agreed. This is why the Church disapproves of it. You should be able to gain the same effects of intercession through prayer with the statue peacefully setting atop your desk or mantleplace–or with no statue at all. Why upside-down? The lack of an answer to this suggests this as superstition, not devotion, on behalf of using the statue.

Intercession does not require physical objects, although it can help you focus your prayer.

The fact that no one can tell you why it should be upside-down should suggest nothing more than the fact that no one has yet stated the answer.

I just called the Catholic store. The proprietor stated that it is buried upside down so that the feet point to heaven, so as to remind us of our ultimate destination and what is really important.

Superstition ended.

-Tim-

 

[Spencerian]

The fact that no one can tell you why it should be upside-down should suggest nothing more than the fact that no one has yet stated the answer.

I just called the Catholic store. The proprietor stated that it is buried upside down so that the feet point to heaven, so as to remind us of our ultimate destination and what is really important.

Superstition ended.

-Tim-

Eh?

I could bury the statue with its feet pointed at the house and claim that it helps its foundation. Neither my statement nor that store seems to jibe with Church instruction on the matter.

I don’t see statue-burying as inherently harmful. It’s just not necessary–and a few stores and resources that sell them may have their own interests.

A good article on Catholic Online illustrates one reason why it’s not a good idea. Other Christians get the wrong idea, and rightly so. A statue is good luck? It does not help our attempts to illustrate that Catholics do not worship or give special credence to statues.

 

[TimothyH]

Eh?

I could bury the statue with its feet pointed at the house and claim that it helps its foundation. Neither my statement nor that store seems to jibe with Church instruction on the matter.

I don’t see statue-burying as inherently harmful. It’s just not necessary–and a few stores and resources that sell them may have their own interests.

You said that lack of an answer indicated superstition. An answer has been provided.

-Tim-

 

[Miriam1947]

We have them in my store and some of my best customers for them are real estate agents. Their Catholic clients ask them to buy.

I do make sure to tell them to dig the statue up after the house sells and not to ask a priest to bless it. There is a booklet that comes with the statue which describes all that should be done and the respect due to St. Joseph.

In some ways to me, it’s like asking St Anthony to find a lost item. We may not be burying a statue but we are asking a saint to do something perhaps quite trivial.

In this economy, people can be quite desperate.

 

[dshix]

I was in the local Catholic store the other day when a woman came in asking for a statue of St. Joseph to be buried. I asked her why she would bury a status of St. Jospeh and she said it was done for the intention of selling a house and that it was to be buried upside-down.

I had never heard of such a thing but the proprietor said that he sold at least one every day and they went on to swap stories about this or that person who sold their home right away.

Is there background to this? Having lived in New York for most of my life, I have the feeling that it is an Italian thing. Why upside down? Do you remove it after the house sells?

I learn something new about Catholicism every day.

-Tim-

Superstition.

 

[MorEphrem]

In some ways to me, it’s like asking St Anthony to find a lost item. We may not be burying a statue but we are asking a saint to do something perhaps quite trivial.

In this economy, people can be quite desperate.

If desperation is a justification and it equates to asking for the intercession of a saint does that mean the more statues I buy and bury, the more intercession points my house sale will have?

 

[Miriam1947]

If desperation is a justification and it equates to asking for the intercession of a saint does that mean the more statues I buy and bury, the more intercession points my house sale will have?

I have had people buy more than one.

Actually it was for more than one house.

 

[QuestingKnight]

I’ve read about this practice. It’s called abuse of saints. I don’t like it. You pray to them one minute then break their arm off another? Or bury them upside down? That’s more like Satanism.

If you abuse saints how can you be sure it’s not devils who are helping you? Using demons for material ends is as old as mankind.

 

[Ohana]

When selling our home, our realtor (a good Catholic) suggested getting a statue of St. Joseph and burying it upsidedown in the yard. He said that after the house sold, we were to dig up the statue and put it in a place of honor in our home. I liked the place of honor part, but the idea of burying a representation of St. Joseph was off putting so we did not do it. After reading Fr. Serpa’s comment, I am so glad. I think it is called discernment. We all need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in these matters. Thank you God!

 

[Genesis315]

From what I’ve read, St. Teresa of Avila needed to buy a new convent for her growing order, but she didn’t have the funds to buy the land. She buried St. Joseph medals on the land she wanted and prayed for St. Joseph’s intercession–she ended up buying that land.

St. Andre Bessette also buried St. Joseph medals in order to acquired the land he needed to build the St. Joseph’s Shrine in Montreal. He also had a statue put on the property when construction stalled, leading to it being able to be resumed.

saintmaryri.org/2010/10/31/saint-andre-bessette/

Doing the same to try and find a buyer doesn’t seem problematic.

 

[maryjk]

Hundred’s of years from now, people will be digging up old neighborhoods and finding all of these statues.

Why? Because only about 5% are ever found again.

Statues, medals, candles? They remind us to pray.

Take the statue outside, bury it? What does it say? “I will hold you hostage until you do what I want.”

 

[Genesis315]

The statue is not St. Joseph himself. You are not holding him hostage.

It is a sign of one’s prayers and can itself be a prayer with the proper internal disposition. We are an incarnational people and we pray both with words and by things and actions.

Superstition in this regard would be the following:

CCC 2111…To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

 

[maryjk]

The statue is not St. Joseph himself. You are not holding him hostage.

It is a sign of one’s prayers and itself a prayer. We are an incarnational people and we pray both with words and by things and actions.

And obviously by taking statues and burying them upside down. Oh, and leaving them in the ground because we either forgot about it or can’t find it.

I am sure EVERYONE here has always, every time found their statue and unearthed it. But normally? He gets left. There is no place of honor in their next home because he isn’t in their next home.