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

  • Thread starter Thread starter TimothyH
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
felsguy said:
šŸ‘ It apppears then that weā€™re both on the same page about novenas and other prayers to the saints.

The practice of burying the statue strikes me personally as tiptoeing along the fenceline of sound theology but I donā€™t condemn those who do so with the proper understanding.
Click to expand...
šŸ™‚
otjm said:
No, that is not the way we do it; it is the way superstitious people do it.
Click to expand...
Iā€™m not sure why itā€™s necessary to generalize in this way. I am not superstitious, nor are those in my family who have buried a St. Joseph statue and prayed faithfully and fervently for St. Josephā€™s intercession. This is the major concern I have with responses in this thread ā€“ clearly there are those who view this devotion quite reverently. Why shouldnā€™t these people be permitted to do so? Why allow the (forgive me) idiots of the world to determine what practices shouldnā€™t be permitted?
 
Re: Bury a Statue of St. Joseph for the Intention of Selling a House?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimothyH View Post
It symbolizes the consecration of the ground to St. Joseph.
Why wear a medal of the Blessed Virgin around my neck when I can put it on my dresser? Because it symbolizes the consecration of my body and soul to the Blessed Virgin.

-Tim-

But for how many? 1 out of 97 here. Iā€™d venture itā€™s more like 1 in 9700, maybe even 970,000 in the real world.
TimothyH said:
I donā€™t undestand. How many what? What do those numbers mean?

-Tim-
Click to expand...
You said that burying the statue symbolizes ā€œthe consecration of the ground to St. Josephā€. Iā€™m referring to the fact that in the ten days of discussion on the topic here your post was the only one in 97 to mention this. Iā€™m saying that while burying the statue may symbolize this to you, I think this would be very, very rare, as in not just once in 97 times but maybe once in 9700 times or even once in 970,000 (see hyperbole: exaggeration for effect) šŸ™‚
 
gracepoole said:
šŸ™‚

Quote:
Originally Posted by felsguy View Post
It apppears then that weā€™re both on the same page about novenas and other prayers to the saints.

The practice of burying the statue strikes me personally as tiptoeing along the fenceline of sound theology but I donā€™t condemn those who do so with the proper understanding.

Iā€™m not sure why itā€™s necessary to generalize in this way. I am not superstitious, nor are those in my family who have buried a St. Joseph statue and prayed faithfully and fervently for St. Josephā€™s intercession. This is the major concern I have with responses in this thread ā€“ clearly there are those who view this devotion quite reverently. Why shouldnā€™t these people be permitted to do so? Why allow the (forgive me) idiots of the world to determine what practices shouldnā€™t be permitted?
Click to expand...
Dear lady, you may follow whatever practice you choose: bury a statue in the hopes of selling your house, put a shamrock on your bingo card to increase your chances of winning, or put a statue of St. Peter in the henhouse to encourage egg production; but if you happen to advocate it here on CAF some of us ā€œidiotsā€ (and I am not reknowned enough to be a world class idiot or even a village idiotā€¦ although my friends sometimes think Iā€™m a little strange) may just respond with our humble opinion that such practices most likely are contary to Catholic belief and teaching.
 
felsguy said:
Dear lady, you may follow whatever practice you choose: bury a statue in the hopes of selling your house, put a shamrock on your bingo card to increase your chances of winning, or put a statue of St. Peter in the henhouse to encourage egg production; but if you happen to advocate it here on CAF some of us ā€œidiotsā€ (and I am not reknowned enough to be a world class idiot or even a village idiotā€¦ although my friends sometimes think Iā€™m a little strange) may just respond with our humble opinion that such practices most likely are contary to Catholic belief and teaching.
Click to expand...
Oh, dear ā€“ I wasnā€™t referring to you or any other CAF poster when I referred to idiots! My apologies for the confusion. I meant that we shouldnā€™t allow those who use this practice like itā€™s magic to dictate whether or not it should be permitted. The ā€œidiotsā€, then, arenā€™t those who disagree with the devotion but instead are those who use it superstitiously. Youā€™re no idiot, felsguy (though I always appreciate being addressed as a lady :)).
 
gracepoole said:
Oh, dear ā€“ I wasnā€™t referring to you or any other CAF poster when I referred to idiots! My apologies for the confusion. I meant that we shouldnā€™t allow those who use this practice like itā€™s magic to dictate whether or not it should be permitted. The ā€œidiotsā€, then, arenā€™t those who disagree with the devotion but instead are those who use it superstitiously. Youā€™re no idiot, felsguy (though I always appreciate being addressed as a lady :)).
Click to expand...
Ah, my misunderstanding and my apologies. But not to worry. After 41 years of marriage I have come to the realization that ā€œidiotā€ is often used as a term of endearment. šŸ˜ƒ
 
felsguy said:
Ah, my misunderstanding and my apologies. But not to worry. After 41 years of marriage I have come to the realization that ā€œidiotā€ is often used as a term of endearment. šŸ˜ƒ
Click to expand...
šŸ˜ƒ (And congrats! Iā€™m going on 17 years married and I look to folks like you as inspiration.)
 
felsguy said:
Re: Bury a Statue of St. Joseph for the Intention of Selling a House?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimothyH View Post
It symbolizes the consecration of the ground to St. Joseph.
Why wear a medal of the Blessed Virgin around my neck when I can put it on my dresser? Because it symbolizes the consecration of my body and soul to the Blessed Virgin.

-Tim-

But for how many? 1 out of 97 here. Iā€™d venture itā€™s more like 1 in 9700, maybe even 970,000 in the real world.

You said that burying the statue symbolizes ā€œthe consecration of the ground to St. Josephā€. Iā€™m referring to the fact that in the ten days of discussion on the topic here your post was the only one in 97 to mention this. Iā€™m saying that while burying the statue may symbolize this to you, I think this would be very, very rare, as in not just once in 97 times but maybe once in 9700 times or even once in 970,000 (see hyperbole: exaggeration for effect) šŸ™‚
Click to expand...
Oh, I see. Thank you for the clarification. I really didnā€™t understand what the numbers were a reference to.

My response is twofold:

  1. *]A doctor of the Church thought it represents exactly that.
    *]Consensus is often a very poor barometer of truth.

    Thanks again for the clarification.

    -Tim-
 
otjm said:
That is not what they are doing, so the question is irrelevant.

People donā€™t need weird ways to ask St Joseph to intercede.
Click to expand...
Hey, Iā€™m making a theoretical case here!

And besides, it depends on the person if for some reason they find that burying St Joseph statues helps them to depend on God via St. Josephā€™s intercession. Of course, youā€™re going to get a lot of weird looks if people heard you bury St. Joseph statues, and some may think this is an acceptable practice in the context of a superstitious manner. After all, like you said, this is a weird way to ask for St. Josephā€™s intercession, so people are more likely to take it the wrong way. Thatā€™s why I said that I strongly discourage this practice if itā€™s done in good faith and not superstition, and I would condemn this practice if this practice was done with superstition and not faith.
 
maryjk said:
So, somehow, taking 5 minutes to bury a statue will be more of a reminder than placing the statue where you will SEE it every day. :rolleyes:
As I said before, I find it interesting that people talk about ā€œgiving scandal.ā€ But it is never mentioned when they talk about burying a statue.

(By the way, is St Joseph the only one people have been known to bury?)
Click to expand...
Burying a statue could be more of a reminder than putting on a home altar if the person is mentally ill or has some other weird reason. Itā€™s possible. Likely, though? Thatā€™s a different debate.
 
felsguy said:
Ah, my misunderstanding and my apologies. But not to worry. After 41 years of marriage I have come to the realization that ā€œidiotā€ is often used as a term of endearment. šŸ˜ƒ
Click to expand...
gracepoole said:
šŸ˜ƒ (And congrats! Iā€™m going on 17 years married and I look to folks like you as inspiration.)
Click to expand...
Did you bury a statue of St. Raphael?
šŸ˜ƒ

(Sorryā€¦Iā€™m leaving now. :o)
 
gracepoole said:
Yes. I thought of putting a gun to his head but decided instead to bury him upside down.
Click to expand...
So if it isnā€™t to ā€œhold him hostage,ā€ what is the purpose of burying him upside down?

And no, I donā€™t want to know who or how many people have done it. But rather why would YOU do it.
 
Dorothy said:
I agree. While on retreat at a monastery the retreat master discussed that. Most of his topic was on spiritual warfare and he mentioned about the St. Joseph statue being buried as something superstitious and it should not be done. And yet, it has found its way into Catholic gift shops.

In our petitions prayer is sufficient!
Click to expand...
There is blessed salt and holy water. I use both. I also wear a Miraculous Medal. What about relics?
 
maryjk said:
So if it isnā€™t to ā€œhold him hostage,ā€ what is the purpose of burying him upside down?

And no, I donā€™t want to know who or how many people have done it. But rather why would YOU do it.
Click to expand...
I donā€™t actually recall placing him upside down (I was making a joke in my last post). I do remember selecting a specific site ā€“ in the garden with the loosest and most rich soil ā€“ facing the house.

I find it odd, though, that you donā€™t want to hear who has practiced this devotion in the past or how many have. I mentioned St. Teresa of Avila earlier, who instructed her nuns to bury St. Joseph medals. St. Teresa is a Doctor of the Church. Iā€™m therefore sort of interested in what she did and had to sayā€¦ :confused:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top