St. Joseph Statue

Dear Catholic Exchange:

A Baptist friend recently placed her home up for sale. A Catholic co-worker told her she should bury a statue of St. Joseph in the yard to help it sell more quickly, saying it worked twice for her. I've never heard of this, and can't believe it could be a “Catholic practice.” Comments?

Thanks,

Marge

Dear Ms. Mycka,

Peace in Christ!

The Church has never sanctioned this custom as an official Church devotion, but it is a custom that some Catholics observe. We did find a website that advocates burying a St. Joseph statue to help sell a house (www.stjosephstatue.com), and it provided the following explanation on the custom’s history:

“The solemn tradition of burying St. Joseph in the earth began hundreds of years ago in Europe. During those times, an order of nuns prayed to St. Joseph (the patron saint of the family and household needs) when they needed more lands for convents. The Sisters were encouraged to bury their St. Joseph medals in the ground.

“The medals evolved into statues, culminating with the complete ‘Underground Real Estate Agent’ Kit currently available. Today, thousands of homesellers and real estate agents nationwide continue this successful tradition; they are looking for a little divine intervention” (www.stjosephstatue.com/trad.htm).

Apparently, there are variations regarding this practice. It is not a “requirement” that the statue be buried upside down, although we have heard of that manner of observing the custom. The website also provides personal testimonials and newspaper articles regarding the custom.

Of utmost importance is one’s attitude when adopting such practices. Care must be taken to attribute any success associated with such a practice to the proper source. The Church cautions individuals to avoid superstition (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2111). Asking for St. Joseph’s intercession is the most important aspect of directing a prayer to him, not burying a statue of him, let alone burying it in a particular way.

I hope this response adequately addresses your concerns. If you have further questions on this or any other subject, please let us know. If you have found this information to be helpful, please consider a donation to CUF to help sustain this service. We offer this service free of charge, and would appreciate any donation you could give to help us help others. You can call us at 1-800-MY FAITH, visit us at www.cuf.org, or send your contribution to the address below. Thank you for your support as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

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