[Cagey]

DOES ST. JOSEPH HELP SELL? Survey (at linked source): Ever Buried St. Joseph Statue?

[AppyPappy]

I'll take my house off the market before I engage in voodoo.

[martin_fierro]

Patron Saints index

[Deguello]

I guess those bathtub shrines in the front yards weren't doing the trick?

[RexBeach]

I had a client use this method and it worked great! The house went unsold for months. She placed St. Joseph in the front yard and got an offer three days later!

[tx_eggman]

Judy Moore turned to a St. Joseph figurine. She buried it in the yard, head down.

This alone is enough to convince me that Judy's head is firmly planted in an anatomical location where the sun doesn't shine ...

[Gay State Conservative]

If I'm looking to sell to a muslim,do I bury a picture of that mohammed clown and his nine year old wife?

[mtbopfuyn]

Head down? Poor, Joe!

[Axenolith]

Hopefully, there's no aluminum or copper on these things. I don't need to be digging them up from 2 feet metal detecting, all the while thinking I'm about to haul in a cache of Morgans...

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I thought you were supposed to bury St. Anthony? He's the Patron Saint of lost things and my Catholic friends insisted we were "looking for a buyer".

Either way, St. Anthony is buried in my old front yard on PA, where I sold the house on the very day we buried him.

And no, I'm not Catholic, I did it for my friends.

[stuartcr]

Like all things religious...impossible to prove, but if it makes one feel better, then OK with me.

[Alas Babylon!]

I am a practicing, believing Catholic. I teach catholic Sunday School (Catechist). I have never heard of this before and consider it both silly (why on Earth would a Saint desire this--burying their image upside down--in order to intercede?) and blasphemous (it's just not something to bug God about). I could see praying to sell a home in order to ensure one's material survival, but beyond that, it's like praying to win the lottery.

Saints should be honored for the sacrifice they gave God, not for their ability to give us material things. It's not proper.

[Wright Wing]

It worked for me. Had my condo on the market and not a nibble. Put the statue in the ground, and two weeks later had an offer and I sold.

[lastchance]

I am Catholic and had never heard of this practice until recently. I was told that the Church does not sanction it. But because it has become popular they have issued guidelines to keep the statues of St. Joseph from being treated in a sacreligious manner.

To me it would be better to ask for simple prayers and to pray that God send a really ethical and excellent real estate broker.

[Cicero]

I have a friend (a very liberal Catholic) who was a real estate agent in DC. She told us all about this some years ago. The statue must be buried in the garden head down. Then, after the sale, you must dig St. Joseph up and put him in a place of honor on your mantlepiece, as a show of thanks.

The whole business struck me as more like Mafia extortion than true religion, frankly. Although my friend didn't say so, the wholel procedure sounded to me something like, "Listen, Joseph. Sell me this house, and I'll dig you up again. Or else you can stay buried upside down!" Very strange, and not at all like the usual Catholic way of venerating (not worshipping) a saint, or praying to him for intercession.

[almcbean]

My house has been on the market for 7 months. I've decided to bury my listing agent upside down in the yard and sell it myself. Looking for a nice house in Pittsburgh area? We have a good football team, notwithstanding last night.

[Chi-townChief]

Man, I haven't heard this one in about 30 years!