[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
I think that St. Joseph is the patron saint of homes & families or some such, and that’s why he’s the guy for selling your house.
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Fair enough.
We anticipated his feast here in Australia last Saturday since it can’t be celebrated in Holy Week.
[QUOTE=Cunctator]
Fair enough. We anticipated his feast here in Australia last Saturday since it can’t be celebrated in Holy Week.
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That’s interesting…people made a big deal about St. Pat’s day here, but St. Joseph’s day tends to be pretty quiet except in the Italian neighborhoods, so I’m not actually sure if we did the same here. (He’s my patron saint, so now I feel guilty that I don’t know!)
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
That’s interesting…people made a big deal about St. Pat’s day here, but St. Joseph’s day tends to be pretty quiet except in the Italian neighborhoods, so I’m not actually sure if we did the same here.
[/QUOTE]
I think you’d have to have in the US too…or possibly postponed it until after Easter. St Joseph is a solemnity in the universal calendar (unlike St Patrick, who’s a solemnity only in certain countries/dioceses), so he has to be celebrated at some stage - just not in Holy Week.
[QUOTE=Cunctator]
I think you’d have to have in the US too…or possibly postponed it until after Easter. St Joseph is a solemnity in the universal calendar (unlike St Patrick, who’s a solemnity only in certain countries/dioceses), so he has to be celebrated at some stage - just not in Holy Week.
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You’re right, it must have been moved somewhere. Think I’m going to go look that up! 
ETA: I just did…it was celebrated last Saturday here, too (worldwide, apparently, as you guessed). Guess I missed it. I’d better not try to sell my house this year!
I’ve seen many a house with a for sale sign and a little mound of fresh-dug earth. I’m told it doesn’t count if you bury a bottle of St. Joseph aspirin. 
Ex Catholic here.
I first heard of this when I was a lass and my mom, an ex nun, thought it was just nonsense. She should know. She moved and bought and sold about 14 houses in her adult life.
Personally, if I ever had to sell my house ( and our housing market here in Michigan is further in the toilet than the rest of you.) I would bury a Flying Spagetti Monster statue head first. if there were such a thingie. Just to wait for His Noodly Goodness to help with the sale.
[QUOTE=clairobscur]
I picked you randomly for this question : I’m an atheist, but were I still catholic, I would have found such a practice both superstitious and disrepectful, at best.
Maybe I would have found more kosher to ask a saint to intercede by praying, possibly in front of a respecteful displayed statue (preferably in a church), and even that would have disturbed me (I wouldn’t have liked the concept of praying in order to get money quick, except in case of dire financial hardship).
But burying a saint’s statue upside down so that it will magically attract people willing to spend a lot of money?
My question here is adressed to actually catholic posters. Aren’t some of you disturbed by such a practice?
[/QUOTE]
Great queston - thanks!
The statue I purchased included a prayer card. The idea was to pray the intercession to St. Joseph daily while the statue is buried. (I didn’t, maybe that’s why mine didn’t work so well.)
I find many of the trappings of the church interesting relics of a long ago age, and of little relevance to my daily practice of living my faith. But you bring up the interesting point of idolatry. Many non-Catholics accuse us of idol worship because of our supposed devotion to statuary. However, it was drilled into us again and again in Catholic school that we do NOT worship statues - they merely serve as reminders of the real people that they represent.
To say it is disrepectful to bury a statue would mean that the statue in and of itself is worthy of some particular honor. Or that the statue itself holds some sort of power. For contrast, consider other faiths that *do * believe that their statues are an incarnation of the diety that they represent. They treat their statues with honor, because they believe that the god is present in that statue.
The statue that I buried was a 4" tall hunk of plastic that happened to be in the supposed form of a man who lived >2000 years ago. I see no disrespect in burying plastic. I *do * agree that it is superstitious, because if the statue is just a hunk of plastic, why should it help? However, I see no harm in a little benign superstition.
As for the issue of praying for help in financial matters, people pray for all sorts of things. I was never taught that only certain matters are worthy of prayer, and that others are selfish. The financial difficulties of carrying two mortgages would have eventually proved a large burden on my family. Prayer is used as a means of dealing with burdens of all sorts, in all types of religions.
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest]
Ex Catholic here.
Personally, if I ever had to sell my house ( and our housing market here in Michigan is further in the toilet than the rest of you.) I would bury a Flying Spagetti Monster statue head first. if there were such a thingie. Just to wait for His Noodly Goodness to help with the sale.
[/QUOTE]
You can get Chrome FSM car stickies (similar to the Jesus fish, Darwin fish, etc.) from www.northernsun.com
[QUOTE=IrreverentTone]
I wonder what a proven statue would go for on ebay?
[/QUOTE]
Oh my god.
Ever since hearing about the Clever Little Clock (a $5 Timex clock that they sell for $400 due to some near magical ability to change the acoustics in a room) I have been in crisis. I came to the realization that the only way I could stand to live in the kind of world where gullible people buy something like that is to make a lot of money off of them. The high end audio people are well tapped, so who should I work on where I won’t have to make any fraudulent claims? Superstitious religious people!
The best part is that I won’t even have to say that it does anything. I just bury a box full of them in front of the home of the next friend that sells, and then when it does I sell them on Ebay! I can just state that, “Many people believe…” and “…has already been used in a house that sold quick!” In today’s housing market I could make a mint!
[QUOTE=flight]
The best part is that I won’t even have to say that it does anything. I just bury a box full of them in front of the home of the next friend that sells, and then when it does I sell them on Ebay! I can just state that, “Many people believe…” and “…has already been used in a house that sold quick!” In today’s housing market I could make a mint!
[/QUOTE]
Devious.
But damn that’s tempting.
Ahh good ol’ Catholic Voodoo as my wife’s family calls it. We’re all Catholic.
I will be trying this soon if those guys wouuld ever call me back about when they can install my kitchen countertops!
If this topic is giving you a headache, you could always go this route instead.
I bought a house with a buried St. Joseph. It was the easiest housing transaction I’ve ever been involved with. However, I did not bury a statue before we sold the house for twice the purchase price five years later.
Should you do it? Hell, yes, and burn juniper in all the rooms (or at least the entry hall) before each viewing. Consider chanting as well.
[QUOTE=j666]
Hell, yes, and burn juniper in all the rooms (or at least the entry hall) before each viewing. Consider chanting as well.
[/QUOTE]
I was wondering how to dispell evil realtors… 
d&r
[QUOTE=Siege]
they duly unearthed him and put him in the place of honor where I saw him – the dashboard of their car.
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o/ I don't care if it rains or freezes 'slong as I've got my plastic Jesus glued to the dashboard of my car. You can buy him phosphorescent, Glows in the dark, he's pink and pleasant. Take him with you when you're travelin' far. o/
[QUOTE=Yllaria]
Go ahead and bury St. Joe, but take a picture of him with Flat Stanley first. Get creative with the journal entry.
It’s a pity the search function is down, or I’d post a link to the Flat Stanley thread. Maybe I’ll find it and come back later.
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No need to – I’ve found the thread.
After seeing jayjay’s post, I’m compelled to link this page, which even features a reference to St. Joseph!
I’ve never sold a house but my mother and sister have both gone the St. Joseph route. We’re all Catholics. The houses sold but I wouldn’tchalk that up to anything.
More amusing was the time I told my boss about this and he said that he’d always wondered why he found five statues in his front flower bed. I don’t know if it was five different people or one really anxious seller.
[QUOTE=Jophiel]
More amusing was the time I told my boss about this and he said that he’d always wondered why he found five statues in his front flower bed. I don’t know if it was five different people or one really anxious seller.
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This makes me wonder what grows if you use St Joseph as a seed?
[QUOTE=Tastes of Chocolate]
This makes me wonder what grows if you use St Joseph as a seed?
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Nobody apparently ever knew even when he was alive…
[QUOTE=clairobscur]
But burying a saint’s statue upside down so that it will magically attract people willing to spend a lot of money?
My question here is adressed to actually catholic posters. Aren’t some of you disturbed by such a practice?
[/QUOTE]
I find it mildly offensive. ‘Mildly’ because it’s just so dumb.
Personally, I’d have some serious reservations about trying to blackmail God’s step-father.
