Is it okay to bury a statue of St. Joseph in your yard to sell your house?
Some people say burying a statue of St. Joseph in your yard before selling your house will help with its quick sale. But is this okay? Is it reverent? Or is it superstitious?
In this episode of The Catholic Talk Show, Ryan Scheel, Ryan DellaCrosse, and Fr. Rich Pagano discuss the answer to this question.
Listen to Fr. Rich Pagano’s answer below:
“That drives me nuts,” Fr. Rich Pagano says of those who ask him to bless statues that they intend to bury.
“They actually make these statues of St. Joseph to sell your house, and on the back, they’re like ‘bury him upside down and in the ground.”
“I respond, ‘I will bless this statue, but I will not bless it if you plan on putting it in the ground.’
“They say, ‘What do you mean, that’s what you have to do?’
“I say, ‘No, I’ll bless it, and you put St. Joseph in a place of honor in your home. And then when he sells your house, you take that statue and you put him in your new house in a place of honor, and you keep him there.”
Ryan Scheel adds, “St. Joseph is the patron saint of realtors, but that tradition comes from a few hundred years ago. There was an order of religious sisters, and they wanted to acquire land to build a convent.
“They prayed and prayed. They didn’t bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down. They prayed through the intercession of St. Joseph, and were gifted this land and built their convent.
“During the convent’s construction, they found a statue of St. Joseph. That story has morphed into kind of a bizarre superstition.”
“I think if you do it with the right intentions, you’re not going to Hell for it,” Scheel continues. “It boarders on superstition, because these statues are not magic. This is not some magic ritual.”
“If you pray for St. Joseph’s intercession, it’s as effective…as trying to do this pious practice.”
What are your thoughts?
St. Joseph, pray for us!
[See also: How Did St. Joseph Meet Our Blessed Mother? Here’s The Answer, According to Tradition]
[See also: 3 Ways St. Joseph is the Perfect Model of Catholic Fatherhood]