Bury Saint Joseph

To Sell Your House

Very Funny

Have you ever heard of burying 

St. Joseph 

to help sell your house?

All my life I have heard people tell me to bury a St. Joseph’s statue to help sell my house. And even to this day people swear by it. Are we in the 21st Century or what? 

If you’re selling your house, there’s a set process. You hire a realtor and buy a

St. Joseph statue.

You bury the statue upside down, facing the house — or no, wait.

You bury him standing up, looking out towards the street.

You bury him 12 inches deep, within 12 inches of the for-sale sign. Or maybe you bury him on his back, pointing toward the house near your flowers in the backyard.

(Which leads to the joke: Did you hear about the people who buried St. Joseph sideways? The neighbor’s house sold.)

 

Jokes aside, whichever way you decide to bury the statue, you definitely say the prayer, asking for St. Joseph’s intercession with God, and you pray every day until the house is sold.

“O St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord …”.

But does it work? And is it appropriate?

Burying a little statue of St. Joseph and praying for his intercession with God has legions of advocates in real estate, among Catholics selling their homes and even non-Catholics.

“I’ve done that,” said Brigitte Robinson, a member of The Madeleine Parish in Northeast Portland and a real estate professional with Urban Nest.

Robinson said the last time she suggested the practice to a client, it was because the woman’s house had been lingering on the market. The woman went straightaway to The Grotto, bought a St. Joseph home sales kit, buried it and prayed. It sold that very day. 

“I felt it worked,” Robinson said. “You’re saying you need God’s help with the process. You’re praying for help in selling the home, giving thanks for the home, and thanks in finding the right buyers, people who will also appreciate the home.”

There is a special way to bury a St. Joseph statue

Karoline Ashley, another parishioner at The Madeleine, works with her husband at Ashley Realty Works with ReMax. She said she has a few St. Joseph statues in her car. “During the Recession I had a whole bunch. I leave no stone un-turned.”