To Bury Saint Joseph

My husband and I are selling our home. One of the first things our listing agent asked was, “Have you buried St. Joseph yet?”

I’ve known about the “tradition” of burying a statue of St. Joseph for many years. No, we didn’t bury a statue of our patron of the Universal Church, patron of families and homes and a happy death. And even though he’s now also called the patron of real estate, chances are we won’t.

As Catholics, we believe that as members of the Communion of Saints (both living and gone before us), it is all right to pray for our beloved saints’ intercession. I imagine St. Joseph has a very special place in heaven, close to Our Lord whom he loved and protected. I pray to him all the time. He was the adopted father of our Lord, and as adoptive parents, my husband and I have relied on him to guide us in our role as parents.

After our realtor asked that question, I decided to look into how this practice began and was surprised to learn that it had begun with St. Teresa of Avila in the 16^th century. She was looking for land to build a new convent for her Carmelite nuns, and she asked them to bury medals of St. Joseph in the grounds around their present convent. Apparently, it worked. I don’t know how this morphed into burying statues upside down, but I know that after the home is sold, we are instructed to dig up the statue, bring it to the new home and put it in a place of honor. I also found out that there are actually kits for this practice—statue, instructions, prayer and all.

A few years ago, when my mother-in-law decided to move to an assisted living facility, it became my husband’s responsibility to arrange for the sale of her condominium. It was taking longer than we had hoped, but we rejected the urge to bury the statue she always kept on her dresser. Instead, we put the statue in one of the windows looking out, asking St. Joseph to intercede for us. In truth, the condo sold within three days of this after being on the market for many months.

I don’t think this happened because the statue was or wasn’t buried, or even in the window, although it was quite a coincidence. I believe it happened because we believe in God and in the power of prayer.

Some would say that burying the statue (or even putting it in a window) is superstitious, and we aren’t supposed to involve ourselves in superstitions. We risk giving the wrong impression to non-Catholics. There are already too many misconceptions about Catholicism. However, if it is done with a genuine spirit of prayer and true devotion, and we believe in the intercession of St. Joseph and that God answers our prayers, burying the statue demonstrates our love and faith.

Yet, my husband and I probably won’t be burying the statue of St. Joseph. We will be praying to him, and as always, he will have a special and honored place in our hearts—in our home—no matter how long it takes to sell our house and find a new one.

I think I’ll buy a kit, though...just in case.