Its been nearly two years since I wrote about the St. Joseph statue, which was appropriate in late 2005, as the housing boom shifted gears. There has been more coverage of St. Joseph as of late, a sign of a weakening market perhaps (who says housing isn’t emotional).
In today’s WSJ, there was a fun (or sad, depending on your take) article When It Takes a Miracle To Sell Your House.
Well, St. Joseph is back (actually upside down). In Catholicism, St. Joseph, a carpenter, is honored as the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. Representing a humble family man, he is the patron saint of home, family and house-hunting. Here’s a full blown history.
The Catholic saint has long been believed to help with home-related matters. And according to lore now spreading on the Internet and among desperate home-sellers, burying St. Joseph in the yard of a home for sale promises a prompt bid. After Ms. Luna and her husband held five open houses, even baking cookies for one of them, she ordered a St. Joseph “real estate kit” online and buried the three-inch white statue in her yard.
Suggested use of the statue:
- bury it three feet from the rear of the house (facing away)
- bury it next to the front door facing away from the home.
- display in the house.
- bury in a potted plant in an apartment.
The sales pace of the statues is now double at catholicstore.com.
Who needs housing stats, lets start tracking sales of these statues. Its a booming business with a lot of places to purchase them (if you’re wondering):
OurFather.com
CatholicCompany.com
GoodFortuneOnline.net
BuryStjoseph.com
TotallyCatholic.com
StJosephStatue.com
Tags: St. Joseph, luck, superstition, Catholic Supply of St. Louis Inc.
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