Burying St Joseph
When we lived in St Louis, we were out at a dinner event with our neighbors who were trying to sell their house. A Catholic parish priest was sitting at our table. Our friends recounted how they had buried a statue of St Joseph in their front yard a few days ago. The priest asked why they would do such a thing, and was told of the ritual which would help their house sell quickly.
The woman got quite animated, flailing her arms and stating, “I can’t believe it, the day after we buried the statue, the house directly across the street from us sold!”
The priest quietly asked, “So which way was St Joseph facing when you buried him?”
The woman thought, and then said, “Facing the street”
“Ah”, the priest responded, “That’s the problem, you should have buried him facing your house.”
The couple agreed they would go right home and re-bury St Joseph properly. When they left, I asked the priest if he was serious. He said, “Nah, I would have told them to turn the statue around regardless of which way he was buried.” We had a good laugh, and in all the houses we have sold over the years, we have never buried a statue of St Joseph… but give it a few weeks, and we might be tempted.