I became a permanent resident of Canada in September 2000 and since then I have moved twice. A townhouse was my first home and after a year, I moved to a raised ranch type house.
After 5 years, I moved to a 4 level back split house which is only about a 5-minute drive from where I used to live.
I never had difficulty selling the 2 houses I lived in and when both houses were up for sale, I did not bury a St.
Joseph statue upside down as was customary. In fact, in both cases, I was able to sell my house after 2 weeks at a reasonable price.
Being a St. Joseph devotee, I did pray and asked for St.
Joseph's intercession. But instead of burying a St. Joseph statue, here's what I did.
I simply placed a blessed St. Joseph statue by the window in my dining room since this is the window facing my front lawn and the street. I took a bit of the Holy Oil of St.
Joseph and wiped the St. Joseph statue with it. Why? I don't know. I just felt like doing it. I then prayed a nine-day novena to St. Joseph. But before that, I prayed to God first and asked Him to answer my prayer according to His will. And the outcome: my first house sold after 10 days and my second house after 12 days!
I don't think there is anything wrong with burying a St.
Joseph statue upside down as some people do when they are selling their house. Personally, I look at it less as performing the suggested ritual to exact specifications and more as a leap of faith, believing in St. Joseph's powerful intercession.
As Francis X. Weiser pointed out in his book, "The Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs", if these rituals are practiced in the right spirit, that is, based on the belief that saints in heaven pray and intercedes for us, and without what he calls "unreasonable superstition", our belief in the saints' patronage provides "great consolation in temporal and spiritual need".
Surely, there are other factors involved in selling a house quickly and at a reasonable price such as the state of the economy, a private sale as against using a real estate agent, etc. But when it comes to praying for a house to be sold at the right time and at the right price, it's all about faith, not in the rituals one performs.
While I believe performing a ritual reinforces faith, the bottom line is having the faith that God hears our prayers, that the saints are there to pray for us if we ask them and that the answer to our prayers is on its way, according to God's time and God's way.
Babes Tan-Magkalas has 2 major passions in life: St. Joseph and prayer. She wrote a free ebook entitled "Prayer Tips (for Prayers That Get Results)" where she gives out valuable information on how to make prayers more powerful and effective.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
tweet this!