You may have heard the advice before: If your house won’t sell, bury a St. Joseph statue in the yard. But is this a genuine Catholic devotion or simply superstition?
On The Patrick Madrid Show, listener Andrea shared that her brother buried a St. Joseph statue while trying to sell his home. Remarkably, two offers soon arrived. Andrea believed in the power of prayer and St. Joseph’s intercession, but wondered where sincere devotion ends and superstition begins.
Patrick explained that Catholics have a rich tradition of sacramentals, including sacred images, rosaries, blessed candles, and holy water. Properly understood, these practices direct our hearts toward God. The problem arises when a religious object is treated as though it has magical power or guarantees a particular result.
Patrick then shared his own St. Joseph story. Years ago, he and his wife, Nancy, struggled to sell their small California home as their growing family desperately needed more room. Someone suggested burying a St. Joseph statue upside down in their yard.
They decided against it.
“We wanted to sell our house, but we didn’t want to succumb to what we felt to be a superstition,” Patrick explained. Instead, the Madrid family began a novena to St. Joseph.
On the final day of the novena, their realtor called: They had received an offer. They accepted it and finally sold the house.
Could St. Joseph have interceded for them? Patrick believes so.
His recommendation for Catholics facing a similar situation is simple: Rather than relying on a formula or treating a statue as a guarantee, sincerely ask St. Joseph to pray for you. The power is not in a buried object but in God, who hears our prayers and the intercession of His saints.
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