Why Do Catholics Do THAT?!

Imagine you are an alien from a distant galaxy, and you land on Earth after a very long journey through the stars. Upon your arrival, you meet some wonderful and welcoming Catholic folk. They invite you to Mass, and you even stick around for coffee & donuts after. You like these Catholics. One of them actually invited you to something they call “Bingo!” later on this week. They also asked you to buy a book of raffle tickets for their parish auction, but you didn’t have any money. Or pockets.

As you get to know these people better, however, you start to notice some curious rituals that make you scratch your green and scaly head.

What are these Earthlings called Catholics doing?

For instance, this week, you found out that your “host family” is preparing to sell their house and move to a new house. But, the mother of this family took a small statue of a man called St. Joseph and buried the poor guy in the front yard.

You asked her why she did that.

She said that it is a tradition among some Catholics to pray to the saints for help with certain things in life. “A ‘saint,’” she said, “is a holy soul reunited with God in Heaven.”

Catholics believe that the prayers of the saints are more effective than their own because the saints are holy and closer to God.

In this particular case, she explained that many Catholics bury a small figurine of St. Joseph in their yards for help in selling the house.

Based on his history, St. Joseph (the Earthly father of Jesus) has a reputation as a protector and provider for families, particularly when it comes to finding shelter.

The idea is that by burying St. Joseph, you make him very uncomfortable, and that encourages him to work/pray to God VERY HARD to get that house sold quickly.

She went on: “Some people say you should bury him upside down to really get him working diligently, while others say to bury him sideways so that Joseph’s praying hands are pointing straight at your home, which helps point potential buyers to the house.

“Throughout the whole process, we pray frequently to St. Joseph. Praying is an act of faith, that symbolizes our trust in St. Joseph's intercession that he will guide the right buyer to our house.

“When your house is sold,” she said, “you dig up your St. Joseph statue (But NOT until just before the closing!) and provide it a place of honor in your new house.”

At the end of her explanation, she was adamant to point out that this tradition is seen as a way to pray for assistance in a significant life transition like selling a house, not as a magical act to guarantee a sale.

You nodded your big green head, taking in everything she just told you. You knew you’d have to report these strange findings back to your home world soon. These Catholics, you will tell them, are very interesting people indeed!

Thanks to A Great Listing Agent and Bill Gassett, Realtor for terrific information!

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