Too funny. Was he upside down? We planted one at my Dad's house back in '97. We also painted the front door yellow. That was supposed to sell the house too.

I believe he was upside down, but I just thought it was a plastic bag piece of trash until I looked closer. Sure glad I didn't break it into pieces with my shovel. I'll have to put him in a safe place in the event we need to sell our house. It worked for the previous owner :-)
Marcia

So the myth is true? :-) Good to know! Never heard of painting the door yellow before.

every time we plant something, we usually find something. old bayer aspirin bottles, palm soda(old coke product), lots of cool barb wire. never know what your going to find......will know to look for st. joe.

Wow, you found a Palm Soda bottle! In all my years here (4th generation) I only have ONE Palm Soda bottle.

With some friends we once buried a six-pack of beer on Clearwater Beach in the early 70's, paced it off 150' from a seawall, then eyeballed some landmarks. We came back 18 months later and I'll be danged if we didn't find the booty on the first try, course, that was before they were using tractors to grade the beach.... :-)

When I was 9 or 10 I threw pennies all over our lawn, wondering if my Dad would ever find them. I don't think he ever did. LOL Many years later he lost a gold ring in the yard. His friend came several times with his metal detector and looked for it. I found it the Memorial Day week end after he died. It was in the loam next to the water faucet.

We often found arrow heads around the farm before it was sold. You never know who was there before you. LOL

If your St. Joseph is grey plastic, it's the one they sell in the kit for selling your home. I bought one 9 years ago to sell our home in PA. Sales were very slow, so I got a St. Joseph kit, but didn't have the heart to bury him in the dirt, so I put him in a baggie, too, and then buried him in the garden (we didn't have a tree). Then said the prayer and the house sold. We had 3 prospective buyers!

He's sitting now in my china cabinet and I'll call upon him again if we sell this house.

Julie

I've heard about the ritual but always wondered where you would buy the statue. I didn't realize it was commercialized into a kit :-) I thought a religious gift store would be the place to buy the statue.
Marcia

Yes, that's where I got it, at the local religious gift shop, but I think you can get one on the internet too.

ST. JOSEPH does help the needs of families, interceding & guiding the buyer to your house! We know because we buried him in a plastic bag, before we put the house on market, last year, 9 months ago! Very frustrating time to be selling your home! But while having lunch with my sweet cousin, end of July to commemorate the birthday of her Mother, who was my God-Mother - she asked how it was going with selling our house! I told her that we had buried ST. JOSEPH in the back yard, upside down, 9 months ago! She was very insistent that we move him to Front Yard! I found a place of beauty in our flower garden - so my Husband spent about an hour with the shovel, trying to find ST. JOSEPH who was buried in the back yard! I was praying aloud to ST. ANTHONY while dead-heading a few flowers, to make the yard more beautiful! Then of course, ST. ANTHONY helped my Husband to find our ST. JOSEPH, who he washed carefully and tossed away the dirty plastic bag - now he looks better! So I asked him to bury our ST. JOSEPH in front of the lovely arched window of the dining room, among the flowers - then we both prayed the ST. JOSEPH prayer, out loud, together! We had been praying this, already for 9 months! Must share with you that our 8 year old Grand-Daughter told us the month before, that when she and her Daddy said their night prayers, she asked Jesus to help us sell our house and for us to buy a house down the street from her house! That would really be a miracle, since their house was just purchased by them, last winter and rarely do house become available on this street! When she told me about their special prayers, I tried to be supportive because she said that her life was missing a link, without us - we live in another State! So we re-listed the house and I had a very positive feeling after we moved ST. JOSEPH, we even had a flurry of prospects that we had not had before! WELL, just 1 WEEK after ST. JOSEPH was Enjoying His New Flower Garden and Over-Looking our Home While Standing on His Head and Looking Toward Our Home - someone with children about our Grand-Children ages, even looked like them, came, saw AND Made low Offer! We negotiated many times and will close on Aug. 31st! NOW, we were able to write a contract on the only house on her street for sale, just listed in mid July! By the Grace of God, we had just enough money for a small down payment, we close on our Miracle House, Sept. 7th! We do believe in Miracles and the Power of Faith, Trust & ST. JOSEPH & ST. ANTHONY, who helped our new home, become available! I was taught to Always Praise the Lord and Thank Him IN Advance for all of your Blessings! And we do Thank them all, including our Grand-Daughter & her Dad & our Daughter for their Trust in the Lord and their encouragement to us! When I told our Grand-Daughter, last month that we were a bit weary and that fewer houses were for sale now with all the heat - she said that we would sell our house When the new house that God wanted for us, was ready to sell!! God truly does hear your prayers and those of the little children, pray with them everyday! May Our Lord Bless You & Your Family in all of their needs!

roseofblue: That is a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing that with us, it gave me a smile this morning :))
~Lenette

So it's nothing like finding Jesus.

LOL, against my non-superstitious, better judgement, I tried burying one of those at a house I was trying to sell many years ago. It didn't work. I was stuck with that house for 7 more years before I was able to sell it, for less than I had paid for it.

John

i just buried my gargoyle.....:)

John,

You should have painted your St. Joseph yellow and buried the front door upside down.

Big deal. Just open your medicine cabinet. St. Joseph is ALWAYS there and he doesn't sell houses or hide in a baggie.

{{gwi:822265}}

haha as a realtor (non workings at the moment) and wife of a working all the time realtor we found the best way to sell QUICK is to price it low enough and
THEN take some of Fawnridge's St Joseph. We always pray too but we go straight to God or Jesus and skip the middle man. Guess i better shut up or it will turn into a religous argument which I think God would be unhappy with and this forum SURE doesnt need!!!!!
I love all God's people and his saints too!
And yes it was a great story and nice human interest piece that could quite possibly find it's way to a Guideposts magazine if you are so inclined.
And on the yellow note I will tell you what we learned from experience. We could have a row of brand new houses all similar but painted different colors and the yellow one always sells first. Then the people would always say OH the yellow one is sold?????
Ill take the gray(or blue,green or tan) I guess, but I REALLY liked the yellow one better!
Thanks for sharing!
tanya

ST. JOSEPH does help the needs of families, interceding & guiding the buyer to your house! We know because we buried him in a plastic bag, before we put the house on market, last year, 9 months ago! Very frustrating time to be selling your home! But while having lunch with my sweet cousin, end of July to commemorate the birthday of her Mother, who was my God-Mother - she asked how it was going with selling our house! I told her that we had buried ST. JOSEPH in the back yard, upside down, 9 months ago! She was very insistent that we move him to Front Yard! I found a place of beauty in our flower garden - so my Husband spent about an hour with the shovel, trying to find ST. JOSEPH who was buried in the back yard! I was praying aloud to ST. ANTHONY while dead-heading a few flowers, to make the yard more beautiful! Then of course, ST. ANTHONY helped my Husband to find our ST. JOSEPH, who he washed carefully and tossed away the dirty plastic bag - now he looks better! So I asked him to bury our ST. JOSEPH in front of the lovely arched window of the dining room, among the flowers - then we both prayed the ST. JOSEPH prayer, out loud, together! We had been praying this, already for 9 months! Must share with you that our 8 year old Grand-Daughter told us the month before, that when she and her Daddy said their night prayers, she asked Jesus to help us sell our house and for us to buy a house down the street from her house! That would really be a miracle, since their house was just purchased by them, last winter and rarely do house become available on this street! When she told me about their special prayers, I tried to be supportive because she said that her life was missing a link, without us - we live in another State! So we re-listed the house and I had a very positive feeling after we moved ST. JOSEPH, we even had a flurry of prospects that we had not had before! WELL, just 1 WEEK after ST. JOSEPH was Enjoying His New Flower Garden and Over-Looking our Home While Standing on His Head and Looking Toward Our Home - someone with children about our Grand-Children ages, even looked like them, came, saw AND Made low Offer! We negotiated many times and will close on Aug. 31st! NOW, we were able to write a contract on the only house on her street for sale, just listed in mid July! By the Grace of God, we had just enough money for a small down payment, we close on our Miracle House, Sept. 7th! We do believe in Miracles and the Power of Faith, Trust & ST. JOSEPH & ST. ANTHONY, who helped our new home, become available! I was taught to Always Praise the Lord and Thank Him IN Advance for all of your Blessings! And we do Thank them all, including our Grand-Daughter & her Dad & our Daughter for their Trust in the Lord and their encouragement to us! When I told our Grand-Daughter, last month that we were a bit weary and that fewer houses were for sale now with all the heat - she said that we would sell our house When the new house that God wanted for us, was ready to sell!! God truly does hear your prayers and those of the little children, pray with them everyday! May Our Lord Bless You & Your Family in all of their needs!

dug my gargoyle up today, painted it yellow, planted it upside down, and hoped if we ever decide to sell our garden it will help. i'll keep digging for old deland throw aways......:)

roseofblue - You are the worst kind of troll because it sounds like you actually believe what you are saying. Do us all a favor and take your rant back to the pew and sing with the choir. As the church crumbles around you in a tornado, you can continue to express your faith to those who will listen. This forum is about gardening in Florida (whatever the heck that has come to mean) and not faith-healers, snake oil purveyors, or evangelists who suck money from idiots like you.

I love this story, although I have to admit that I have never heard of burying St Joseph. I will remember it when or if the time comes to sell my house. Thank you roseofblue.

Hello Marcia, Goldenpond, Sharbear and all, This is a true event, about faith and trust, meant to be shared. I was not looking for this blog, but stumbled on this and guess that it was meant to be, for me to share - I knew that it might make me vulnerable to some but the message of love and faith is stronger than my concern of critism. Maybe we will all remember, to show charity and kindness to others. This was shared with the intent of helping to inspire, trust in the Lord. And although some may feel bemused, they are able to respect the faith of others. Please understand that I am just a Grandma who wants to live near her Grand-children, and needed to sell her house in these tough times. Our family has been very supportive and each one prayed and encouraged Grandpa and I, in their own way. We have seen many miracles in our lives over the years and are not afraid to share our Trust in the Lord, may He bless you all in your every need. Please feel free to share some events in your lives that have increased your faith and trust in the Lord and in the kindness of others, thank you for your encouragement toward one another. roseofblue

I've been reading this thread since its revival by roseofblue & wondered if I should add my story. "To share" beat "not to share" & I promise all, I'm not a troll or preacher.

We moved into our new house in 2009 & spent 1 yr trying to sell/rent our condo unit. One day I went to clean before another wkend open house, a neighbor told me about St. Joseph. (I've never heard of this selling-of-house aspect even though I attended a school run by convent nuns in Asia.)

I forgot about it until a couple of months later when I saw a little glass St Joseph @ Dollar Tree. Just for fun, I bought 1, went to the condo unit, made my sale 'request' & buried him, upside down, facing the front door in a flower trough. 2 wks later, the agent called us, there was an interested party. We answered questions, got a handyman in to check & fix everything, buyer came in a wk later (again) & made a firm offer. Buyer wanted a quick sale as he wanted to furnish it before heading back north as he had medical appts lined up.

We didn't have a mortgage, buyer didn't need a mortgage, agent did the usual checking & prepared the paperwork & set up a meeting. We met @ agent's office & signed papers, exchanged keys for check & then buyer/seller went the unit so that DH could show them little do's & don'ts. I retrieved St. Joseph & thanked him gratefully. It was the quickest sale I've encountered, less than 6 weeks, & the interim anxiety was exhausting. This sale happened earlier this year so details are still clear.

St Joseph now stands on a mantel in our living room.
Whether it's coincidence or spiritual assistance, DH & I will not debate, we're just grateful it happened, in view of today's circumstances.

fern

Tany, you wrote..."We could have a row of brand new houses all similar but painted different colors and the yellow one always sells first." I wonder if yellow keeps away burglars. Know of any study on that? (Getting in the mood to paint!)Irma

Won't get involved with the ranting, but when we painted our previous house yellow EVERYONE always said that it looked like a house that was happy and full of joy and laughter.

If you want to keep away burglars plant thorn of roses and bougies under every window but I have two better ways my security alarm and a GUN. ( or two or three!)
tanya

Roseofblue, as I said earlier, I used St. Joseph, too, and sold a house. I've also asked for St. Anthony's help. I hope St. Christopher gets you to your new home safely. Good luck and God bless you and your family.

Julie

julieyankfan, Thank you for your encouraging thoughts, so glad that you sold your house with St. Joseph's help....through the power of prayer, faith & trust in the God. And we continue to pray to them and St. Anthony, today, since the under-writers at the bank are so busy that we are trusting that they will finish all the paperwork and then there will actually be a closing, today, on our house!
And then we know that miracles do indeed happen, even in this difficult economy and many more of us will be helped to have a successful outcome. And, very sweet of you to offer St. Christopher's guidance for our safe journey to our new home....God bless you and your family, also and everyone....somewhere out there, as we all travel through our daily lives, seeking love, harmony and peace of mind. And may God please send us peace throughout the world. And may everyone in the path of the Hurricane and all other tragedies be kept safe both night and day, especially those in the armed forces and overseas. Many blessings to those families and all of the children & teachers & bus drivers as they start the new school year.... God Bless America. roseofblue

julieyankfan, Well St. Joseph & St. Anthony were guiding our prayers to God, today - our prayers were answered, we did close on the sale of our house today. One more week and we will close on our new house - may all of you who need to sell your house continue to have trust in God. You may decide to honor St. Joseph in this unique way and continue to honor his role in your life, remember to take his little statue out of the ground and be thankful for all your blessings - we certainly are humbled by the positive power of faith, trust and love. roseofblue