My neighbor is trying to sell their home and I watched them bury a St Joseph Statue in the front lawn. I thought they were just kidding around with me, but I heard that this is supposed to bring good luck in selling real estate. Is this for real? Where did this tradition come from?

Joseph -- carpenter, husband of Mary, and foster father of Jesus -- made his first home in Nazareth, later moving with his pregnant wife to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. After being warned of danger to Jesus, Joseph fled with his family to Egypt, and later moved home to Nazareth. The Church honors St. Joseph as the patron of a happy home, safeguard of families, protector of children, and patron saint of carpenters and workers.

“The tradition of burying statues of St. Joseph originated in the ancient Christian custom of burying blessed medals in the ground,” says Paul DiGiovanni, owner of Gifts of Faith, a Phoenix-based inspirational Christian gift distributor. “Eighteenth-century European communities of nuns would call upon St. Joseph to help find land for their convents by burying a medal of St. Joseph, which later evolved to burying statues.”

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Not everyone agrees on how the practice of burying St. Joseph began. The most popular tale is that an order of European religious sisters in the Middle Ages buried a St. Joseph medal and asked the saint to help them acquire land for a convent. Others believe a religious brother in Montreal in the late 1800s buried St. Joseph medals in the land he wanted for a new oratory. Or that German carpenters first buried St. Joseph statues in the foundations of houses they built.

Just as vague is how and where St. Joseph should be buried. Some say the statue should be placed in a hole in the backyard upside down, with his feet toward heaven, facing the home. Others say he should face the new home, be in a corner or in the front yard. Most condo owners simply stick him in a flowerpot.

But one thing is certain: When the house is sold, St. Joseph should be dug up and placed in a spot of honor in the new home. How many people actually follow through and unearth the saint is unknown, says Binz, but he estimates that there are "a lot of buried statues out there that people have forgotten once the house is sold."

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The tradition may come from an ancient practice of burying religious medals in the ground when a priest was not available to bless the land.

Another story says that St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th century Catholic nun, buried medals of St. Joseph when she was searching for land for a new convent.

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According to Wikipedia,

The claim is made that in order to invoke Saint Joseph's intercession for selling a house, one buries a small statue of the saint upside down facing away from the house near the "For Sale" sign. A short heartfelt prayer requesting Joseph's intercession is recited, for example:

Joseph of Nazareth,
I beseech thee to intercede on my behalf
to help me find a worthy buyer for my home.
I ask this in the holy name of Christ.
Amen

Once the house is sold, the statue of Joseph is dug up again and set in a place of honor in the person's new home as a reminder of the efficacy of Saint Joseph's intercession.

Another statue of beliefs is the St. Francis, believed to help your garden grow. I know you can get one through Sunterra......www.sunterrausa.com.. My co-workers all have a St. Francis statue and completely believe!

You are so right! I have a Sunterra St. Francis and it has brought my garden all the luck of growing. My plants just shot up!

I am not sure if it is available on their website yet, but you can check? Most Garden Stores have it.... sunterrausa.com