A Catholic acquaintance of mine buried a statue of a saint in their front yard in order to sell their home?

Question

Is this a common practice?

Is this not close to witchcraft or idolatry?

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

How very superstitious and primitive of them. Why didn't they just fix the structural problems and redecorate like any normal and honest person?

Answer 2

Many Catholics use images of Mary and/or the saints as "good luck charms." Any cursory reading of the Bible will reveal this practice as blatant idolatry (Exodus 20:4-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12; 1 John 5:21). Rubbing rosary beads is idolatry. Lighting candles before a statue or portrayal of a saint is idolatry. Burying a Joseph statue in hopes of selling your home (and countless other Catholic practices) is idolatry.

The terminology is not the issue. Whether the practice is described as "worship" or "veneration," or any other term, the problem is the same. Any time we ascribe something that belongs to God, to someone else, it is idolatry. The Bible nowhere instructs us to revere, pray to, rely on, or "idolize" anyone other than God. We are to worship God alone. Glory, praise, and honor belong to God alone. Only God is worthy to "...receive glory and honor and power..." (Revelation 4:11). God alone is worthy to receive our worship, adoration, and praise (Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 15:4).

Recommended Resource: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and The Word of God by James McCarthy.

Answer 3

I am Catholic and I know people who have, I am not sure which Saint it is though.

I would not say it is common.

They are not worshiping the Statue are they? If not how could it be idolatry? It is not witchcraft or calling on evil spirits.

My thoughts? It is an old tradition that does not hurt anyone.

Peace be with you!

Answer 4

My ex-husband who is Episcopal did the same thing.

It is superstition and not a Catholic practice.

I don't know how common it is but there is a internet site you can purchase the statue and get the instructions for doing this. http://www.stjosephstatue.com/
It's silly. I think a lot of people do thinking...well it can't hurt.

Because an efficacy is attributed to a religious act that has no apparent rational basis, the act qualifies as superstition or a perverse excess of religion. The Catechism notes that "Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion" (CCC 2110). That's what we're talking about here.
http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2005/05/burying_a_st_jo.html

Answer 5

To me, this act is more like superstition. But I do think it's idolatry when they worship and pray to statues of Mary or any of the Saints. To a Catholic, on the other hand, these are examples of the one true church. Of course, by expressing this, we will be labeled "intolerant," "Catholic bashers," "God haters," etc. But it's apparently okay for Catholic leaders to call gay people "intrinsically evil." As long as you use the Bible to attack gay people, some think it's Holy to say or do anything they want.

Answer 6

While asking a saint such as St. Joseph to pray for you while you are trying to sell your home is another form of intercession, burying a statue of him in the front yard is a bit of superstition. Some catholics do this.

The catholic book store that I frequesnt has a sign in their window that states that they will NOT sell St. Joseph statues to realtors.

Answer 7

Were not even Catholic (Lutheran) but my mom did this years ago to sell our house. Its just superstition. You had to bury the saint upside down, and it was a tiny plastic thing with instructions and all, lol. Its probably still in the garden now that we finally did move, lol. We never prayed to it or anything, though I guess some people would... Id say that thats a bit more like idolatry, I guess.

Answer 8

That's not really a Catholic practice, just a Mexican one and perhaps other cultures do it too. During the times of the conquest, Aztecs under forced labor would bury their own idols beneath the Catholic churches they built. I don't know why, but maybe that's a carryover. Is your friend Mexican?

Answer 9

Some people will bury small statues of Saint Joseph near their houses as a form of intercessory prayer, asking for good fortune when selling a home.

It's not superstition. It's not idolatry.

it's intercessory.

Answer 10

This tradition is based on the story that Saint Teresa of Avila prayed that Saint Joseph would intercede to obtain land for Christian converts, and encouraged her Discalced Carmelite nuns to bury Saint Joseph medals as a symbol of devotion, consecrating the ground in Joseph's name.

Remember that Joseph was a man who knew about moving on a moment's notice (e.g., the flight to Egypt), and providing for a home for his family.

He also knows what it is like to have housing trouble (remember the manger? and being turned away from the inns?), and so is likely to be sympathetic to people with trouble getting or leaving a home.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stj01002.htm

+ Idolatry? +

Idolatry is divine worship given to an image, but its signification has been extended to all Divine worship given to anyone or anything but the true God.

By definition, a Catholic asking Saint Joseph to pray to God for help in housing issues and even burying a statue to bless the ground in honor of Saint Joseph would not be idolatry.

+ Witchcraft? +

Witchcraft or all practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.

By definition, a Catholic asking Saint Joseph to pray to God for help in housing issues and even burying a statue to bless the ground in honor of Saint Joseph would not be witchcraft.

+ Superstition? +

Superstition is an irrational belief about the relation between certain actions and later occurrences.

By definition, a Catholic asking Saint Joseph to pray to God for help in housing issues and even burying a statue to bless the ground in honor of Saint Joseph would not be superstition, unless you believe all religion is superstition.

However, if one buried the statue of Saint Joseph because that action was believed to help sell the house then that would be superstition.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 11

Did your Catholic acquaintance use it to cast spells or bow down and worship it? Does burying something in the dirt cause it to become evil? Your question is kind of off base.