We were on a mission to get a St. Joseph statue. Not only is he the father of the savior but according to the old French Catholics in northern New England, he's the patron saint of successful real estate transactions as well. Meaning you gotta get a statue of St Joe to sell your house!!!
So we went into this shop. And the salesperson cheerily greeted us, inquiring as to what we sought. Upon our reply that we were looking for a statue ("No statues here") of St Joseph----"Are you selling a house? That's what most people want those for--pagans!!!!" we promptly regrouped and, St Peter-like, denied that a real estate sale was our goal. We actually went so far as to agree about this barbaric practice, telling her that we heard that the figure must be buried head down facing the structure in the back yard. Not that we would EVER condone such an action....
She offered medals of St Joseph, after all a likeness of St Joseph was a likeness of St Joseph regardless if it was a medal or a statue. But we demurred. I had to think quick, didn't want to be appraised as a pagan by this purveyor of sanctity. I insisted that we needed a statue. It seemed that my 96-year old aunt had had a statue of St Joseph on the mantle for years and decades. And the unthinking new cat she had recently received as a pet had ascended the mantle and with a swish of the tail had deposited the artifact onto the floor, shattering it into pieces. Hence our quest for a statue and it had to be a statue. You know how old Italian aunts can be so set in their wishes and desires......Then we beat a hasty retreat as the salesperson god bless, 96 years olded us out the door.
2 comments:
This is terrible. Where is our old St. Joseph? Pagan practice or not, he has helped us sell many a home.
Omigosh, you LIED to a purveyor of sanctity! You are so funny!!! Good thing she has no power over real estate transactions in the sunny Southwest.
Or does she?
Hi!
First, I can't believe you're moving except that you mentioned you found the perfect place, the inspirational place for you. have you found a house in Pecos?
But I had to respond to your St. Joseph's story with one of my own.
As you may remember, we put up our house for sale in 2008 (Feb. to be exact). We came down in price twice because we were told, especially in this market, with a house on a dirt road and without a garage, it would not sell. Apparently there were too many houses to pick from for buyers.
Well, I'm not Catholic but Andy grew up Catholic and we knew the story (who doesn't around here). I was talking about it at school wondering if it would work even if neither of us was a practicing Catholic. A very good friend brought in a small ceramic St. Joseph to shcool the very next day. It came in a
small plastic bag with a molded styrofoam protective case around it. As I took it out, I read the directions on how to do it. It didn't say anything about burying upside down, but I knew it had to be that way. It came with a prayer that had to be said three times while burying it. Also, CNN had had a small humorous tidbit on this practice and they said it had to be buried next to the for sale sign. (Keep in mind it's winter and the ground was frozen.)
So I began unpacking it and when I got to the plastic bag, I didn't realize it wasn't sealed all around. As I picked the bag up from the top, out slid St. Joseph straight for our tile floor. Before I knew what had happened, I decapitated St. Joseph. I was so upset. I quickly got ceramic glue out less his good spirit leave his body too soon. I appologized profusely for having decapitated him and hoped he understood it was an honest mistake. After glueing him back together, I wrapped him up in soft stuff so he would feel comfortable and put him back in a resealable plastic bag so that the elements wouldn't get to him.
Digging a hole in the snow, ice and frozen ground was not easy but I managed a hole large enough for him. I placed him i upside down and said the prayer three times and made sure his head hadn't fallen off again. He must be very forgiving because we did sell the house shortly afterwards to a couple that was looking for a house in a secluded area, surrounded by nature. They are great to have for neighbors.
Send me your address. If I can find a St. Joseph, I'll send it to you. Good luck.
TS
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