When 'for sale' signs don't cut it, homeowners try St. Joseph statue

He's a little guy, that St. Joseph. But word is he packs a big punch - especially when it comes to selling homes.

At least that's what the box of the "St. Joseph the Worker Home Sellers Kit" suggests.

"The idea is that you bury the statue of St. Joseph in trying to sell your home," said the Rev. Donal Sullivan, pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Fleming Island.

Sullivan said he has no idea when, where or how that belief and tradition began. Others say the practice dates back centuries. Regardless, the practice has picked up in recent years with the collapse of the housing market, a local retailer of Catholic goods said.

"It works - we hear all kinds of miracle stories," said Trisch Broach at Queen of Angels Catholic Store in Mandarin.

You can't blame people for trying. Home sales across the country have hit some dramatic lows since a five-year high established in 2005. And what's an extra $9.95 for the kit, including instructions and a 4-inch statue, when a potential sale hangs in the balance?

Figures provided by the Florida Association of Realtors say single-family home sales were down 68 percent in 2009. Sales improved dramatically by June but were still 17 percent below the 2005 mark. The numbers for July, released on Tuesday, showed a 23 percent dive.

Broach said she's been selling the St. Joseph statues for years through her parish bookstore. She remembers a real estate agent a few years back buying 50 of the kits to give to clients.

"He wasn't even Catholic," she said.

Rituals having to do with the home aren't limited to Catholicism or even to Christianity.

In Judaism, it's common for rabbis to bless homes and for a mezuzah - a small container holding a parchment of Scripture - to be nailed to the door post as a reminder of God's presence.

Hindus also ritually consecrate the homes they move into, said Panditji Srinathan Kadambi, the priest at the Hindu Society of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville.

"The idea is this: Everything belongs to God ... and to bring good vibrations into the area," he said.

Kadambi blessed three homes a few weeks ago but said requests for home consecrations have been way down the past three or four years.

What has been on the rise, Buddhist Cindy Corey said, are requests for rituals to protect homes from foreclosure.

Buddhism offers a response to that situation through a variety of rituals to spiritually cleanse homes of negative karma and spirits, said Corey, a teacher at Maitreya Kadampa Buddhist Center in Atlantic Beach.

"More people are worried about losing their homes or losing businesses that are associated with the real estate market," she said.

Sullivan said he's skeptical about the St. Joseph tradition. "My own thoughts are it's a totally superstitious thing."

But he is asked about it occasionally. One time he was checking in for a medical appointment when the receptionist, a non-Catholic, asked him if she should use the ritual to sell her home.

"'I said, 'I can't believe you're a Baptist, asking me this.'"

Broach disagrees with those who downplay the practice. The ritual includes saying a prayer asking the saint - patron of homes and families - to intercede in their efforts to sell a home.

"We believe in intercessory prayer through the saints," said Broach, a parishioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jacksonville. "It's all about devotion."