I didn't experience any difficulty selling the 2 houses I lived in. When I put both houses up for sale, I did not bury a St. Joseph statue upside down as was customary. But still, in both cases, I was able to sell my house after 2 weeks at a good price.

Of course, being a St. Joseph devotee, I prayed for St. Joseph's intercession but instead of burying a St. Joseph statue, I did something else.

I simply placed a blessed St. Joseph statue by the window in my dining room since this is the window facing my front lawn and the street. I took a bit of the Holy Oil of St. Joseph and wiped the St. Joseph statue with it. Why? I don't know. I just felt like doing it. I then prayed a nine-day novena to St. Joseph. But before that, I prayed to God first and asked Him to answer my prayer according to His will. And the outcome: my first house sold after 10 days and my second house after 12 days!

I don't think there is anything wrong with burying a St. Joseph statue upside down as some people do when they are selling their house. Personally, I look at it less as performing the suggested ritual to exact specifications and more as a leap of faith, believing in St. Joseph's powerful intercession.

As Francis X. Weiser pointed out in his book, "The Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs", if these rituals are practiced in the right spirit, that is, based on the belief that saints in heaven pray and intercedes for us, and without what he calls "unreasonable superstition", our belief in the saints' patronage provides "great consolation in temporal and spiritual need".

Certainly there are other factors involved in selling a house quickly at a good price such as the state of the economy, a private sale as against using a real estate agent, etc. But as far as praying for a house to be sold quickly at the right price is concern, it's all about unwavering faith, not in the rituals one performs.

While I believe performing a ritual reinforces faith, the bottom line is having the faith that God hears our prayers, that the saints are there to pray for us if we ask them and that the answer to our prayers is on its way, according to God's time and God's way.