September 23, 2020
by Mary Clifford Morrell
Recently, a very dear friend mentioned that all three of her daughters, married with children, were selling their houses simultaneously. The first of the houses had sold within a week of being on the market.
I was happy for them but recalled the very long and painful experience of trying to sell our house at the New Jersey shore several years after Super Storm Sandy destroyed our neighborhood.
It took my husband almost two years to restore the house after being flooded with four feet of water, but the insurance was inadequate to complete the repairs, so we were forced to sell the house we had planned to retire to, and which had given us many wonderful family memories.
Friends suggested I bury a statue of Saint Joseph in the yard, but the tradition seemed to be more superstition than faith, and why upside down? Why not prayers to the saint suffice? However, after almost nine months on the market with no offers and the bank breathing down our neck with foreclosure, I gave in to pressure and thought, “What do I have to lose?”
I had a statue of Saint Joseph, or so I thought, handed down to me after my mom died. I took it from the shelf and asked my husband to bury it in the front lawn, upside-down facing the house. As the instructions came out of my mouth, I could not believe what I was hearing. I rationalized it by telling myself it was my alter ego, a desperate woman grasping at straws.
One morning, after the deed was done, I realized it was not Saint Joseph I buried but Saint Anthony. How embarrassing!
Determined to make the best of it, I apologized to Saint Anthony and asked him to do what he does best, find things and people, like a buyer for our house. I suggested he collaborate with Saint Joseph, the patron saint of households, who had already heard from me many times.
So, maybe I should not have been surprised that within three weeks following the “burial,” we had three showings and a potential buyer. It took a few months longer actually to close a deal and beat the bank’s foreclosure process.
I prepared places of honor in my den for the two saints who have seemingly forgiven my silliness. I believe they were very much aware of my real need, not just to sell the house, but to be able to detach myself emotionally from a place that held a great deal of meaning and memories.
Undoubtedly, the saints are as numerous as the stars in the heavens, each shining their unique light on the world. These two saints, Joseph and Anthony, were standing by when I sought direction from God, prayed and cried, and asked for wisdom to make the right decisions.
They heard my words, “…through the intercession of the saints,” and they stepped in, not as real estate agents, but as companions... companions who are always consolers, always leading us to God and, sometimes, responsible for miracles.
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.