St. Joseph Prayer to Sell a House (and the Statue Custom)

Catholics have long asked St. Joseph, the head of the Holy Family and the patron of homes and families, for help in selling a house. Joseph knew what it was to look for a place to live: in Bethlehem there was no room at the inn, and he moved his family to Egypt and back to Nazareth. Below is a prayer to St. Joseph to sell your home, how to pray it as a novena, what the popular custom of burying a St. Joseph statue means (and what the Church says about it), and prayers for finding a new home.

A prayer to St. Joseph to sell a house

Written for this page:

St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family,
you found shelter for Jesus and Mary in Bethlehem, in Egypt and in Nazareth.
I ask your help to sell this house (name the address, if you wish).
Lead the right buyer to it, at a fair price and at the right time,
and guide every step of the sale, the paperwork and the move.
Bless the family who will live here next,
and help us to find the home God has prepared for us.
I trust in your fatherly care. St. Joseph, pray for us. Amen.

The Memorare to St. Joseph

A short traditional prayer to St. Joseph, from Father Lasance’s With God (1911):

Remember, O most pure spouse of the blessed Virgin Mary, my sweet protector, St. Joseph!
that no one ever had recourse to thy protection or implored thy aid without obtaining relief.
Confiding therefore in thy goodness, I come before thee, and humbly supplicate thee.
Oh, despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer, but graciously receive them.
Amen.

How to pray a St. Joseph novena to sell a house

Pray the prayer above, the Memorare to St. Joseph, and an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be every day for nine days.
Add the classic prayer “To thee, O blessed Joseph” below, which the Church especially recommends during October.
If the house has not sold, begin again: many families keep praying until the sale closes, then make a novena of thanksgiving.

Or pray the full nine-day St. Joseph novena.

To thee, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction and, after imploring the help of thy most holy spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also.
By that affection which united thee to the immaculate virgin Mother of God, and by the fatherly love with which thou didst embrace the infant Jesus, look down, we beseech thee, with gracious eyes on the precious inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His blood, and help us in our necessities by thy powerful intercession.
Protect, O most provident guardian of the Holy Family, the elect children of Jesus Christ;
ward off from us, O most loving father, every contagion of error and corrupting influence;
be propitious to us from heaven, O most powerful protector, in this our struggle with the powers of darkness;
and as thou didst once rescue the child Jesus from the greatest peril to His life, so now defend God’s holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity.
Finally, shield every one of us with thy patronage, that, imitating thy example and strengthened by thy help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting happiness in heaven.
Amen.

The St. Joseph statue custom

Many people who sell a house bury a small statue of St. Joseph in the yard, often upside down near the “For Sale” sign, and dig it up after the sale to give it a place of honor in their new home. The custom is popular, especially in the United States, and “St. Joseph home sale kits” are sold in many stores.

It is a folk custom, not a practice of the Church. There is nothing wrong with keeping a statue of St. Joseph as a sign of your prayer, but the statue has no power of its own. The Catechism warns that it is superstition “to attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand” (CCC 2111). What helps is prayer and trust in St. Joseph’s intercession.

If you choose to use a statue:

Treat it with respect. Many Catholics prefer to stand it upright in a window or on a shelf facing the street instead of burying it.
Make it a reminder to pray, not a charm.
After the sale, keep it in your new home and thank St. Joseph.

A prayer for buying a new home

Lord, you know our needs better than we do.
Lead us to a home where we can live in peace,
raise our family, welcome friends and serve you.
Give us wisdom in our choices and patience in the waiting. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. Once you move in, ask a priest to bless the house, or bless it yourselves with the Epiphany house blessing.

Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.

A prayer of thanks after the sale

Thank you, St. Joseph, for your help in selling our home.
Thank you, Lord, for every grace in this new beginning.
Bless the new owners, and bless our new home. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page.

Frequently asked questions

Does the St. Joseph statue really sell houses?

No statue sells a house. St. Joseph can intercede for you, and God hears your prayer, but burying a statue is not a guarantee. Pray with trust, and use the custom only as a sign of that prayer.

Is it disrespectful to bury a St. Joseph statue upside down?

Many Catholics find it so. The Church has no official rite for it. If it troubles you, simply keep the statue upright in your home and pray.

Who is the patron saint of houses?

St. Joseph, as protector of the Holy Family. He is also the patron of families, workers, fathers and a happy death.

More St. Joseph prayers

Texts and sources

Memorare to St. Joseph and “To thee, O blessed Joseph”: F. X. Lasance, With God (1911), Devotions to St. Joseph, public domain (Wikisource).
Scripture: Psalm 126:1 (Psalm 127 in modern Bibles), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2111.
The other prayers were written for this page.