This is a RSS file. Copy the URL into your aggregator of choice. If you don't know what this means and want to learn more, please see: http://platial.typepad.com/news/2006/04/really_simple_t.html for more info. http://www.platial.com Catholic Social Teachings; and to share ideas and initiatives with us. Here's a one example, plus a 60 second video, inviting real estate consumers to honor St. Joseph by responding to the needs of millions of AIDS orphans. According to the executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, "orphaned children remain the most orphaned element of the global AIDS response. The UN estimates that there will be 20 million children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS by 2010, and only 3 to 5 percent of these children receive any care and support." Against that backdrop, the ultimate goal of this interactive map is to create a meeting place for those who believe spirituality and spiritual practice, from every faith tradition, have a place in real estate; and to share the diversity of those expressions on an interactive map which reflect our collective geography of faith or our spiritual home. Between March 19th and May 1st, the two Catholic feast days devoted to St. Joseph, we invite: (1) Boggers to link their posts to the map: and (2) Religious bookstores and websites who sell St. Joseph to place a link, banner ad, or Widget on your website. (Better yet, post a regional version of this map to your site, so your clients can add the location of their home and personal testimony using photos, audio, or video directly to the map); and (3) Fellow real estate philanthropists (like RealtyBridge.com and DonateAtClosing.org) who can use the St. Joe 2.0 map to invite millions of home buyers and sellers to "give a percent of the proceeds from your sale" to a charitable cause as recommended by Author Stephen Binz in his book, St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent (see page 111). To help everyone get started, we've set Platial's new Slider to automatically locate existing churches, hospitals, schools, and other places which use the keyword: "St. Joseph." Contact The Real Estate Cafe at realestatecafe [at] gmail [dot] com for more details, or call us at 617-661-4046. NEWS FLASH: Special thanks to Inman News for their article: 'St. Joe 2.0' samples the many forms of faith. Readers are invite to participate in one of our upcoming LIVE chats to discuss the article or map. ]]> http://www.platial.com/post/1099446 36.956607 -122.02505 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:38:18.506636+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/2292160 Tags: St. Joseph, St. Joseph statues

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]]> 41.516764 -81.677714 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-11-08 06:11:16.578125+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1091547 37.640139 -120.995891 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 06:51:20.531501+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099434 514-733-82111 For English version of website, use this link: http://www.saint-joseph.org/en_1078_index.asp

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]]> 45.493851 -73.620046 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:34:15.573932+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099450 978-458-6346

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]]> 42.646313 -71.309788 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:40:34.383875+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099495 314-231-9407

St. Peter Claver’s Miracle
http://www.shrineofstjoseph.org/peterclaver.htm

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]]> 38.616937 -90.201834 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:59:20.063042+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1089320 11/29/06

Blogger: Author: Linda Davis
http://activerain.com/lindadavis

As a catholic, I can understand the connection between St. Joseph and praying for a home sale. St. Joseph is the patron saint of homes. I can't figure out why he needs to be buried upside down but I suspect he does have a sense of humor. I don't consider it blasphemous or superstitious; I actually do believe it works. 2 million or so St. Joseph statues sell each year and I gather many of them end up buried. Right after I wrote my first blog on the subject, one of my home sellers gave it a try and their home sold a week later....to a minister. I really don't make these things up.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 41.42818 -72.084188 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-19 16:23:04.593643+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1089744 3/19/07

Pull quote:
Having trouble selling your home? Why, you definitely need some sort of good-luck charm or witchcraft, like a rabbit's foot or a spell that turns prospective buyers who decline to bid into a newt. Or you can go for that time-tested superstitious charm, the St. Joseph statue.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 39.950202 -75.165915 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-19 20:27:18.083843+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1089856
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Today is the Feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. There is a racket in St. Joseph’s statues where people bury them to sell houses. Using blessed statues and making a prayer for assistance might be an example of Catholic faith. However, could it not be easily corrupted for purposes of GREED? When does a practice of FAITH become SUPERSTITION?

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]]> 38.866583 -76.862793 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-19 20:53:14.840061+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1091553 3/19/07
Blogger: Brian Madigan
http://www2.blogger.com/profile/11691797058615876338

Pull quote:

The practice of burying a plastic St. Joseph to help speed the sale of a home dates at least to 1984 in the U.S.A. In 1990 it seemingly became all the rage, with realtors buying plastic saints' statues by the gross. The standard practice calls for the statue to be dug up once the property has sold and placed on the grateful seller's mantle or in another place of honor. Some, however, who have trouble remembering where they interred their statues prefer to leave the buried saints where they've been placed to help protect the properties for the new owners. (Which may not work all that well — some believe leaving the statue underground will cause the land to continue changing hands.)

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 43.694085 -79.747415 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 07:13:31.492989+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1091594 8/31/004

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Stephen J. Binz believes it works. The author of "St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent," he became a believer when his own house had been on the market for seven long months. Upon the advice of his Presbyterian real estate agent, Binz buried a St. Joseph statue in his yard. "I thought it was a rather ridiculous superstition," says Binz, a practicing Catholic. But a week later, he had an offer and sold the house. Binz now says it's only a superstition if you treat it like one. "The distinction between superstition and devotion is created by the person doing it," says Binz. In other words, if you simply bury St. Joseph and count on that to sell the house, then it's superstition. If you do it as an act of faith, then it's devotion.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 26.847084 -80.060211 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 07:24:23.287694+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1091641 3/20/00

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Does doing all this guarantee that St. Joseph will sell your house? Of course not. It's a silly superstition. But 2 million St. Joseph statues are sold nationally each year with enough testimonials from satistified home sellers to make believers out of many. I'll confess that as I write this, I'm staring out my window at the lovely new statue of St. Joseph and his family we placed in our back yard. When I buried him at our old home (which I sold myself), we had our buyer within a week.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 41.890865 -87.627616 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 07:31:23.599591+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1091732 8/22/06

Blogger: Ardell DellaLoggia
http://www.raincityguide.com/author/ARDELL

Pull quote:

We haven’t heard about this custom for quite awhile because it has been a seller’s market. But based on Inman News giving the custom some attention recently, it looks like St. Joseph may be making a comeback. To Bill Wendel at The Real Estate Cafe, try not to think of all of the agents buying 100 statues at a time and using it as a “gimmick”. Think of my lovely story, and how St. Joseph, while standing on his head, brought some comfort to some very nice people in need of his gentle touch.br>TEXT: See link below, includes extensive comments

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]]> 47.637223 -122.162121 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:52:03.023656+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093556 3/14/07

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Though not on the fast track to canonization ourself, Unreal was delighted to find the Patron Saints Index (www.catholic-forum.com/SAINTS/patron00.htm) and learn that there are saints for damn near everything. There's Lydwina of Schiedam, patron saint of roller skating; and Julian the Hospitaller, who protects circus workers. In a city where residents regularly bury statues of St. Joseph in hopes of getting a good real estate deal, Unreal offers the Boston of the Midwest a quiz:

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 38.655915 -90.304434 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 16:39:02.815789+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093558 3/17/07

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It was a typical weekday afternoon at the Long Island Catholic Supply store in Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y. A few teenagers stopped in to get bracelets reading "WWJD?" - or "What Would Jesus Do?" - and adults hoping to sell their houses purchased miniature statues of St. Joseph, the patron saint of real estate.
What the customers weren't buying stood out. No one stopped for a Pope Benedict XVI plaque or a Pope Benedict book, or by the cash register for a Pope Benedict commemorative coin.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 37.926877 -122.024201 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 16:45:02.192064+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093692 3/19/07

Pull quotes:

"When things get bad, people get religious," said Daniel Castonguay, who runs Abbott Church Goods on Route 38 in Cherry Hill and also operates ourfather.com. "When the real estate market gets soft, people hear about it from friends and Realtors. We've even had Jewish people come in for them and joke that they'll convert if it works."

Walton said burying St. Joseph statues is not part of church teaching. He said the statue is just a reminder of something spiritual.

"The church teaches that saints can make prayerful intercession," Walton said. "The communion of saints can be efficacious. God answers prayers, but it may not be the answer you're expecting."

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 39.940013 -75.051343 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 16:59:28.502442+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093700 3/11/07

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The Rev. Michael Najim, assistant vocation director for the Diocese of Providence, says burying a statue of St. Joseph hoping to sell a house “borders on superstition,” which the church does not support. But he says the prayer that’s supposed to be used with the statue recognizes “a deeper reality: People believe in the power of prayer. And people asking St. Joseph, the protector and provider of the Holy Family, to intercede for them is a wonderful Catholic practice.”

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 41.823873 -71.415591 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:55:25.761665+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093814 8/20/97

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Thomas Farrell, 40, the owner of Our Daily Bread, a Catholic supply store in Sayville, N.Y., says he frowns on the practice because he thinks it has crossed into the realm of mysticism and superstition. Farrell says he often counsels shoppers to simply recite a short, heartfelt prayer requesting St. Joseph's intercession to sell their homes.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 29.948719 -90.067134 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:42:16.895214+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099460 908-647-0208

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]]> 40.681577 -74.485767 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:47:19.171134+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099488 215-923-1733

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]]> 39.946291 -75.147136 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 14:53:28.588313+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099723 26.986435 -82.100387 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 17:51:27.826286+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099776 40.892093 -85.485293 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 17:57:53.997165+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1099780 39.112906 -84.516624 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-21 18:10:48.283616+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1089311 8/20/06

Pull quotes:

The tradition of burying St. Joseph statues started about 500 years ago in Europe, according to Cates. An order of nuns, needing more land for a convent, buried their St. Joseph medals in the ground. They got the land, and word spread. The medals eventually turned into statues, and Joseph, a carpenter, who with Jesus and Mary makes up the Holy Family, became the unofficial saint of real estate.

The church takes no formal position on the statues — "It is not official church practice," said Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston. "It is more of a personal tradition for some people."br> But Angele Fillion, a clerk at the St. Joseph the Worker Shrine, calls the practice akin to voodoo.br> "It’s not the statue, it’s the faith that makes it work," said Fillion, who said she frequently has to restrain herself from coming on too strong about the importance of prayer to troubled homeowners who enter the shop looking for the statues — and little else. FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 42.314337 -71.04772 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:59:27.671569+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1090190 11/30/07

Blogger: Justin Smith
http://www.hismove.com/about_us.htm

Pull quote:

Last November, we were approached by Broderick Perkins, who was at the time doing a story on the Joseph statue phenomenon. I guess he thought that we would have some insight being that we are a Christian company… but I think he was surprised when we told him that we thought the whole thing was ridiculous.br> Although controversial, Joseph was not a real estate agent, and burying his likeness in the ground will NOT help your home sell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against praying(to God) for your home to sell… but trusting in a statue to help you sell?? I’ll just use an “above ground” real estate agent, thank you.


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]]> 33.814025 -117.821128 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:54:35.921949+00:00 http://www.platial.com/post/1093800 2/25/07

Pull quote:

Sales plummeted more than 20 percent in the county section of her ZIP code last year. For a while, she despaired. She buried not one but two statues of St. Joseph -- the Catholic patron saint of carpenters who is also thought to help with home sales -- in her yard. In the end, Bond lowered her price about $68,000 to $482,000, more than her $400,000 townhouse but not as much as she had expected.

FULL TEXT: See link below

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]]> 39.295049 -76.612709 platialUser:realestatecafe 2007-03-20 17:27:16.668894+00:00