my loving protector

I ain't religious.
I AM superstitious.

so should I credit the successful sale of my house in Dallas to faith or luck?

I heard about the Catholic tradition of burying a statue of Saint Joseph in your yard to sell your house from a co-worker who had friends who swore by it. Since I never got even one offer when I had the house on the market for 9 months in 2004 I thought I would take help wherever I could find it.

I bought an "official" St. Joseph House-Selling kit, which included this tiny plastic statue of said saint, a page of instructions, and a prayer card. Per instructions I buried the statue and every day made a special point to recite the prayer, which is really rather a poetic request:

Remember, o most illustrious patriarch St. Joseph, on the testimony of St. Teresa, thy devoted servant, never hath it been heard that anyone who has invoked thy protection or sought thy mediation has not obtained relief. In this confidence I come before thee, my loving protector, chaste spouse of Mary, foster-father of the Saviour of men, and dispenser of the treasures of His Sacred Heart. Despise not my earnest prayer, but graciously hear and obtain my petition.

I used the prayer card to recite the proper words and after a few days I had them memorized. After two weeks there had been 11 showings of the house and I had an offer. I continued to recite the prayer daily, sometimes more than once, and yesterday the house was sold.

Oddly, this transaction occurred on the anniversary of the date I was "saved" by "asking Jesus into my heart" in 1972. I remember this date because a lot of strange things happened afterward relating to the day. I'll just say my relationship with Jesus ended badly and I haven't practiced religion for many many years.

Christians might say this occurrence is God manifesting himself to me.
Some eastern-religion-fan might say the prayer was really a mantra in disguise.
My new-age friends might say my focus on the prayer was really me focusing my energy away from the worry of selling the house thus preventing negative energy blocking the way.

Some might say it's Fate.