Should We Hold Saints Divine Ransom? And Do Materials of Statues Affect Our Faith?

EcoJoe received his first public negative review 2 days ago via Amazon.

Here is what John said:

This will not work,

December 29, 2009

By

John

This goes against the tradition. What you are supposed to do is bury the saint in question (yes, this method works for other saints as well) upside down in the ground and, if your request is granted, you dig him up and put him on your shrine or altar. However, if your request is not granted, you keep him there until it is. It’s a form of “divine ransom”, so to speak.
A bio-degradable statue goes against the tradition and is utterly useless. I suggest you spend your money on a plaster statue and holy card with a novena rather than this kit.

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I personally just found that so fascinating.

Photo by twenty_questionsDo people really feel that they should “divine ransom” a saint? To Me, divine ransom means: “Hey you saint. I need to get my house sold, and if you don’t do it, you get to stay in the ground with worms and rotting plants. But hey, if you did sell my house to my liking, then you get to sit on a pretty shrine I made especially for you at home.” Really? Is it really how we should worship a divine being who foster fathered Jesus while he was on earth?

Our goal with this product is really to raise awareness about plastic usage and in the long run, decrease the amount of plastic statues being buried in the ground. Do you think St Joseph, a carpenter on earth, someone who worked with natural materials all day long and taught Jesus carpentry, would want to do harm to earth and our eco-systems? I would like to think not.

Photo by Lawrence OPIn additions, how would burying an eco-friendly statue becomes utterly useless? When they created tokens of worships centuries back, were there plastic readily available for mass production? No, people made statues out of natural materials and metal. So how, a St Joseph statue made out of clay, become utterly useless?

I feel that statues are just tokens of appreciation and a vehicle for you to express your faith to the divine beings that you are praying to. So why would an eco-friendly St Joseph statue become such an issue? If it only works because we pray to a certain kind of statues made from a certain kind of material, I suppose we should pray to statues made from gold and diamonds to show our appreciation?

Just my two cents here. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,

Cindy/ Founder & GM @ EcoJoe

Photo Credits (first photo): Photo by Lawrence OP

Related posts:

1. Who is EcoJoe™?
2. Which St. Joseph Statue to Buy?
3. 8.10.2009 VAR Buzz: They have a new St. Joseph, they made it out of clay
4. How Do You Bury St. Joseph Statue?
5. How to Buy EcoJoe™

3 Responses to “ Should We Hold Saints Divine Ransom? And Do Materials of Statues Affect Our Faith? ”

1. Mary Pope-Handy says:

   January 1, 2010 at 11:28 am

   John is correct in that the statues buried are not supposed to be bio-degradable. They are supposed to be of a lasting material precisely out of respect and because eventually the statue is to be put in a place of honor in the home. John is mistaken that it is an issue of ransom, though. Burying statues is not about luck, superstition, ransom or anything else along those lines. It’s actually about prayer and gratitude.

   There are many Catholic traditions around burying statues, medals, and holy objects in the ground. I know of one religious order of nuns who buried a medal of their foundress when their convent and grounds were threatened by a fire. But they didn’t just bury the medal – they prayed. The burying of the medal was simply a physical way of demonstrating their prayer.

   The same thing is true about burying the statue of St. Joseph or any other saint. It is much more about the prayer than about burying anything. The act of burying is simply a physical sign of the prayers being made. (Not a lot different than blessing oneself with holy water.)

   Finally, returning holy things to the earth is the proper way to dispose of many holy items when it is time to dispose of them (ashes of burned palms, holy water, etc.)

   Because the intention of burying a statue is supposed to be temporary, not disposal, it actually makes the most sense to have it be made of a permanent material so that it can be moved into the home later – intact and not partially decomposed.

   Reply
   • shopkeeper says:

     January 1, 2010 at 12:07 pm

     Mary, thank you so much! I love your response. I think we will tweak our next batch. Basically if EcoJoe is bio degradable or not depends on the firing temp of the kiln. When they fire the kiln to a certain high temp, the clay becomes non porous. Therefore the clay blocks the moisture from entering the body. The statues will still be Eco friendly but not bio degradable. 

     I definitely want to respect the traditions. 

     I’m very glad you weighted in on this matter. I’m always open to suggestions.  I definitely appreciate these comments. I think it’s pretty important to do what’s right, both environmentally and in the religious community. I don’t want to be one of those “Jesus is my homeboy” or “rollerskating Jesus” that while the products are fun but they add no values to anybody other than the product creator!

     xoxo,
     Cindy

     Reply
2. Mary Pope-Handy says:

   January 2, 2010 at 7:45 pm

   Thanks Cindy – you are the best!

   Happy New Year!

   Reply