Article: As soon as you bury the statue, you should say a prayer to St. Joseph, asking for his intercession. The exact prayer can vary, and you can go with a pre-written prayer or a prayer from your own heart.  Some prayers “threaten” St. Joseph, essentially stating that he should sell your home for you if he wants to get out of the ground. These prayers somewhat undermine the value of asking for intercession, however, so they are generally not preferred. Consider using a simple, humble prayer, like the following: "O Blessed St. Joseph, tenderhearted father, faithful guardian of Jesus, chaste spouse of the Mother of God, I pray you to join with me in praising God the Father through his divine Son who died on the cross and rose again to give us sinners new life. Through the holy name of Jesus, pray that we may obtain from the eternal Father the favor we ask for: our home sale. We have been unfaithful to the unfailing love of God the Father; beg of Jesus mercy for us his brothers and sisters. Amid the splendors of God's loving presence, do not forget the sorrows of whose who weep. By your prayers and those of your most holy spouse, our blessed Lady, may the love of Jesus answer our call of confident hope. Amen." While saying a single prayer at the time of burial is good, repeating a prayer for intercession each day from that point on demonstrates a greater degree of faith and earnestness. You can say the same prayer each day or offer a different one. Instead of saying a standard prayer each day, you could try saying a novena. A novena is a set of prayers recited over the course of nine days. There are different variations, but essentially, you say a different prayer each day and follow each prayer with an “Our Father.” Consider using the following novena:  Day One: O God, guide of those who listen and helper of those who hear your voice, speak to me, as you did to St. Joseph, and help me accomplish the things you give me to do. Day Two: O God, you love your people and bless the ordinary lives we quietly live. As you blessed St. Joseph, bless what I do, however hidden and simple it may be, and let all I do be done with love. Day Three: O God, ever faithful, you remember us always and in time reveal your blessings. Help me trust in you, as St. Joseph faithfully trusted, and never let me lose faith in the wonderful gifts you promise me. Day Four: God of families, bless the family that's mine. Keep us safe from harm, and never let evil come between us. Let peace remain in our hearts. Day Five: O God, who loves children, be kind to our children today. Give them eyes of faith for seeing far, a loving heart for welcoming life, and a place always at your side. Day Six: God of our heavenly home, bless our home on earth. Let the spirit of Mary and Joseph rest at our table, shape our words and actions, and bring blessing to our children. Day Seven: God, our Father, give your fatherly spirit to those who are fathers now. Like Joseph, give them hearts of devoted love for their wives and children and strength for forgiveness and patience. Day Eight: Give shelter, O God, to those who need it, and bring together families divided. Give us enough to eat, and decent work to earn our bread. Care for us, O God. Day 9: Bless all families, O Lord, especially those in need. Remembering the life of your Son, we pray for the poor, for those who lack a good home, for those in exile. Grant them a protector like Joseph, O God.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Pray upon burial. Say a prayer each day until the house sells. Try a nine-day novena.
Article: If your clay is only slightly hard, you may be able to soften it just by warming and kneading it with your hands. Before you start kneading the clay, hold the clay in your hands to warm it. You can also warm it using the heat of your body by sitting on top of it.  Warmth helps to revitalize the clay. If your clay is only a little bit hard, you may be able to restore its softness just using body heat. No matter what method you use to soften clay, always warm it first. If the clay is especially hard, you may need to use a heat source to soften the clay. Lay a hot water bottle over your clay for twenty minutes to help soften it.  You can also use a heat lamp, but be sure to not heat the clay over body temperature. This can cause the clay to start to bake, which will make it unusable. Additionally, you can put the clay in the microwave for 10-second spurts until it is warm. Once the clay has softened, roll it between your hands in a snake shape, then roll it into a ball. Rolling the clay creates friction, which helps to soften it. You can also cut the clay into small pieces, then roll it. If the clay is still too hard to roll with your hands, you may need to use more force. Lay the piece of clay on a clean cutting board or on the counter, then press down on the clay to flatten it out as much as you can. Then roll the clay out with a rolling pin. After you roll it out, it should be warm enough to roll with your hands. If your clay is too hard to roll out with a rolling pin, you will need a large amount of force. Break the clay up into as small of pieces as you can, then place the clay pieces in a sealed plastic bag. Wrap the bag with a cloth and put it on the floor or on the cement or pavement outside.  Use a rubber mallet to pound on the clay for several minutes. Using the mallet will break up the clay and add friction which will make it softer. After you have used the rubber mallet, take the clay out of the bag and roll it with your hands into a ball. After you have rolled the clay, knead the clay with your hands on a counter just as you would with dough. Use as much force as you need to pull apart and reshape the clay.  Kneading the clay ensures that you handle the entire surface area of the clay. You can also use a clay-kneading machine if you don’t want to knead by hand.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Warm the clay with body heat. Warm the clay using a heat source. Roll the clay in your hands. Roll with a rolling pin. Hit the clay with a mallet. Knead the clay.