The Feast Day of St. Joseph

The very day I was welcomed into the faith through baptismal waters, 

when I was given the name Maria to honor my Nonna, 

here was her letter telling me it all happened on the Feast Day of St. Joseph.

~An Ocean, an Airplane, and Two Countries Full of Kisses 

Today is the Feast Day of St. Joseph (and in Italy, Father's Day). St. Joseph is a big deal in our family; in fact, I dedicated an entire chapter to him in my book. Here is some information about this feast day which I posted in our Girls' Trip to Italy Facebook Group ...

I hope everyone had a blessed St. Patrick’s Day! While March 17 is celebrated with parades and everything green, in our family we celebrate another saint—St. Joseph—whose feast day is just two days later on March 19. The history of this feast day finds its roots many centuries ago in Sicily where, according to legend, a drought led to a wide-spread famine. In desperation the people prayed to St. Joseph asking for rain and promised to honor him if he interceded for them. The rains did come, and the fava bean was the crop which saved the people from starvation. In thanksgiving, the people of Sicily named San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) their Patron Saint and began honoring his feast day with a communal meal in which everyone was invited.

Today, the Feast Day of St. Joseph is not only celebrated in southern Italy, but also in many churches, parish halls, and Italian-American clubs across the U.S. There are many symbols and traditions associated with this feast day: the food is usually displayed on a three-tiered altar which not only represents the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), but also the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary, Jesus); a bowl of breadcrumbs represents the sawdust of Joseph, the carpenter; because the feast day occurs during Lent, the meal is usually meatless and features bread, cheese, pasta, fruit, and (of course) the fava bean; a popular dessert for St. Joseph's Day are cream puffs known as sfinge or zeppole; and the traditional color of this feast day is red.

Some years our family celebrates St. Joseph Feast Day quietly, while other years we host a huge party with family, friends, neighbors, and the parish priests. Last year I hosted our March Bunco, so I shared this feast day with my Bunco gals. This year, in which I published my book with an entire chapter dedicated to St Joseph, we are having a party. And like always, there will be the traditional reading of the history of this feast day, the viva S. Giuseppe toasts, the sprinkling of the breadcrumbs, and goody bags containing a prayer card and a fava bean (because it is believed that a pantry with even one fava bean will never be bare). 

St. Joseph

St. Joseph goody bags

A bowl of breadcrumbs represent sawdust of a carpenter

parties through the years

Last year I sent the older boys St. Joseph Feast Day boxes

The contents included: a small St. Joseph statue, prayer cards,
a published article I wrote on St. Joseph, the story behind the tradition,
a package of pasta, a container of breadcrumbs, and fava beans.