Coming two days after the more widely — and raucously — celebrated St. Patrick's Day, Italian families would honor the patron saint of workers and the protector of the family by laying out "tables" of sweets, breads and greens. On a nearby credenza always stood a statue of St. Joseph, the child Jesus in one hand and a lily in the other.
The lily detail has a fascinating history. In the Protevangelium, an apocryphal gospel attributed to St. James, an angel reportedly requested that all the walking sticks of eligible widowers in greater Jerusalem be collected and brought to the Temple. Joseph's staff burst into flowers, just as Aaron's did in the Old Testament, signaling that he was to be Mary's groom. Statues of St. Joseph have included lilies ever since.
St. Joseph's Day itself was like an open house, with family and friends dropping by my grandmother Nani's, Aunt Mary's or mother's house, grabbing a bite to eat and coming and going as they pleased. Ideally, the parish priest would kick things off with a prayer to bless the table.
All this saintly celebrating so close to St. Patrick's Day didn't always sit well with my Irish friends. It was as though the Italians were encroaching on their calendared turf. In reality, though, St. Joseph's Day has been celebrated in the US for decades by families with roots in the old country, especially Sicily.
March 19, 2007
