The Feast of St. Joseph

March 19 was the Feast of St. Joseph.  Since this feast day is a solemnity (the highest order of feast day in the church) and we have two namesakes in our family, I wanted to make this day a special one in our home as part of our participation in the liturgical year.

The most notable tradition for this day is the St. Joseph Table, a custom which originated in Italy.  The festivities are marked by copious amounts of food and an even greater amount of hospitality.  The St. Joseph table has three tiers which represent Jesus, Mary and Joseph as well as the Holy Trinity and it is filled with food and symbols of St. Joseph.

Since this is a solemnity, we are not required to fast or abstain, even though it falls on a Friday in Lent. Nay, we are exhorted to feast!

I made Pane de San Guissepe, cream puffs, baked spaghetti with "sawdust" (breadcrumb) topping.  We had lilies, carpenter's tools, a bible, a monstrance, ladder, candle and statue of St. Joseph.  Since this is our first year doing a St. Joseph's altar, I tried to not get too carried away with everything, but I hope that our celebration continues to grow and I envision eventually having a larger altar and making it a day to celebrate with other Catholic families with a big potluck meal, especially when the feast day falls on a weekend. 

Our St. Joseph Altar

Pane de San Guiseppe in symbolic shapes: palm, cross, palm, staff of St. Joseph, artichoke.

Baked Spaghetti with sawdust (which I forgot to take a picture of before we ate half of it!)

Cream Puffs  (every time I eat one of these I am just tickled that I actually made it.  These were always such a special treat growing up, reserved for the most important holidays.   If there were some chocolate on top, I'd have eclairs!  They are not as difficult to make as I would have imagined.)

Our dinner table, with a special guest.