St. Joseph’s Day "Festa di San Giuseppe"
- Jody Valet
- Mar 22
- 6 min read
The St. Joseph’s Table is a centuries-old Sicilian tradition celebrated on March 19th, the feast day of St. Joseph. Sicilian immigrants who settled in the North End of Kansas City in the late 1800s were the pioneers who introduced this celebration to the area. Initially, people prepared St. Joseph’s Tables in their own homes. In 1964, Mary Fasone organized the first St. Joseph’s Table at Holy Rosary, and all the other parishes soon followed suit. This cherished tradition continues to thrive today.
Devotion to St. Joseph has significant roots in early Christian communities, honoring him as the husband of Mary, foster father of Jesus, protector of the Holy Family, and Patron of Carpenters and Workers. Italians, especially Sicilians, have a strong devotion to him, stemming from a historical drought in Sicily that led to famine. In their desperation, people prayed to St. Joseph for rain and were blessed with a bountiful harvest.
Following this, a feast was organized to honor St. Joseph, featuring an altar adorned with foods, pastries, and flowers, with his statue at the center. The poor and needy were the guests of honor, reflecting gratitude and the spirit of sharing. This celebration, known as St. Joseph's Table, has become a cherished yearly tradition in Sicily and among Sicilian communities worldwide.
The St. Joseph’s Table is a celebration rooted in personal experiences of favors and blessings, such as healing and the safe return of loved ones. Preparation starts weeks in advance, featuring a variety of meatless Italian dishes since it occurs during Lent and highlights seasonal fruits,
vegetables, and seafood.
The Table is typically arranged in three levels to honor the Holy Trinity. It is elegantly decorated with symbolic breads shaped to represent Jesus' Crown of Thorns, the Cross, St. Joseph's cane, or the Sacred Heart.
Various platters of sweets are displayed, including cannoli, cuccidati (fig cookies), giuggiulena (sesame seed cookies), tetù (Sicilian chocolate spice cookies), scalidis (fried cookies), ravasani (anise-flavored cookies that are boiled and then baked), and pignolata (fried dough dipped in honey and topped with nuts or sprinkles).
There are also biscotti flavored with anise, lemon, almond, and vanilla, along with many other delicious cookies and cakes. Cakes are creatively shaped like lambs, Bibles, crosses, or angels. Additional desserts such as cream puffs and Sfingi di San Giuseppe are included, as well as a selection of fresh fruits.
In addition, the Table features vegetables such as asparagus, eggplant, and Swiss chard. It offers dishes like froscia (a Sicilian frittata made with eggs and vegetables), sfincione (Sicilian pizza), stuffed artichokes, and a variety of seafood, including shrimp, lobster, and octopus.
The main entrée is Pasta Milanese topped with breadcrumbs representing St. Joseph's sawdust. Fava beans, symbolizing good luck, are given to patrons of the Table. According to tradition, these beans saved many lives during a famine. They grew wild under harsh conditions and were often used as livestock feed. During the famine, many people resorted to eating fava beans to stave off starvation, which is why they symbolize good fortune. It is believed that carrying three fava beans in your pocket will ensure you do not go hungry.
Three children, selected to represent the Holy Family, are seated at a special table where they proceed to taste a small portion of each food item. This can be a solemn moment accompanied by prayers and singing. Once the Holy Family has dined, all guests partake in the joyous celebration.
The St. Joseph’s Table celebration begins on March 18th, the feast's vigil, with the blessing of the Table. The Table remains open for viewing, and people can purchase cookies and cannoli. On March 19th, we honor St. Joseph with a special Mass in the morning followed by a lunch of Pasta Milanese. Viewing of the Table and the sale of cookies and cannoli continue all day. All money raised at the Tables goes to support the parishes and the needy in the community.
Traditionally, St. Joseph's Tables are celebrated on the feast day, but many churches now hold the event on the weekend and limit it to one day to allow more parishioners to participate.
Many of our traditions have died out over the years, but our devotion to St. Joseph remains unwavering. Sadly, many of the keepers of this beautiful tradition have passed away over the last few years. These keepers were the men and women who worked tirelessly each year to bake cookies and create stunning works of art. This loss is deeply felt in our community, as there are fewer St. Joseph's Tables around Kansas City each year. Please help preserve this tradition by passing it down to your children and grandchildren and getting involved.
Viva San Giuseppe!
St. Thomas More, 2012
Left to Right: Theresa Risalvato Occhipinti, Giovanni Risalvato, Patsy Risalvato, Geraloma Ancona Risalvato.
THE HOME OF Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Principe
Courtesy of Marirose Principe Seferovich
Mary Fasone
organized the first St. Joseph's Table held in a church in Kansas City at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in 1964.
Pictured: The first St. Joseph’s Table at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. 03-19-1964
Emmy award-winning television host, best-selling cookbook author, and restauranteur Lidia Bastianich visited Holy Rosary in March 2011. Holy Rosary appeared in episode 112 (Kansas City/New Orleans Father’s Day) of Lidia’s television show, Lidia’s Italy in America, which airs on PBS. Lidia also wrote about her visit to Holy Rosary in her book, Lidia’s Italy in America. Here’s what Lidia had to say about her visit to Holy Rosary:
“When we decided to open Lidia’s in Kansas City in 1998, in the Freight House, in the Crossroads Arts District, near Crown Center, it was our first venture outside of New York City. I get asked all the time: why Kansas City? It is smack in the middle of America, and, after all, we wanted to share our product, traditional Italian food, with America beyond New York. Little did we realize how effective the Italian immigrants before us had been in bringing Italian culture and food to Kansas City.
Columbus Park served as Kansas City’s Italian neighborhood; it is not far from the city center, with the Missouri River defining one of the neighborhood’s boundaries. Columbus Park was the area in which many immigrants got off the riverboat; many Italian immigrants came to Kansas City between 1890 and 1920 to work on the railroad and in the meat-packing industries, and Columbus Park became the Italian ethnic neighborhood, full of mainly Sicilian immigrants.
I wanted to know the history of the Italians before me in Kansas City, so, on a misty March morning, Tanya and I went to Columbus Park to see what Italian heritage was still there. We were told to visit Scimeca’s Italian Sausage Co., which had been making sausages for over seventy-five years, and La Rocca Grocery. Mike greeted us at La Rocca’s, but it is Joseph La Rocca who runs the shop, with his two nephews Mike and Frank. One could see, from all the blackand-white pictures on the wall, that the store had a family story to tell. The story was of Italy, of Italian food products needed by the immigrants, and now by stores and restaurants selling and cooking Italian.
The La Roccas were very generous with their time and information, so much so that Mike walked us two blocks over to the Holy Rosary Church, which is the epicenter of all things Italian in the neighborhood. The ladies of the church still put on quite an Altar for St. Joseph’s Day, and, as luck would have it, we were visiting in March, a few days before St. Joseph’s. When Mike La Rocca took us to the Holy Rosary Church, he showed us the basement, where about fifty of the local Italian women and men were busy baking, icing, and molding the cakes and cookies that would decorate St. Joseph’s Altar. We could have been in Sicily, the setting was so real and intense.”
Junior Bradley, Vivian Gentile, Rosalie George, Lidia Bastianich, Marie Brancato, Rose Guastello, & Deva Flahive 2011
Junior Bradley, Vivian Gentile, Rosalie George, & Lidia Bastianich 2011
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