St. Joseph’s Day

BYJULIA ROMANO

The Feast of St. Joseph is a Roman Catholic feast day, celebrated every year on March 19, a tradition established by Rome back in 1479. The day commemorates the feast of St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Sicily, St. Joseph is recognized by many as their patron saint, as he is credited with preventing a famine in Sicily in the Middle Ages. As the people’s prayers to St. Joseph to end the famine were answered, a large feast was prepared to honor their savior.

Many people wear red on St. Joseph’s Day, also to honor the Italian Patron Saint, similar to the green attire seen on St. Patrick’s Day, two days earlier, for acknowledgement of their Patron Saint, St. Patrick.

In Italy, just like in other Mediterranean countries, such as Spain and Portugal, as well as some Southern American countries, la Festa del Papà happens on the 19th of March, the day Catholic tradition dedicates to the most iconic dad of them all: Saint Joseph.

Indeed, the roots of Italy’s Festa del Papà are religious, because of the association between fatherhood and the figure of Joseph, Christ’s “adoptive” father. His cult was solid in the East, before Benedictine monks brought it to the West and made it popular around 1030. Later in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, devotion to Saint Joseph was embraced also by the Servites in the 14th century and by the Franciscans, a century later. In the same period, the 1500s, Pope Sixtus IV introduced Saint Joseph’s worship officially into the Roman Calendar and, in 1871, he became the patron saint of fathers and of the Church. Saint Joseph’s Day used to be, up until the mid-1970s, a national holiday and not only a religious one, meaning people stayed home from work and kids didn’t go to school.

Also in Italy, San Giuseppe is the day dedicated to the protector of all fathers and, by extension, to all of our beloved papà. There are two things Italians do for the occasion — well, three, if you add getting silly socks and cookies for their dads: celebrating with bonfires and eating zeppole.

It is not unusual, in some parts of Italy, to see traditional Saint Joseph celebrations surrounded with bonfires. This is due to the fact that in ancient pagan tradition, the day was associated with the end of the winter, and therefore, with practices of purification and fertility, both symbolized by the cleansing power of fire. Our falò, so common in the countryside on this very day, are nothing more than a marker for the passage from winter to spring and the rebirth of Nature. In some areas, puppets — usually in the distasteful and unpleasant form of a hag — are burned: a way to say, “enough with cold winter, bring in the spring!”

One prominent custom is the Saint Joseph’s day altar, which spread from Sicily to the United States in the 1800s. These altars are typically elaborate; adorned with figurines, medals, and votive candles. The Saint Joseph’s day altar is divided into three sections representing the three persons of the Trinity, and has a statue of Joseph at its head. The tables are filled with food, which is donated to the poor. Upon a typical Saint Joseph’s Day altar, people put flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, and cookies, and zeppole. Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since Joseph was a carpenter. Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally there is no meat allowed on the celebration table.

St. Joseph is also the patron saint of many countries other than in the Americas and is celebrated in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, England, Korea, Malta, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Vietnam.

Some countries such as Italy, Portugal, and Spain celebrate St. Joseph’s Day and Father’s Day on the same day. Others, such as Poland, for example, regard St. Joseph’s Day as a special time for family and friends to gather. Sometimes, friends and family simply stop by to spread wishes of Wszystkiego najlepszego! (All the best!) and Sto lat! (A hundred years!) If gifts are given, they are usually flowers or chocolates and, sometimes, a little vodka for toasting.

Official Pastry of St. Joseph’s Day

Zeppole, a Neapolitan pastry created in the 1800s by Don Pasquale Pintauro, is the traditional Italian pastry eaten to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. Zeppole are baked or fried dough, typically (read further to see why filled with either cream or custard, then topped with powdered sugar and a cherry…delizioso!

While bakeries across the state are churning out the traditional varieties with fried dough, some take the seasonal favorite to the next level and offer their own, with versions that have many unique fillings such as Bailey’s Irish Cream,

Strawberries & Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Oreo Mousse, S’mores, and Ricotta Cheese.

In Little Rhody, bakeries up and down Atwells Avenue in Providence’s iconic Federal Hill neighborhood are most popular for this luscious and decadent Italian pastry they masterfully create every year, which is a celebration in itself. But, there are many other bakeries across our great state that will also satisfy and delight your zeppole craving.

Below are some of the best known RI bakeries, to experience a delectable zeppole pastry.

D. Palmieri’s Bakery

Johnston

621-9357

LaSalle Bakery

Providence

831-9563 (Smith Street)

228-0081 (Admiral Stree)t

Wright’s Dairy Farm North Smithfield

767-3014

Antonio’s Bakery Warwick 738-3727

Original Italian Bakery Johnston

919-5777

Pastryland Bakery Smithfield 949-0630

Scialo Bros. Bakery Providence 421-0986

DeLuise Bakery Providence 351-5826