On 19 March, the feast of Saint Joseph, in many places in Sicily, Apulia and Calabria homes open up to an ancient rite. Great altars or tables are set up, laden with decorated breads, sweets, fruit, vegetables and traditional dishes; a few people are invited to lunch to play the Holy Family; food is offered to neighbours and to those in need. It is a feast of ritual generosity, born at a time of year when winter stores were running out and spring had not yet given its fruits.
The vow and the altar
At the origin of the table there is often a vow. A family, at a difficult moment, would promise Saint Joseph to prepare an altar in his honour. Once the trial was over, they fulfilled the promise, sometimes for a year, sometimes for a lifetime.
The altar was set up in a room of the house, often the largest. It was built in several tiers, covered with embroidered cloths, decorated with flowers, branches of bay and myrtle, candles and holy pictures. The food was arranged on the tiers in a precise order.
The food of the table
Saint Joseph's table is a triumph of food, but with some rules.
- No meat. The feast falls in Lent, and the table is meatless: fish, vegetables, pulses, eggs.
- Many breads. The votive breads, in various shapes, are the heart of the table.
- Seasonal vegetables and pulses. Fennel, artichokes, broad beans, chickpeas.
- Traditional sweets. In many areas Saint Joseph's sfince or zeppole are tied to this feast.
- Pasta. In Sicily pasta con le sarde or pasta con la mollica, sometimes sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs that recall sawdust, a symbol of the saint's carpentry trade.
The breads of Salemi
Among the most refined expressions of the tradition are the votive breads of Salemi, in the province of Trapani. They are true masterpieces of ephemeral art: small sculptures of bread depicting religious symbols, flowers, fruit, animals, work tools, letters and sacred figures.
Each shape has a meaning:
| Shape | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Flowering staff | Joseph's staff which, according to a tradition, blossomed as a sign of his election |
| Ladder, hammer, saw | The carpenter's tools |
| Fish | A very ancient Christian symbol |
| Birds and flowers | Spring and life reborn |
| Heart | Devotion |
The work takes days and involves the women of the family and the neighbourhood. The altars of Salemi, covered in breads and branches, are considered among the highest expressions of Sicilian folk art.
The "saints"
The central moment of the rite is the lunch of the saints. The family invites a few people, traditionally poor people or children, to play the Holy Family: an old man for Saint Joseph, a girl for the Madonna, a child for Jesus. In some areas the group is enlarged to other sacred characters.
The saints are welcomed with solemnity, often after a small re-enactment of the search for lodging: they knock at the door, are turned away, then finally welcomed. They sit at the table and are served first, tasting every course. The family treats them as sacred guests.
The meaning of the gesture
The lunch of the saints expresses a profound idea of popular Christian tradition: in the poor and the stranger one welcomes the sacred figure. The food offered is not humiliating charity, but honour paid to those who represent, for one day, the family of Nazareth.
The sharing of food
After the lunch of the saints, the food from the table is shared out: to neighbours, relatives, the poor of the village, passers-by. In some places the tables remain open to visitors all day. Nothing must go to waste, and everyone must be able to share in the abundance.
A seasonal rite of passage
19 March falls on the threshold of the spring equinox. Many scholars have stressed the coincidence: Saint Joseph's table celebrates abundance precisely when peasant larders were emptiest, and announces the rebirth of nature. The fires lit in some places on the evening of the eve, called by various names, strengthen this link with the seasonal passage.
In short
- On 19 March in Sicily, Apulia and Calabria altars and tables are prepared for Saint Joseph.
- The table often arises from a vow made at a difficult time.
- The votive breads of Salemi are masterpieces of ephemeral folk art.
- Poor people or children play the Holy Family and are served as sacred guests.
- The food is shared with everyone, in a rite of generosity on the threshold of spring.
