The St. Joseph Altar or St. Joseph Table is an old tradition from Sicily. The island was suffering from a horrific drought and the people prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph for relief. At last the rain came and the people rejoiced. Some time later, to show their gratitude, they prepared a table with a special assortment of foods they had harvested. After paying honor to St. Joseph, they distributed the food to the less fortunate.
The act of making an altar fulfills a promise made to St. Joseph for an answered prayer. The traditional St. Joseph Altar is constructed in the shape of the cross, with three levels honoring the Holy Trinity. A statue or picture of Joseph, often seen holding the baby Jesus stands at the center of the highest tier with flowers surrounding him. Most often the colors of red, white and green (the colors of the Italian flag) are displayed. Most altars have a basket where visitors can place written petitions. Each food on the altar has some traditional significance.
- Breads are baked in the shapes of ladders, saws and hammers, the carpenter tools, and so forth.
- Hard-boiled eggs are embedded in baked bread to symbolize the rebirth of spring and the coming of Easter.
- The breadcrumbs represent the sawdust of the carpenter.
- There are wreaths and a crown of thorns, palms branches, wheat, sacred heart, crosses, Joseph’s staff and the Monstrance.
- The whole baked fish represents the Miracle of the Multiplication of Loaves.
- Wine recalls the wedding feast at Cana.
- The fava bean, which was the only crop that survived the drought, is called the lucky bean.
- Fresh produces recalls the bountiful harvest that concluded the famine.
- There is no meat on a St. Joseph Altar because the Solemnity falls during the Lenten season of repentance, fasting, and abstinence.
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