Saint Joseph's Day, March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[1] It has the rank of a solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church; traditional Catholics celebrate it as a double of the first class. It is a feast in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious orders, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
March 19 was dedicated to Saint Joseph in several Western calendars by the tenth century, and this custom was established in Rome by 1479. Pope St. Pius V extended its use to the entire Roman Rite by his Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum (July 14, 1570). Since 1969, Episcopal Conferences may, if they wish, transfer it to a date outside Lent.[2]
Between 1870 and 1955, a feast was celebrated in honor of St. Joseph as Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, the latter title having been given to him by Pope Pius IX. Originally celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter with an octave, after Divino Afflatu[3] of St. Pius X (see Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X), it was moved to the preceding Wednesday. The feast was also retitled The Solemnity of Saint Joseph. This celebration and its accompanying octave was abolished during the modernisation and simplification of rubrics under Pope Pius XII in 1955. It is still maintained by Traditional Catholics. As the traditional holiday of the Apostles Ss. Philip and James, May 1, had faded from the memory of most Catholics by the mid-twentieth century, that of Joseph the Worker was created in order to coincide with the celebration of international Labour Day (May Day) in many countries. The feast of Ss. Philip and James, which had been celebrated on that date since the sixth century, was moved from its traditional place. In the new calendar published in 1969, the feast, which at one time occupied the highest possible rank in the Church calendar, was reduced to an optional Memorial, the lowest rank for a saint's day.[4]
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas.
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March 19 always falls during Lent, and traditionally it is a day of abstinence. This explains the custom of St. Joseph tables being covered with meatless, dairy-free, and eggless dishes.
If the feast day falls on a Sunday, it is observed on the next available day, usually Monday, March 20, unless another solemnity (e.g., a church's patronal saint) falls on that day. Since 2008, if St Joseph's Day falls during Holy Week, it is moved to closest possible day before 19 March, usually the Saturday before Holy Week. This change was announced by the Congregation for Divine Worship in Notitiae March–April, 2006 (475-476, page 96) in order to avoid occurrences of the feasts of St. Joseph and the Annunciation both being moved to just after the Easter octave. This decision does not apply to those using the 1962 Missal according to the provisions of Summorum Pontificum; when that missal is used, its particular rubrics must be observed.
In Sicily, where St. Joseph is regarded by many as their Patron Saint, and many Italian-American communities, thanks are given to St. Joseph ("San Giuseppe" in Italian) for preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages. According to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. The rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint. The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and is a traditional part of St. Joseph's Day altars and traditions. Giving food to the needy is a St. Joseph's Day custom. In some communities it is traditional to wear red clothing and eat a Sicilian pastry known as a zeppola on St. Joseph's Day.[5][6] Sweets are popular because St. Joseph is the patron saint of pastry chefs.[7]
Upon a typical St. Joseph's Day altar, people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, and cookies (as well as other meatless dishes), and zeppole. Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since St. Joseph was a carpenter. Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally no meat was allowed on the celebration table. The altar usually has three tiers, to represent the trinity.[6][8]
On the Sicilian island of Lipari, The St. Joseph legend is modified somewhat, and says that sailors returning from the mainland encountered a fierce storm that threatened to sink their boat. They prayed to St. Joseph for deliverance, and when they were saved, they swore to honor the saint each year on his feast day. The Liparian ritual is somewhat changed, in that meat is allowed at the feast.
Some villages like Belmonte Mezzagno used to burn wood and logs in squares on the day before St.Joseph, as thanksgiving to the Saint. This is called "A Vampa di San Giuseppe" (the Saint Joseph's bonfire).[6]
In Italy March 19 is also Father's Day.
This is one of the public holidays in Malta, known as Jum San Ġużepp. People celebrate mass in the morning, and in the afternoon go for a picnic. It is a liturgical feast in the localities of Kalkara, Manikata, Msida, and Qala, but the Maltese typical festa each of these localities celebrate it in a particular Sunday in summer. However, the city of Rabat celebrates the traditional Maltese feast on the 19th of March, where in the evening a procession is also held with the statue of St Joseph. On this day also the city of Żejtun celebrates the day, known as Jum iż-Żejtun (Zejtun's Day). In the past years the Żejtun Parish Church has celebrated these feast days with a procession with the statue of Saint Joseph.
In Spain, the day is a version of Father's Day. In some parts of Spain it is celebrated as Falles.
In the Philippines, many families keep a tradition in which an old man, a young lady, and a small boy are chosen from among the poor and are dressed up as St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the child Jesus, respectively. They are then seated around a table set with the family's best silverware and china, and served a variety of courses, sometimes being literally spoon-fed by the senior members of the family, while the Novena to St. Joseph is recited at a nearby temporary altar.
In New Orleans, Louisiana, which was a major port of entry for Sicilian immigrants during the late 19th century, the Feast of St. Joseph is a city-wide event. Both public and private St. Joseph's altars are traditionally built. The altars are usually open to any visitor who wishes to pay homage. The food is generally distributed to charity after the altar is dismantled.
There are also parades in honor of St. Joseph and the Italian population of New Orleans which are similar to the many marching clubs and truck parades of Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's Day. Tradition in New Orleans also holds that by burying a small statue of St. Joseph upside down in your front yard, your house will sell more promptly. In addition to the above traditions, some groups of Mardi Gras Indians stage their last procession of the season on the Sunday nearest to St. Joseph's Day otherwise known as "Super Sunday," after which their costumes are dismantled.[9]
In the Mid-Atlantic regions, Saint Joseph's Day is traditionally associated with the return of anadromous fish, such as striped bass, to their natal rivers, such as the Delaware.
Saint Joseph's Day is also celebrated in other American communities with high proportions of Italians such as New York City; Utica, New York; Buffalo; Kansas City, MO; Chicago;[7][10] Gloucester, Mass.; and Providence, Rhode Island, where observance (which takes place just after Saint Patrick's Day) often is expressed through "the wearing of the red", i.e., wearing red clothing or accessories similar to the wearing of green on Saint Patrick's Day. The observance of St Joseph's Day (and wearing of red) by Italian Americans communities which are also home to significant Irish American communities can take on the overtone of a challenge by the Italian Americans to the power and relevance of those Irish communities and Saint Patrick's Day.[11]
St. Joseph's Day is also the day when the swallows are traditionally believed to return to Mission San Juan Capistrano after having flown south for the winter.[12]