Howard Beach celebrates
St. Joseph’s Day

In Italy, Father’s Day is not celebrated in June, but rather on March 19, feast day of St. Joseph.
Many Italians in Queens celebrate as well, and this year the Howard Beach Columbus Day Foundation will be hosting its first annual St. Joseph’s Day Celebration on Thursday, March 19 at Roma View, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“It [the feast day] is particularly important to Sicilians who celebrate in a big way,” said Dr. Joseph Scelsa, Professor Emeritus at Queens College, and President of the Italian American Museum and the Coalition of Italian American Associates, guest sponsors of the event.
Scelsa explained that today’s festivities, which include pastries such as sfingi and zeppole, are an “outgrowth of the tradition of giving.”
“It began as alms for the poor and being thankful for what you have,” he said.
Many even set up St. Joseph’s tables outside their homes with food for the poor that included figs and fig pie in honor of St. Lucy.
The tradition commemorates a time of famine in Sicily in the Middle Ages, when the people prayed to St. Joseph and the drought and famine came to an end.
According to the web site In Italy Online, “With the harvest, the people prepared a feast of foods from their crops. This has become known as the Tavola di San Giuseppe. Through the centuries, people who have prayed for a favor and been granted the favor use this festivity to show their thanks.”
Today, said Scelsa, the feast day has grown, and many of the faithful set up altars and shrines to St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who signifies “a good father, the strong, silent type.”
At the event on March 19, Scelsa said he would be speaking on the importance of St. Joseph, as well as handing out a fava bean to everyone in attendance.
During the time of famine, he explained, people sustained themselves on the legumes, and they “became like a talisman, a good luck charm.”
“A lot of people said this worked for them,” noted Scelsa, who believes so strongly in St. Joseph (especially since he is a namesake) that he signed for the purchase of the museum space on March 19 last year.
Tickets, including dinner, for the first annual St. Joseph’s Day Celebration are $40 per person. R.S.V.P. by March 11 to Terry at 718-805-2100.