In a small annex of the kitchen at Piazza Sorrento in Hershey every March, AnnaMaria Collura carries out a custom passed on to her by her grandmothers in Sicily nearly 60 years ago – the baking of a special bread for a traditional St. Joseph altar.
It’s a tradition rooted in Sicilian culture since the Middle Ages, carried along by generations of Catholics into Italy and kept alive today by families like Collura’s.
Kneading the aromatic dough on a table in her restaurant’s kitchen, the aromatic licorice scent wafting from the anise seeds in the dense bread, Collura tells stories of her childhood in Sicily, where towns far and wide held great celebrations on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19.
“Stand next to me and I will show you how we make the bread,” Collura says in her Sicilian accent, uttering the same words her grandmothers spoke to her when she was a six-year-old kneeling at the table to receive the tradition.
Collura’s husband, Peter, and friends Manny and Antonio help work the dough into various shapes that reflect the lives of St. Joseph and Jesus – including a saw, a hammer, palm fronds, a hooked staff, a cross and a monstrance.
With a small blade, Collura adeptly slices patterns into the dough before it is left to rise and then transferred into waiting ovens. As Collura and her crew wait for the finished product, they enjoy pasta dishes and a glass of wine.
“Food is very much connected to our culture. I learned this from my grandmothers,” Collura said. “Making the bread and preparing the celebration for St. Joseph’s day was just like being in their kitchen as we learned to cook, making pasta, cutting onions, slicing tomatoes.”
For more than ten years, her family has been part of a crew of families that assemble the traditional St. Joseph altar and cook the meal for the Italian Apostolate’s annual Mass celebrating the saint’s feast day.
Again this year, the multi-layered altar was the centerpiece of the apostolate’s dinner reception after the Eucharistic celebration March 22 at St. Joan of Arc Church in Hershey. Standing more than six feet tall and seven levels high, the altar was decorated with breads, flowers, fruits, candles, candies and baked goods.
Gratitude for Blessings Given
The tradition of the St. Joseph altar can be traced to the Middle Ages. Plagued by a severe drought that spread famine throughout Sicily, the faithful people prayed that St. Joseph – the patron saint of workers – would intercede on their behalf and that rains would come to restore their crops, water sources and farm animals.
Their prayers were soon answered, and the people expressed their gratitude to St. Joseph by creating special altars filled with the foods they were now able to grow in abundance. After their celebrations, they distributed the food to the poor.
Over the centuries, the celebration of St. Joseph’s feast day spread throughout towns and generations in Sicily and Italy and expanded into daylong festivities. In Italy, Father’s Day is celebrated on St. Joseph’s feast day, March 19.
“Growing up, the celebration in my small town in Sicily was a big event every year, and it still is,” Collura said. “Children write and read their poems and prayers for St. Joseph and there is a prayer service. The kids dress up as different saints and have a procession. It’s a national holiday.”
Collura’s sister-in-law, Deb Rizzotto, was born in the United States but moved with her family to Sicily when she was nine years old; her father wanted to spend time with his parents there before they passed away.
“I can still remember the St. Joseph altars the people would build in their homes,” said Rizzotto, who spent nine years there. “On the feast day, I would get together with my friends, and we would go from house to house and celebrate with people. Then we’d have the big procession later in the day, with a marching band. The church bells would ring. It was a day-long celebration that would bring all the towns together.”
By tradition, the privilege of creating and hosting a St. Joseph altar is given to families who have received a special blessing in the past year. This adds to the communal aspect of the celebration, as townspeople visit the homes of families with altars and bring items to add, such as flowers, fruits and sweets.
“Families set up the altar in their living room and it’s done in thanksgiving for a grace given to you. For instance, if you prayed to God to open a door for a new job or had an illness and were cured, your family creates the St. Joseph altar as a way of giving thanks,” Rizzotto explained.
The altars take months to prepare, with families cutting wood and fashioning the altar, adding linens and decorating it with the symbolic items, including a picture of St. Joseph at the top. On the day of the celebration, it’s not uncommon for people in need to arrive dressed as apostles, where they are fed from the altar.
“It’s an overwhelming thing to see. It is very much bringing Scripture to life,” Collura said.
Traditions in a New Town
In Hershey, Collura has continued the tradition of the St. Joseph altar and its bread, pleased to find a significant Italian heritage alive and well and an Italian Apostolate hosting annual Masses in her native language for the Epiphany and St. Joseph’s feast day.
“It’s a joy that we have the Italian Mass and the Italian Apostolate. As someone who grew up in Sicily, I can say it means a lot for us, to celebrate our heritage this way,” said Collura.
She continues to share her Sicilian traditions with her children and grandchildren, including a grandson who was born on St. Joseph’s feast day five years ago.
“When I was little, I was close to my grandmother and we did many things together because she lived with us. It’s not the same today and there’s not as much time as we would like to have to hand on the tradition. It’s a different environment of commitments and work that families have today, but we are passing on the tradition as best we can. It’s the only way we can share it with the next generation,” Collura said.
“I have a great devotion to St. Joseph, because of my parents and grandparents. When I was asked to make the bread and the altar for the Italian Apostolate, I said yes with all of my heart,” Collura remarked. “It is just a joy and an honor. It reminds me always of my hometown and how we are still keeping this beautiful tradition alive.”
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
