2015 Table at Our Lady of Pompeii Chicago. The framework of a typical modern St. Joseph Table is organized by a parish church or Italian-based organization, powered by a tireless team of volunteers. The Table is set up in the form of a cross and draped in fabric. (Photo by Kathy Catrambone/for Chronicle Media)

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. And, everyone can be Italian on March 19, cherished by Italian Americans as St. Joseph Day.

Peppered for days surrounding the 19^th, depending on the day of the week it falls each year, you can find a St. Joseph Table (la Tavola di San Giuseppe in Italian) in the Chicago area. See the accompanying list for this year’s celebrations.

St. Joseph Day’s origins are rooted in medieval Sicily. The countryside had suffered a great drought, and the people prayed to St. Joseph to end it. St Joseph is said to have answered their prayers; the rains came and the crops were planted.

The people of Sicily celebrated the miracle by hosting a large feast with the crops they reaped, inviting less fortunate people — especially the homeless and the sick. The tradition is still practiced in Sicily and worldwide, especially in Italian American communities, but no longer just those of Sicilian descent.

St. Joseph is revered as a member of the Holy Family as Jesus Christ’s human father. In Italy, March 19 is Father’s Day. St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade and, therefore, is the patron saint of workers. And, of course, he is the patron saint of Sicily for the miracle.

The framework of a typical modern St. Joseph Table is thus: the Table is organized by a parish church or Italian-based organization, powered by a tireless team of volunteers.

The Table is set up in the form of a cross and draped in fabric. The head of the Table is decorated like an altar dominated by a statue of St. Joseph. Breads in the shape of crosses and other religious symbols are abundant. Donated homemade food is displayed, waiting to be served.

All dishes are meatless because March 19 always falls during Lent. And don’t forget the cakes, cookies and pastries. Cakes are often baked in the shape of crosses and prayer books. Amid myriad Italian pastries, special ones are zeppole (plural of zeppola), Italian fried dough filled with custard or fruit preserves and dusted with powdered sugar.

Zeppole are sold in Italian bakeries just before and on March 19, similar to the way Polish paczki are available before Ash Wednesday.

When you enter the room dominated by the St. Joseph Table, you may make a cash donation, which is given to local organizations that serve the poor. Some Table organizers request non-perishable food donations. You then usually get a holy card of St. Joseph and definitely a dish, a napkin, eating utensils and the opportunity to feast on a number of Italian dishes: various cooked and baked pastas; eggplant and other vegetables fried in olive oil or breaded and baked; fish; salad; pizza and a small glass of wine.
Mario Raspa and Mark Tortoriello have been volunteering for 10 years for the St. Joseph Table of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago’s oldest Italian church and located in the city’s Little Italy. Their responsibilities have grown over the years. Now, they both are the Table’s main architects and decorators, and Raspa is the event’s volunteer coordinator.

“St. Joseph is significant in the Italian culture,” he said. “I grew up going to St. Joseph Tables. It is a cultural experience, starting with the end of the drought in Sicily and evolving to the celebration for past blessings and giving to the poor in gratitude of those blessings.

“It is such a wonderful experience. People who attend the Table leave happy and impressed by the grassroots effort. The community really comes together.”

Dominic Candeloro, curator of the library at Casa Italia in Stone Park, said the St. Joseph Table celebration started as a Sicilian tradition, grew into an all-Italian tradition and now can be called a Catholic tradition.

Why so much devotion to St Joseph? “It is a festival of hospitality,” he said. “Before public celebrations, you had to be invited to a private home. Now Tables are open to the public.”

Sarah Abboreno Corbin’s family still carries on the tradition of hosting a St. Joseph Table in their Oak Park home.

“We have an open house St. Joseph’s feast,” she said. “We invite family and friends, and the more the better. We have had St. Joseph’s Tables off and on my whole life but we haven’t missed a year in the past eight years.”

The family’s interest in hosting a St. Joseph Table is fueled by Abboreno Corbin’s father’s childhood memories of celebrations in his Chicago Northwest Side neighborhood.

“Each house had their own table,” she said. The Salernos had a sweets table; the Abborenos had a pasta table; the Aliotos had bread and so on. The neighborhood went from house to house visiting each other’s tables.”

Now, in her family’s two-flat building, she said: “The upstairs is the sweets table (zeppole), cream puffs, cannoli and Italian cookies. Downstairs, we make pasta marinara and linguine with clam sauce all day long.  And we usually have a green salad and wine and water and coffee.

“We do this because St. Joseph is the patron Saint of Italy and it is tradition to say ‘thank you’ to St. Joseph. The tradition started and is handed down that after a period of extreme drought. It was prayer to St. Joseph that saved Italy. We, too, offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings of the past year. We are so grateful, and this is a terrific way to share our gratitude with friends and family and neighbors.”

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— St. Joseph’s Day often overshadowed by St. Patrick’s celebration —