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22
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MARCH | APRIL 2014
St. Joseph’s Day:
Making the Altar
by
Tina —Rouses Bakery Manager, Houma +
photos by
Matthew Noel
I
was born in the small town of Chiusa
Scalfani, which is near Palermo, Italy.
When I was eleven years old my family
and I immigrated to the United States to
be near my father’s sister, Aunt Maria, who
lived in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
From Italy we brought with us many
traditions, including honoring Saint Joseph.
My father, brothers, sister, and I would help
my mother prepare our altar from scratch
each year. Then, as a family, we would visit
all of the other altars in Thibodaux.
Last year, I was really excited to be a part of
the first Saint Joseph’s Altar at the Rouses
Market inHouma. It took weeks of planning,
and days to prepare the food. At that time,
my mother had just passed away, and I looked
at this as an opportunity to honor her. I used
some of her things on our Rouses’ altar: a
Saint Joseph picture that came from Sicily,
some of her china, and a flag.
FAMINE, FEAST & FAVA BEANS
In the Middle Ages when Sicily was suffering from a severe
drought, the faithful prayed fervently to St. Joseph, the patron
saint of the family, to end their suffering. When the rains finally
came, a bumper crop of fava beans grew, saving the people from
starvation. In thanks, Italians promised to honor and remember
this great favor with altars adorned with food and erected each
year in St. Joseph’s honor.
—Poppy Tooker
I made the “sawdust” for the altar, which I
would later use in a Pasta Milanese for my
family. We also baked bread in traditional,
symbolic shapes, like ladders, hammers,
nail, crosses, palms, wreaths, grapes and
twists.
On St. Joseph’s Day, the Bishop came to the
store to bless our altar. We also handed out
fava beans to shoppers. At the end of the
day, the nuns came to pick up the food to
distribute to the needy, which is custom.
Rouses St. Joseph Day Altar, Houma