METAIRIE, La (WGNO) –– Thousands filtered through St. Francis Xavier school today for the annual public viewing and feeding from St. Joseph’s Altar.
The visitors entered the St. Francis Xavier auditorium and picked up pamphlets before writing petitions for St. Joseph. After walking through the ropes, they saw breads, cookies, cakes, and photos laid out in memory of lost loved ones.
This year, the celebration is set to be the largest to date at the school. “We have more memorial cakes than ever before. More people worked on the altar than ever before. We make all the cookies during cookie workshops, so we had the most volunteers for cookie workshops. Everybody seems to be glad to be back and really wants to work on the altar, and it’s really been just amazing,” said Co-Chair of St. Joseph’s Altar Society at Saint Francis Xavier, Rick Redmann.
The altar is a thank you to Saint Joseph for saving Sicily from famine. He brought rain, and to celebrate, they built a bountiful altar to him, explained Co-Chair of St. Joseph’s Altar Society at Saint Francis Xavier, Rick Redmann.
It’s a time-honored tradition that hails all the way from Sicily, making its mark at the school for nearly 30 years. Redmann said it’s “important to come out and share the community together and celebrate Saint Joseph and all the things he’s done for the poor and for us.”
The tradition extends even further to the items on the altar. For example, the fava bean. These were typically used as food for cattle, but when the famine struck, it was the only crop that grew. It’s believed that those who carry a bean will never go without coins.
While you do not eat from the altar, the food is not wasted. “We’ll actually take all the food off and send it out to ten different charities… The cakes, the cookies, and the fruits and vegetables, everything goes out,” said Redmann.
Visitors to the St. Joseph Altar received favor bags, symbolizing the sharing of the bounty of food and blessings. Each bag contains blessed bread, fava beans, a holy card, biscotti, seed cookies, and fig cookies.
The public viewing is open to the public at St. Francis Xavier School from 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. on March 20.
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