Unaltered Altars
Mar 11th, 2008 by Nola
This weekend, Pete, SoMo and I are hitting the streets to check out some St. Joseph altars. I somehow managed to be born and raised a Catholic in New Orleans and yet never been to a St. Joseph altar.
Why my sudden interest in the altars? I owe this interest to my mother-in-law. About this time last year she mentioned to me how she missed St. Joseph altars. Huh? Don’t they have them everywhere, I asked her. No. Turns out they are in several big cities, like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. But the biggest display of them is in my own backyard. Well, I’ll be damned. That’s just the sort of thing that perks my interest right up.
But what is a St. Joseph altar, you ask? The altars are Sicilian in origin and pay homage to Christ’s “earthly father,” Sicily’s patron saint, who, the Sicilians believe, came to their aid with rain during a terrible famine. By way of thanks, the people of Sicily prepared a table with foods they had harvested as a result of the rain. Why are the altars so big in Louisiana? Well, apparently Louisiana has more Sicilians per capita than any other U.S. state. I had no idea.
A St. Joseph altar is first and foremost a display of food prepared by the parishioners and displayed for the public. The altars are usually built in someone’s home or a church vestibule and not the altar of the church. The food that is prepared is then blessed and distributed to charities.
There is much symbolism in the food prepared. Breads, cakes, cookies, and pastries are often baked in symbolic Christian shapes: chalices, crosses, doves, lambs, fish, wreaths, and palms. Symbols of St. Joseph are also plentiful: lilies, staffs, sandals, ladders, saws, hammers, and nails. Also, the food itself can be symbolic: Like there being no meat on an altar (because the feast falls during Lent); or the breadcrumbs that represent sawdust to symbolize St. Joseph the Carpenter; or twelve whole fish that represent the apostles; or wine that is symbolic of the Miracle at Cana.
Another interesting thing: Petitions of the faithful are written on pieces of paper and placed in baskets on the altar. Photographs of the faithfully departed generally decorate the altar as well.
And the most interesting thing of all? The goodie bag. Yes, I said goodie bag. I love this part especially.
Visitors to St. Joseph altars are given small paper bags containing a few blessed items from the altar. The bags can contain a holy card and/or a small medal. Locally, the bags usually have bread in them. And cookies. The bread is usually not eaten but saved and broken up and spread across the thresholds of homes to protect the homes in storms. I bet there were a lot of breadcrumbs left out to stave off Katrina.
But the most interesting item found in the goodie bag is the fava bean. In Sicily, the fava was fed to the cattle. During famines, the Sicilians ate the beans to survive and considered themselves lucky to have the beans. Thus, the fava bean is also known as a “lucky bean.” Some believe that a pantry that contains a fava bean will never be bare.
As a child, I always had a lucky bean in my change purse. I didn’t think about it; I just carried it. Each year, I’d get a new one. Looking back, I realize it was the closest thing I did to attending a St. Joseph’s altar.
I had lunch with my sister this weekend. She helped bake fig cookies for a St. Joseph’s altar. She explained that you are supposed to carry not one but three lucky beans in your wallet–for, she was told, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. She gave me all three of her beans (she can replenish her stash). Apparently, I will never be without money in my wallet.
So, I am going to dip my toes in some Christian ceremony this weekend. In the NOLA area and want to check it our yourself? Click here to find where and when the altars are being displayed.
Stumble it!
St. Joseph! We used to take field trips there and they would each give us a bean. I carried that thing like it was something precious. I’m pretty sure I have it in a jewelry box in my old bedroom, as well as old photos I took with my old-school 35mm camera. The first time I saw it, I was kinda overwhelmed by its intensity.
Interesting. I feel like I just attended a religion lecture!
What a cool tradition… I love that! I learned something new today, thanks for sharing.
that sounds really cool. i feel like michigan is lacking so many interesting places to check out. we have a city, rich in history yet…really, it doesn’t seem there is much to show for it!!
i think i’m going to start carrying beans around…seems i never have any cash when i need it!!
xoxo
The fact that there are so many “altars” in Louisiana, and the purpose of the altars is to bring rain is rather IRONIC to say the least! What were these people thinking?! LOL! They must not have known where they were moving in the first place. It is interesting how different countries adapt different traditions from one religion. Sounds like an interesting trip! Have a great weekend.
I love that I can read your blog and learn something new!! I may have to check this out!!
Thats quite fascinating !.
nola, you never cease to amaze me…i learn to love my city and it’s traditions a little more each time i read your blog…well done as always!
Well, I never heard about it and my grandmother was Silician. She lived in one of the areas where there are tons of Silicians. Her and my grandfather use to volunteer at the Italian festivals and the strawberry festivals.
I guess I will be educated, this weekend, which I totally forgot about.
I got my fava beans (can’t even say it in my head without hearing Hannibal Lector) from the festival on the westbank. They had a St. Joseph altar, too. I have 3 and glad I didn’t lose them at the mall on Sunday.
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Let me know if you head out to ours. I could treat you to cafeteria lunch.
If I haven’t died by then. And I’m fairly sure I wasn’t sick Saturday. I didn’t start to feel it until Monday morning, so hopefully you’re safe!
Haha yes, I went to an all-girl Catholic high school in response to your comment.
I love this tradition. I wish we did that up here. I was raised Catholic and never heard of a St. Joseph altar until I started visiting NOLA…..
I’m off to buy some fava beans!
You are so lucky to live in a place with such history…I’m quite envious.
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