St. Joseph’s Altars, Revisted
Mar 15th, 2008 by Nola
Pete and I (with Sun in tow) headed out today to view a few of NOLA’s St. Joseph altars. Our first stop, appropriately, St. Joseph’s Church on Tulane Avenue. Here’s their altar:
All three of the altars we visited today had lamb and bleeding heart cakes; whole fishes; wine; and breads. Here’s a close-up of a cake on St. Joseph Church’s altar:
At St. Joseph’s Church, I left a petition for deceased friends and family. Upon exiting, we were given St. Joseph holy cards, including blessed lucky beans, and our goodie bags of blessed bread:
You will notice that their beans are two different kind, one large and two small. Pete inquired about these beans and was told that the two small ones were in honor of St. Lucy and were for your vision.
Next on the list, the St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter. Their altar was in the St. Andrew Garden behind the church. We arrived at this one around 1pm to discover much of the display dismantled. Here’s what was left:
Here’s a close-up of some of their items:
Their goodie bag included cookies, a St. Joseph’s medal, bread, a lucky bean, and holy cards:
After leaving the Cathedral, we were approached by an impromptu marching club that was led by this fellow:
Next on the agenda, the home of the Talamo family in uptown New Orleans:
The Talamo family has been doing the altar in their home for over 20 years. At both the Cathedral and the Talamo’s, lunch was offered (stuffed artichokes and spaghetti with bread). Here’s a close-up of a whole fish on the Talamo’s altar:
And here’s the cookies and beans and prayer cards from their goodie bag:
After all our hard work, we headed to Angelo Brocato’s for cooling gelatos and perfectly brewed cafe au laits. To our surprise and delight, we discovered they, too, have a St. Joseph’s altar:
Overall, the day was solemn and reverential. I think this may be something I will do again next year.
Thanks for the pics, I would love to be able to see these altars for myself one day!
Favorite moment: in line at Brocato’s; pastries, gelatos and Italian ices arrayed before us in the display cases; the lady in front of us asks the girl behind the counter, “Do you have anything sugar-free?” I laughed out loud, hard; she turns and asks, “Are you laughing at me?” You say, “Oh, it’s just that we didn’t know there was a St. Joseph altar here,” and I say, “No, I was laughing at you. I’m sorry.” Priceless. Although a reasonable question, it just seemed totally absurd given the place and time.
Sugar-free. No, dear, you are in sugar heaven. For sugar-free you have to go to purgatory.
I didn’t quite understand whether people bring the food as donations to the alter, or whether they leave money behind? Do people actually then eat the food?
Lia, the church parishioners generally prepare the food. The food is then displayed. After it is blessed, the altars are generally dismantled and the food is offered to the faithful to be eaten. What isn’t eaten is then given to charity. So there is a period of viewing. Then eating. The public tends not to bring food to an altar (other than the parishioners that prepare it). We ate nothing from the altars other than cookies in the goodie bags (they were quite fresh and tasty).
Wow! All our church does for Lent is make soup and sandwiches!! We look pretty sad compared to this.
Impressive pictures! I had no idea people went to such great lengths!
Wow. Thanks for sharing. I will have to do this next year!!
Really great pix. thanks for sharing. can you believe having lived here for 30 years, I’ve never seen a St Joseph alter in person? Shame on me.
Need to put this on my Nola must do before I move away list! Hopefully, I never move away