Cookies! Pasta! Feast of St. Joseph celebrated tomorrow
A century ago, Sicilian immigrants living in and around the Columbus Park neighborhood practiced a custom they had brought with them from their homeland: celebrating the intercession of the country’s patron, St. Giuseppe, in preventing a famine – by creating rain during a terrible drought – during the Middle Ages. Sicilians began the tradition of honoring the saint with a lavish feast. Over the years, the feast has been transformed from an eating celebration to a more visual-art form: a St. Joseph’s Table is now more about viewing a display of food than eating it.
But in Kansas City, there’s still a significant culinary component to the festivities, with many area churches serving a free pasta dinner on the actual feast day – this year on Wednesday, March 19 – and selling a variety of foodstuffs and pastries.
For many years, the historic Holy Rosary parish, with a large Sicilian congregation, was the primary place in Kansas City to pay homage to St. Giuseppe. But other local churches have gotten into the spirit of the occasion.
This year marks the first time that the Guardian Angels parish (4232 Mercier) in Westport has created a St. Joseph’s Table in the school cafeteria.
“A group of us had started doing one in a private home for several years,” says Becca Flores, who helped organize the Guardian Angels event. “Later we moved it to Redemptorist church. This year we’ve brought it to Guardian Angels.”
The display at Guardian Angels can be viewed today beginning at 6:30 p.m. (Cookies and other baked goods will be sold.) On Wednesday, March 19, the church will serve a spaghetti dinner (featuring pasta a la Milanese – a sauce prepared with tomatoes, fennel, sardines and currants – and a more traditional pasta with a fish-free spaghetti sauce, plus salad and bread) from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a free-will donation. A wide variety of cookies, cannoli and baked goods will be offered for sale.
Probably the most famous local St. Joseph’s celebration is at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, in the heart of Columbus Park, which has mounted an elaborate display in its Scalabrini Hall (910 Pacific Avenue) that will be open for viewing today from 4 to 6 p.m.; freshly made cannoli and Italian cookies will be sold during those hours. On Wednesday, March 19, Scalabrini Hall opens at 11 a.m. and will serve the traditional meatless meal, pasta a lla Milanese – for a donation; this meal will be served until 6 p.m., and a wide variety of Italian cookies, breads and cannoli will be available for sale.
Other local churches presenting St. Joseph’s Tables in the metro include Holy Cross Church (5106 St. John Avenue), St. Charles Borromeo (900 N.E. Shady Lane Drive) in the Northland and St. Thomas More Church (11822 Holmes) in south Kansas City. For a full list of the participating churches and times, the Catholic Key offers a full list by clicking here.
