As many of you know, the tradition of a St. Joseph Day altar comes from the Italian people of Sicily. The legend is that Sicily faced a severe drought in the Middle Ages, and the people were reduced to eating fava beans, which was usually given to the animals. They prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph (leave it to the Italians to go straight to the top!), and their prayers were answered: the rains came! In thanksgiving, the people of Sicily developed a tradition to decorate the St. Joseph Altar in church (or to make a small one at home) with flowers, fruit, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, fish and cookies. Since the feast occurs during Lent, no meat is allowed on the altar.

So how did this tradition arrive in New Orleans? Through immigration! Although many of the Italians from Naples immigrated on boats to New York, most of those from Sicily immigrated through the Port of New Orleans. Between 1850 and 1870, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there were more Italians in New Orleans than in any other U.S. city. By 1910, the population of the city's French Quarter was 80 percent Italian. Today there are 200,000 Americans of Italian descent living in New Orleans and its suburbs, making Italian Americans the largest ethnic group in the city. And the Italian people of Sicily carried with them their wonderful food, open hospitality and strong Catholic faith.

The custom of preparing an altar as a symbol of devotion to St. Joseph is rooted in the thanksgiving for his intercession years ago, but it also points to thanksgiving for a personal favor granted, for healing of the sick, or for success in business. Further, it’s an opportunity for the prosperous to share with those who are less fortunate.

Probably the best known of the customs associated with the St. Joseph's Day altar is the fava bean. Since it thrived while other crops failed, it became the sustaining food of farmers and their families. The dried bean is commonly called a “lucky bean,” and legend has it that the person who carries a “lucky bean” will never be without coins.