"It is a salutary practice and very praiseworthy, already established in some countries, to consecrate the month of March to the honor of the holy Patriarch by daily exercises of piety. Where this custom cannot be easily established, it is as least desirable, that before the feast-day, in the principal church of each parish, a "triduo" of prayer be celebrated. In those lands where the 19th of March - the Feast of St. Joseph - is not a Festival of Obligation, We exhort the faithful to sanctify it as far as possible by private pious practices, in honor of their heavenly patron, as though it were a day of Obligation."
~Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Quamquam pluries (On Devotion to St. Joseph), 1889.
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You can read about the traditional Italian celebration of Saint Joseph's Day-known as the Saint Joseph's Table - at a number of websites, among them catholicculture.org, and initaly.com. Or do a search to find others.
Italian? Tradition? Food? I'm in already! What is it, though?
Saint Joseph's Table, as I understand it, comes from Sicily. In some communities, a wealthy person will set a huge and delicious buffet and invite his less well-off neighbors to partake of the feast. In other places, the buffet is more of a community effort, where everyone brings something and all enjoy. There are traditional foods, one of which is cream puffs for dessert.
There are other traditions, like choosing 3 people to play the holy family at dinner. This is considered an honor, and is not to be taken lightly.
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