St. Joseph's Day will be observed locally

St. Joseph’s Day, albeit in a scaled-down celebration, will be observed Friday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson.
The Rev. Herb Bennerfield said the annual March 19 celebration was canceled a year ago because of COVID-19. However, the church left the traditional St. Joseph’s Altar and any items that it could for the past year awaiting Friday’s celebration.
While this year’s celebration will be tempered — the normal spaghetti dinner still won’t be held because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. in the church by Diocese of Lafayette Bishop Douglas Deshotel. Deshotel will bless the altar following Mass.
While the St. Joseph Altar is a longtime Sicilian tradition and Patterson and Morgan City have many residents of Sicilian descent, Bennerfield said the Patterson church didn’t have an altar for nearly 15 years prior to his arrival. Bennerfield said he talked with the late Frank Guarisco about having one when Bennerfield began leading the church.
“That was all I said to him,” Bennerfield said. “The man was just phenomenal.”
Since 2014, St. Joseph Altar celebrations have taken place at the church.
“It’s like a daylong party sort of to honor our patron saint, and again, it has a Sicilian heritage behind it,” Bennerfield said.
The tradition is a big celebration in Italy, especially Sicily, according to Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte’s website, yearofstjoseph.org. St. Joseph is considered Sicily’s patron saint, and the St. Joseph’s Tables began there.
According to the yearofstjoseph.org, St. Joseph is credited, as per legend, of helping end a drought in the Middle Ages. After the citizens prayed to him, asking for assistance, rain later came. In appreciation, a table with certain foods was prepared to celebrate him, and the food was shared with those less fortunate. The tradition continued from there.
While it’s a Catholic tradition, Bennerfield said those of other denominations have joined in the festivities.
“Everybody likes to be honorary Sicilian on St. Joseph’s Day,” he said.
St. Joseph also holds a special place for both the Diocese of Lafayette and the international church. Deshotel declared a Holy Year of St. Joseph beginning March 19, 2020, while Pope Francis declared it the Holy Year of St. Joseph worldwide in the church, beginning Dec. 8.
Bennerfield said 2020 marked the 150th anniversary that St. Joseph was declared “the patron saint of the Universal Church” by Pope Pius IX in 1870. While Bennerfield said Joseph had been a saint for a few thousand years, this title of “the patron saint of the Universal Church” meant he watched over the church and prayed to God for the Church.
March 19 is more than St. Joseph’s Day in Italy. It’s also Father’s Day, according to the yearofstjoseph.org. Joseph served that role, too, as he was the foster father of Jesus.
While St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson could not keep the food out, it kept what it could on the altar during the past year. There are other items on it, such as candles and flowers.
“We have all sorts of religious objects on it, little statues of St. Joseph,” he said. “Things like that. Holy pictures.”