Torin Bearb, 9, playing the role of Joseph, knocks on the door of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church parish hall as part of the church's St. Joseph's Day on Monday. Also playing biblical figures during the observance were Cenley Bearb, Mia Crouch, Clark Streety and Lex Chamberlain.
The St. Joseph altar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson was covered with food and other items with a statue of the earthly father of Jesus at its head.
Young people lead the recessional Monday after a Mass celebrated by Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette.
Small statues of the holy family adorn this table at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Monday. Standing behind are the Rev. Herbert Bennerfield III of St. Joseph and Bishop Douglas J. Deshotel.
At nearby St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Bayou Vista, a St. Joseph altar honors the tradition by being composed of three tiers representing the holy trinity.
Region's Catholics prepare St. Joseph's altar
St. Mary Parish's Roman Catholics joined fellow members of their faith in observing St. Joseph's Day with the traditional altar.
St. Joseph's Day fell on Sunday. On Monday, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel celebrated a Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson, where Joseph is the church's patron saint. From there, the bishop accompanied young people, dressed as figures from the biblical Christmas story, who knocked on doors at the church hall until they were allowed in.
In the hall was an elaborate altar weighted down with food and with a statue of St. Joseph at its head.
In a tradition that goes back to Sicily in the middle ages, farmers prayed to St. Joseph to end a drought, and after a lifesaving rain fell, they prepared a feast in his honor and shared the food with the poor.