The high school faculty's St. Joseph Day Committee set-up a special altar today in honor of our school's namesake who is honored worldwide on March 19. It's one of two St. Joseph Days honoring him each year. This one coming up celebrates his role as the husband of Mary and the legal father who raised Jesus. That date was first observed in some circles during the Middle Ages. It became a universal feast in the 16th century at the Council of Trent. The other St. Joseph Day is on May 1st. It honors St. Joseph, the Worker. It was formalized in 1955 by Pope Pius XII who intended it to challenge Communist May Day observances, acknowledge Christian workers' value and pay tribute to the nobility of human labor.
The type of altar committee members Jackie Elsinger and Ray Nielsen assembled, with assistance from Carina Martinez, was fashioned after one first created during the 1500s in Sicily. It had been beleaguered with drought. Crops were failing and families began to starve. The people beseeched St. Joseph for rain. They promised that if their prayers were answered they would lavish St. Joseph with a feast.
The Sicilians delivered on their promise when the rains came. They filled their St. Joseph table with special foods, flowers, and devotional objects as their thanksgiving for his great miracle. The school's altar is similarly decorated and will include donated non-perishable foods that will be shared in the spirit of almsgiving with residents of Harbor Home, a women's shelter in Conway.