ShawneeDispatch.com

Piles of cookies, cakes, pies and pastries attracted the attention of most of those in McDevitt Hall Sunday.

As people oohed and aahed over the splendor of the St. Joseph Table at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Shawnee, Mary Spruk was happy to explain each item on display.

“Each year, you think it can’t get any more beautiful, but it does,” Spruk said, glancing over the table.

This was the 16th year parishioners put together a table in the tradition that pays homage to the saint on his feast day, which is March 19. St. Joseph is regarded as the family protector, and the observation of the day is most often modeled after the Sicilian celebration, marking a time when the saint is believed to have saved the Sicilian farmers from famine.

At St. Joseph’s, the parish uses funds generated by their table to purchase grocery store gift certificates to give to the needy throughout the year.

Christine Marion, who is one of the lead organizers of the table, said the Shawnee parish’s table is a mix of Italian tradition and a chance for the whole parish to share baked goods from their own ethnic backgrounds.

“It’s one of those things that this is truly a labor of love for everyone that works on it,” she said. “It’s our way of doing something that will help others.”

In Sicily, the feast day tradition stems from a famine that caused suffering and starvation. The farmers prayed to St. Joseph for help, and the famine soon ended. To honor the saint, the farmers filled an altar with their new food. The altar tables evolved into family open houses and continue as thanks for special prayers that have been answered.

Marion and the other organizers, which include her husband, Bill, Diane and Steve Burke and John and Susan Weber, start planning for the table a few months in advance every year.

The table includes everything but meat, as St. Joseph’s Feast Day always falls during Lent. Everything on the table is donated by parish members and can be purchased for a suggested donation. The parish men also spend three days cooking a meal served during the feast day that also helps raise funds.

St. Joseph’s carries on the Italian portion of the tradition with the meal served during the feast day. parishioners import a special Bucatini pasta from Italy, served with marinara or a Milanese sauce.

“Many churches have gone to serving spaghetti in place of it, but we try to stick with the tradition of serving Bucatini,” Marion said. “It just makes it a little more interesting and special.”

The women begin to bake cookies about four weeks in advance, baking about 5,000 total. They are sold in addition to the table’s other offerings.

Between sales of table items and cookies and the Bucatini meal, Marion said this year’s table raised almost $8,000.

Post a comment

ShawneeDispatch.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

Requires free ShawneeDispatch.com registration.