St. Martha, OLR Put On St. Joseph Feasts

At St. Martha Church in Morton Grove Sunday, Marlene Worthley was dishing out pasta with broccoli while Jay Rossman was auctioning off dozens of fundraiser items. Dozens of other volunteers helped with food preparation, serving and the auction.

At Our Lady of Ransom Church in Niles, a similar scene took place, with dozens of volunteers busy running in and out of the kitchen with hot pans of marinara sauce and trays of cannolis.

Both parishes were celebrating St. Joseph's Day, and both had lavishly decorated altars to St. Joseph, completed with the traditional intricately-shaped breads, as well as flowers, desserts and specialty foods, displayed in abundance. 

"It's a tradition that started in Sicily," said Pat DeLio, who, with Angela Scott, was one of the primary organizers of the Our Lady of Random St. Joseph Table.

"There was a famine in Sicily, and people made a vow to St. Joseph that if rain came, they would donate food for the poor," she continued.

The rain arrived, the crops grew, and people began a tradition of giving thanks for blessings received. They prepared feasts and invited the poor into their homes to enjoy the bounty.

Throughout the centuries, many people who prayed to St. Joseph for a special intention, such as to heal a sick loved one, vowed to express their gratitude by holding a St. Joseph Table for charitable purposes. DeLio told of one mother whose son survived the Bataan Death March during World War II. She prepared St. Joseph Tables for the rest of her life.

When Italians came to the United States, many churches started to hold the St. Joseph Tables. Because all the food is donated, the proceeds go to Our Lady of Ransom's St. Vincent De Paul Society, which provides food and necessities for local people who need them, DeLio said.

St. Martha's parish took the fundraising a step further with a live auction of dozens of items, from box seats at sports games to original artworks.

View the photo gallery to see what the St. Joseph Tables looked like.

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