Dear Readers,
My annual “Saint Patrick was Italian” and “Viva San Giuseppe” column follows: The first St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. was held in Boston in 1734. By stretching things a bit, you can correctly state that “St. Patrick was Italian.” Patrick’s parents were Romans. The Romans ruled England at that time.
Calpurnius, Patrick’s father, was a high Roman diplomat living in England, but a Roman citizen. Patrick was born in England around the year 385 A.D. Roman cities in England had shops and beautiful houses, so Patrick lived the good life for a while. Across the sea in Ireland (Eire), things were not so good. Tribal kings were constantly feuding, and in the year 400 A.D., a tribal king (Niall) attacked England.
He took thousands of prisoners, including Patrick, for slaves. Soon the rich little Roman kid was forced to herd pigs and sheep, just a poor little slave boy far from home. Patrick was taken to Northern Ireland and sold to another tribal king named Meliucc. Meliucc and his family were kind to Patrick, and their children were good company. Still, Patrick (Maewyn) was alone in a strange land, only 15 years old. He did not know the language; he didn’t know if his family was still alive. Patrick slept in a mud hut and was a swineherd.
At 21 years old, after six years as a slave, he ran away. Walking many miles to the sea, he found a ship that took him back to England. By now, the Romans had been chased out; they were no longer the rulers, and the country was in ruins. Patrick sailed across the channel and wandered through Europe, and then on to Rome, and found that by the year 410 A.D., the center of all Roman power had been conquered as well.
His past was really dead, so he decided to go back to England to think, pray and live quietly there. While in prayer, he felt certain that God was calling him back to Ireland, to bring all those tribes together and make Ireland a Christian land. But first, Patrick went to France and studied religion there for ten years. In the year 432 A.D. Pope Celestine made Patrick a bishop and named him “Patricius.” Now, Bishop Patricius sailed for Ireland. The Irish people were not interested in Christianity and tried to stone him to death.
The Bishop and his men fled and found shelter for the night in a barn near the shore. The barn belonged to a tribal king named Dichu. He thought the bishop and his men were robbers and wanted to kill them. Patrick held out his hand and smiled, and a golden aura shone on his face. Dichu put down his weapon, his fierce dog stopped growling (according to legend), and Dichu became the first Christian in Ireland and his barn the first church.
Patrick traveled all over Ireland. He always had a drummer with him. When he arrived at a village, the drummer would drum, and the people would come from their houses to listen to him (as in drumming up business.) Patrick showed them a shamrock, like a three-leafed clover. Patrick explained the idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. (If no shamrocks were handy, he used the water, ice, and steam idea.)
Today, the shamrock is Ireland’s national flower, and as more tribal kings and their people became Christians, they came together to worship and be united as a country. Bishop Patricius drummed the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea (according to legend), and built hundreds of churches. When he died on March 17 (between 461 and 492 A.D.), the Pope declared him a saint and had him buried on church grounds in Downpatrick, Ireland. In the U.S., St. Patrick’s Day means party time. In Ireland, it means Holy Time.
Tomie de Paola authored Patrick – Patron Saint of Ireland, a book you may want to track down for the “bambini” in your life, at your library or amazon.com. Tomie de Paola (his roots are Irish-Italian) has authored or illustrated over 200 books. He is one of the most popular children’s book illustrators of our time, with about five million books in print.
Many of his books have an “Italian connection” such as Strega Nona, Watch Out for Chicken Feet in Your Soup, First One Foot and Then the Other (about elderly grandparents), Tony’s Bread (panettone), Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi, The Legend of Befana, The Mysterious Giant of Barletta and many more. “Many years ago, during the time of the Christian Roman Empire, there lived a boy named Patrick. He lived with his noble family in Britain, near the Irish seas…” So begins Tomie de Paola’s book on Patrick.
Tomie says he first became aware of St. Patrick as a young child when he attended mass at Holy Trinity Church in Wallingford, Connecticut with his maternal grandparents, Tom and Alice Downey. On a side altar was a colorful statue of a saint holding a staff in one hand, a shamrock in the other. At his feet squirming and squiggling into the plaster water, were green snakes. Pausing in front of the statue, his grandfather would say, “That’s Saint Patrick.
He’s Irish, just like us.” Then, said Tomie, “I immediately forgot that I was half Italian. Every year after that, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with gusto, decorating my room with shamrocks. My brother took Patrick for his confirmation name. My Italian father celebrated too claiming Patrick was from Italy (son of a Roman citizen). “My Irish mother, Flossie Downey de Paola, had been after me for years to remember the Irish patron saint with a book. Here it is [Patrick – Patron Saint of Ireland]. And as the Irish shout on March 17, ‘Erin go bragh!’ (‘Ireland forever!’)”
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St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus Christ, was a descendant of king David, according to the genealogy presented by the Gospel. His feast day is celebrated on March 19th. In U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and in Sicily many families and organizations have St. Joseph’s Tables.
The S.S. Addolorata Society di S. Elia continues the tradition in San Francisco, begun by immigrants from the delightful little fishing village of Porticello, with an important fish market, in Saint Elia. In 1941, in San Francisco, the S.S. Addolorata Society of Sant’Elia was formed. Today many sons and daughters of the original founders carry on the tradition their parents started.
The most important being the St. Joseph’s table, with a statue of St. Joseph being placed in the middle of the food display for the devotion to the Saint on his feast day. After the blessing of the food, traditional poor people’s meal is served, pasta, fennel, fish, calamari, salad, and dessert. The poor people’s meal is free, but donations are requested for the need of S.S. Addolorata di S. Elia or other charity.
In San Jose, California, the I.A.H.F. (Italian American Heritage Foundation, 425 N. Fourth St., Tel: 408-293-7122) has had a beautiful St. Joseph’s table for many years. This year, Wednesday, March 19th, a Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. and food will be served from noon to 3:00 p.m. You, your families, and friends are invited to share in this wonderful celebration of giving and thankfulness. There are hundreds of other St. Joseph’s tables set up by families each year throughout the world.
The Sicilian tradition, according to a legend, began when a severe drought hit western Sicily hundreds of years ago, which threatened to destroy all vegetation, and orchards of oranges and lemons which are still world famous, but also would have caused people to starve. Dried fava beans are always placed on St. Joseph’s table because during the famine in Sicily, fava beans (horse beans) used as a fodder for the cattle, were prepared for the farmers own table so the family could survive, if they were lucky enough to have them.
The bean is also a symbol of fertility, since it grows so well even in poor, rocky soil. During the severe drought, the Sicilians prayed to their patron Saint Joseph to intercede to the Lord for the much needed rain. They promised that if rain came, they would honor St. Joseph on his day and provide for the poor for all generations to come. At last the skies opened, sending down the life-giving water.
The people rejoiced and to show their gratitude prepared a table with a special assortment of foods they had fished or had harvested. After paying honor to St. Joseph, they distributed the food to the less fortunate. The first St. Joseph Altar, set up on the Island of Sicily, was a small one. As time went on, the flamboyant nature and creative spirit of the Italians caused the altars to grow larger and more ornate.
Today, the artistic quality of the breads, cookies, and pastries which are baked in such shapes as chalices, staffs and pyramids, often rivals the exquisite flavor of these food offerings. Sicilian immigrants introduced the custom to America but the celebration is not confined to any nationality. It has become a public event which its devoted participants embrace for a host of private and personal reasons.
Viva San Giuseppe and “Buon Onomastico” (Name Day) to all you Joes, Josephines, Giuseppes, among my readers. May San Giuseppe always bless you with “Buona Salute” or realistically with a minimum amount of “dolore” per cent’anni.
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