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 Plum Island

I didn’t know any more about St. Joseph than I did about St. Patrick, not being Catholic or Italian or connected to the Irish in me, so this is for those of you who like me, didn’t know.

Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It has the rank of a solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church; Catholics who follow the Missal of 1962 celebrate it as a first class feast. Previous to 1962 it was celebrated as a feast of the rank of double of the first class.

In Sicily, where St. Joseph is regarded by many as their Patron Saint, and many Italian-American communities, thanks are given to St. Joseph (“San Giuseppe” in Italian) for preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages. According to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. The rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint. The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and is a traditional part of St. Joseph’s Day altars and traditions. Giving food to the needy is a St. Joseph’s Day custom. In some communities it is traditional to wear red clothing and eat a Sicilian pastry known as a zeppola on St. Joseph’s Day.  Sweets are popular because St. Joseph is the patron saint of pastry chefs.  (Who knew pastry chefs had their own patron saint.  No wonder Italian pastry is so great.)

Upon a typical St. Joseph’s Day altar, people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, and cookies (as well as other meatless dishes), and zeppole. Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since St. Joseph was a carpenter. Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally no meat was allowed on the celebration table. The altar usually has three tiers, to represent the trinity.

Saint Joseph’s Day is also celebrated in American communities with high proportions of Italians such as New York City; Utica, New York; Buffalo; Kansas City, MO; Chicago; Gloucester, Mass.; and Providence, Rhode Island, where observance (which takes place just after Saint Patrick’s Day) often is expressed through “the wearing of the red”, i.e., wearing red clothing or accessories similar to the wearing of green on Saint Patrick’s Day.

St. Joseph’s Day is also the day when the swallows are traditionally believed to return to Mission San Juan Capistrano after having flown south for the winter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph’s_Day

So now you know.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

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I’d love one! But we’re not allowed to take kickbacks. Hopefully they will sell me one.

Sacred Space

 

Where we lived in New York, a stone path led to

a meditation garden that we designed and

built over the course of two summers.

 

A stone Japanese lantern marked a turn

in the path that took us to a wooden bench

that overlooked the smaller of our two ponds.

 

The pond was home to tadpoles and bullfrogs,

spring peepers, two mated mallards that

visited us each year, muskrats, deer and

 

an occasional blue heron, magnificent

dragonflies and a wide, colorful and

musical collection of birds and insects.

 

That garden was a place of perfect peace

where I went to pause and to free my mind

of wasteful and exhausting commotion.

 

It is the place where my daughter was married,

where Barbara’s mother daily came and

near where  our well-loved dog’s ashes were spread.

 

So, when we moved to Gloucester, we took with us

the lantern and the bench and the sacredness

of that space and put them in a new quiet place

 

that looks over the gardens, down the hill

to the salt marsh and the tidal river;

where I listen to the  hidden ocean

 

and the bell buoy off  the Annisquam Light

and watch the gulls, egrets and herons over

the marsh and feel peace wash over me again.

 

Marty Luster

Although everywhere you look today there are clear signs of Spring, or early summer, Spring will arrive on Tuesday, March 20, at 1:14 A.M. EDT. 

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

We’ll be going! You should too!

Sefatia writes-

Good morning, remember today is the eve of St. Joseph when we go see the altars and experience the culture and faith of so many.. there will be a Trolley this year (no cost) it will be picking us up at Harbor Loop time 3:45 WE LEAVE AT 4.. we will only be going to 8 houses this year even thought there are over 20.. see the tradition of the homemade pasta and dishes that are made the preparing and the faith of these friends and family.. all are welcomed.. and those who come are also welcomed in any of the homes for St.Joesph feast celebration tomorrow to try the pasta all doors are opened.. come and enjoy a part of the other side of Gloucester. PS you do not have to be catholic to come and can be a friend who just wants to observe..

Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce

Serving Essex, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Rockport

Carol Pallazolla, Education and Outreach Coordinator

Event Information:

Business After Hours

Wednesday, March 21  Elder Service Plan of the North Shore                            

Hosted By:

29 Emerson Avenue Gloucester, MA 01930

5:00 – 7:00 pm

Members: $10  

Future-Members: $20

Register Here

About Us

Cape Ann Vacations

Rockport USA

Elder Service Plan of the North Shore

Lanesville March Madness Dance Party

March Madness Dance Party! Sat. March 31 – 7:30 to 11 PM at The Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan St, Gloucester. Live music by our fabulous local group: Mari Martin and The Dirty Little Secrets. Dance and/or listen to a variety of great music. Beer, wine and soft drinks for sale, pot luck snacks T-shirts and raffles. Admission by donation to the LCC, including for a boiler to heat our fabulous new floor. www.lanesvillecommunitycenter.org.

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Cape Ann Museum Women’s Works Tour March 24th

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present a special tour, Women’s Works: 200
Years of Making Art on Cape Ann on Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. and 3:00
p.m. Cape Ann Museum docent Trina Smith will lead this special program in
honor of Women’s History Month. Through direct observation of their
paintings and sculpture, this museum tour will consider the challenges and
turning points for ten women artists who visited or resided on Cape Ann from
pre-photography days to the present.  Questions and personal reflections
from the audience are encouraged. This program is free with Museum
admission.
To make a reservation or for more information, please call Jeanette Smith at
978-283-0455, x11 or email jeanettesmith@capeannmuseum.org.

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The 17th Annual Gloucester Health & Wellness Expo

The 17th Annual Gloucester Health & Wellness Expo will be held on Saturday, April 14 from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon at Addison Gilbert Hospital, 298 Washington Street, Gloucester.

Over 60 exhibits, food demonstrations and samples, free health screenings, Reiki Clinic, Andy-the-Ambulance and lots of giveaways!

Hosted by Addison Gilbert Hospital in partnership with the City of Gloucester Health Department.