If you are lucky enough to know Italian Catholics, ask them if a St. Joseph’s Table is happening near you. St. Joseph’s Table is a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, when farmers and their families gave thanks to St. Joseph for their bounty, according to Jerry Farrugia, president of the Italian Catholic Federation Branch 218 at Holy Angels Church in Arcadia.

Brought to America by Catholic immigrants, St. Joseph’s Table are most often held at parishes, with elaborately decorated, lace-covered altars and cross-shaped tables display not only a statue of the foster father of Jesus but also candles, flowers, shafts of wheat and spaghetti, and enough food to feed a town.