While the focus was on St. Patrick's Day Friday, the parade up Fifth Avenue, corned beef, green beer and all the trimmings, on Sunday celebrations shifted to the great Feast of St. Joseph, the patron saint of families and of the Universal Church. The tradition was originally brought over with Italians who immigrated from the "old country" and is still celebrated in many Italian American communities throughout the world.
The highly anticipated celebration each March 19 -- where tradition dictates participants wear spots of red -- is a time for Italian Americans to sit down to one of their favorite feasts and indulge in traditional foods associated with St. Joseph, the carpenter.
