photo courtesy of John Baccala The St. Joseph Table at St. Patrick Parish, Kansas City.

With that sensory feast came the realization that weeks of effort would touch God's neediest children, the poor. It's no wonder St. Joseph's Day and the St. Joseph Table remains a focal point of many parishes and the Italian Catholic community.

Honoring St. Joseph is an Italian tradition that dates back to the middle ages. Legend has it that drought and famine struck Sicily, causing widespread starvation and suffering. Peasants prayed to St. Joseph for help. Their prayers were answered when the patron of the Italian people provided ample rain and a bountiful harvest. In honor of the blessings of St. Joseph, a feast was prepared and everyone, including the widows and orphans, was cared for.

The tradition was brought to America by Sicilian immigrants in the late 1800s and, until about 50 years ago, was held in private homes. Holy Rosary Parish in what was once Kansas City's predominantly Italian neighborhood gets credit for being the first parish to have a St. Joseph Table.

Inside Scalabrini Hall, adjacent to Holy Rosary, Rose Guastello and about 30 others worked from the first week of February preparing for the St. Joseph Table, often starting before 8 a.m. and finishing after 6 p.m. Guastello said the Holy Rosary volunteers went through 700 pounds of flour baking traditional Italian cookies like biscotti, and used 75 pounds of figs for the fig cookies.

"It's very heartwarming to see all the ladies. They're so happy when it's time for the St. Joseph Table because they can't wait to get over here and do God's work," Guastello said.

More than a dozen women baked cookies for the St. Joseph Table at St. Patrick's in the northland. Organizer Dianna Scola said that in the last month, the ladies in the parish baked 8,000 cookies. For many, like Scola, the St. Joseph Table traditions have been passed down generation to generation.

"My mom used to do the St. Thomas More table for 25 years," Scola said. "Ever since she passed away, I took over doing it here (St. Patrick's), so it's definitely a labor of love for me. I've been doing it since I was a little girl. I don't remember a year without doing a St. Joseph Table."

Angie DiFidi guesses between 45 and 50 women helped bake cookies at St. Thomas More and another 30 to 35 iced them. "I never really count, but without all that help, we couldn't do it," she said. "I'm sorry to say we don't have the young people we'd like to," DiFidi continued. "Still, the table always turns out beautiful and the support we get is wonderful."

It is not just the women of the parish who get involved. With an apron tied around his waist, John Simone looks perfectly at home in the kitchen. Simone is the co-chairman of the St. Joseph Table at St. Anthony's in northeast Kansas City.

"I started helping with the St. Joseph Table when I was with St. John the Baptist Church" (which later merged with St. Anthony's), Simone said. "I used to make the Sfingis" (a fried puffy pastry covered with powdered sugar). For more than 30 years, Simone and his wife have dedicated themselves to St. Joseph and the St. Joseph Table. "We do it for God, the church and St. Joseph," he said. "All of the money, all of our money, goes to the poor and we're a poor parish in a poor neighborhood." Helping the poor is the intention of the St. Joseph Table. All proceeds from the sale of the cookies and baked goods and the traditional Pasta Milanese dinner go to the poor.

"We (St. Thomas More) decide about a week or two after we get all the bills paid," said DiFidi. "We decide on three, four, five charities that are not supported by any government money. It's for the needy."

For weeks, Simone watched the ladies at St. Anthony bake. "First, they made the cannoli shells," he said. "Then, the biscottis, then the tatus, then the sesame seed; they must have made 15 different kinds of cookies. And they're delicious."

Now, it's his turn. Simone said he will be cooking and serving more than 200 pounds of Pasta Milanese.

Inside Holy Rosary's Scalabrini Hall, more than 300 pounds of pasta was cooked. St Thomas More's cooks prepared enough pasta to serve 1,500 people.

A lot of labor went into preparing the St. Joseph Table. For most, it is a labor of love. "It's a devotion," DiFidi said. "It comes from the heart because every single person that works here, the only thing they get out of it is the contentment in their heart that they're truly doing something for the needy."

Late in the day inside Holy Rosary's Scalabrini Hall, many of the women who baked cookies for weeks are still there. Amazingly, they do not look tired. Some are already planning for next year's St. Joseph Table. It truly is a devotion.

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