Saturday, March 19, 2011

A Day for the Wearing of the Red

Today is the Feast of St. Joseph. In some Italian neighborhoods this day is honored with a parade followed by much eating and drinking in honor of the saints intervention during the Sicilian famine in the Middle Ages.  In California this is the day that the swallows make their annual return to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano.

Italian Catholics usually commemorate the day by wearing red and eating a large meal of pasta and fish. There is no meat for these celebrants since this is also the Lenten season.

As near as I can discern there are no celebrations planned in Baltimore’s Little Italy aside from the celebration of Mass. Of course Father Wally and Postman Joe will be celebrating with their Italian friends as part of their annual tribal ritual but that is the only loco St. Joe celebration I know of.

Of course here in HoCo we really don’t have any ethnic neighborhoods save for the burgeoning Asian community along Route 40. That means for the most part this holiday will go largely unrecognized within our borders.
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