St. Joseph Altar Wednesday, May 26th St. Philip Neri Hall 5:30pm History of St. Joseph’s Altar

The St. Joseph Altar is Sicilian in origin. During a terrible famine, the people of Sicily pleaded with St. Joseph, their patron saint, for relief. St. Joseph answered their prayers, and the famine ended. In gratitude, they prepared a table with foods they had harvested. After paying homage to St. Joseph, the food was distributed to those in need. No meat is prepared for the Altar. This is probably because St. Joseph’s Feast falls in the Lenten Season & also because meat was a rarity to the Sicilians. Breads, and other pastries baked in symbolic Christian shapes are prepared for the Altar. Some shapes which may adorn the Altar are monstrances, chalices, crosses, doves, lambs, fish, etc. Symbols of St. Joseph – such as lilies, staffs, sandals, ladders, saws, hammers, and nails-are also used. Breadcrumbs represent the sawdust of St. Joseph the Carpenter. Twelve whole fish represent the apostles. Wine is symbolic of the Miracle at Cana. The Altar is a medium of petition and thanksgiving.

Visitors to St. Joseph Altars are given small bags containing a few blessed items from the Altar. The bags usually contain a holy card and a small medal, a fava bean, and/or small breads. The most notable is the fava bean. In Sicily, the fava bean was food for cattle. During the famine the people resorted to eating them to survive. They were considered lucky to have fava beans to eat, therefore it is also known as a “lucky bean”. Some believe that the pantry that contains a fava bean will never be bare. The fava bean is a token which reminds us of God’s provisions through the intercession of St. Joseph. Some also believe that bread from the Altar can be crumbled around your home as protection from storms. If you would like to bring something to make our St. Joseph Altar bountiful, please contact the following:

Lori Sonnier at 738-4141 Martha Rider at 738-2950 Sarah Ange at (337) 513-2147 Shena LaFleur at (337) 842-4257

St. Philip Neri Movie Night Wednesday, May 26th St. Philip Neri Catholic Hall Philip Romolo Neri was born in Florence, Italy on July 22, 1515. Philip came from a poor, working-class background. His mother died while he was very young. He had a brother, who died in childhood, and two sisters. Philip was a very religious youth. As a boy, he was blessed to have studied language, religion, the arts, and philosophy with the Dominican friars. When Philip was 18, he was sent to live with his uncle. There he was to be an apprentice and inherit the uncle’s business. Philip would often escape to a local chapel in the mountains to pray. After a very short time, Philip had a conversion. He received word in a vision that he was to be sent as an apostle to Rome. Philip arrived in Rome with no money. A fellow Florentine took him in, and Philip was paid an allowance to tutor his two sons. He stayed with the family for the next 17 years. In 1535, Philip, began studying philosophy and theology. When he felt that his studies were interfering with his prayer life, Philip sold his books and gave the money to the poor. He was a creative poet writing in both Italian and Latin. Historians tell of the widespread sin, immorality, and the dishonest popes that plagued Rome at that time. Philip began a personal pilgrimage around Rome. He began to pray in the catacombs, where the saints had been martyred and where criminals lurked. He began ministering to criminals, prostitutes, and the incurables in the filthy Roman hospitals. It was in the hospital that Philip met Ignatius of Loyola. Philip found companionship in Ignatius and his followers, who eventually formed their own religious order—the Jesuits. Philip continued his pastoral ministry in Rome. A few days before Pentecost in 1544, Philip was deep in prayer. He received a vision of a ball of fire that entered his mouth and went into his chest, and physically enlarged his heart. Philip was so filled with the Spirit that he began evangelizing and ministering to teenage boys and young men. To keep these men from straying, Philip found safe places for them to pray and study. He organized pilgrimages complete with picnic lunches, music in the vernacular, and even exercise. The practice of the 40 Hours’ Devotion before the Blessed Sacrament is attributed to Philip and his disciples. Philip was convinced by his spiritual director that he could do even more as a priest. In 1551, at the age of 36, he was ordained. Philip heard confessions around the clock. He had the gift of telling his penitents of their sins before they confessed. Throughout his priestly ministry, Philip Neri continued to have more and more followers, whom he led in prayer. The simple Christian life of a group of friends was a gust of fresh wind through Rome. His fraternity attracted a broad base of disciples: criminals, womanizers, artists, and even Italian nobility. Philip Neri was accused of starting a cult, a charge that was later shown to be baseless with the help of Charles Cardinal Borromeo. The witness and ministry of Philip Neri and his disciples’ led to the formal foundation of a religious order by virtue of a papal directive. The secular priests and lay brothers were dedicated to prayer, pastoral ministry, and evangelization. The order was called the Congregation of the Oratory and was officially established in 1575. In his later years, Philip suffered from several illnesses, each of which was cured through prayer. In 1590, Pope Gregory XIV tried to make him a cardinal, but Philip declined. Philip Neri died in 1595 at age 79.