March 18: St. Thomas Aquinas and Saint Joseph

For the Society's next meeting, on March 18th, we will be reading Chesterton's marvelous biography of "the dumb ox," St. Thomas Aquinas.  RSVP for this meeting at the bottom of this post.

You can purchase the book here from the American Chesterton Society.

Since March 18th is also the vigil of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph in the Roman Catholic Church, we are going to participate in a venerable old St. Joseph's Day tradition: The Saint Joseph Table - or, well, our version of it anyway. Click "read more" to see more info about that.

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Our Saint Joseph's Table

Don't forget to RSVP at the bottom of the post!
If you're in a hurry, skip below now - you can always come back and read this later.

For a bit of fun, rather than our usual pizza and malted beverage victuals, for March we are going to have our own St. Joseph's Table in honor of the feast. This is a nicely arranged table honoring Saint Joseph and traditionally laid out with food like fish, breads, and pastries. We'll be modifying our menu somewhat from the traditional layout. Please plan to bring either a donation or an item for the table - let us know in the RSVP form which way you'd like to contribute!

For our Saint Joseph's table, we will plan on having the following:

• ​Smoked fish appetizers
  • ​Another traditional element; we'd suggest, for example, these lox canapes or these smoked trout endive spears. Have another favorite recipe in this vein? Let us know and bring it along!
• Minestrone soup
  • ​As the table feast is traditionally vegetarian, this hearty soup is a great option for substantial fare - but if you want to throw in a bacon bit garnish on the side, I doubt many people would complain... 
• Pan di Giussepe - St. Joseph's Bread
  • ​​Of course, bread is a great accompaniment to a soup like minestrone, but Saint Joseph's Day bread can be sweet as well as savory.
    
    Having both kinds - and some butter - is a feature of a good St. Joseph's Table (bread is often the most plentiful item - and people can take some home). The most significant feature of Saint Joseph's bread is that it comes in various shapes, from the simple to the elaborate. You might just ball up the dough and sculpt with it (say, in the shape of a crown); or wind it pretzel-like into the shape of a cross; or go all out and make it into a St. Joseph's staff. Once again, creativity is key: and also key, for novices, is remember Chesterton's sage advice: "A thing worth doing is worth doing badly."
• Zeppolle
  • For desert, we'll have these traditional St. Joseph's Day pastries. Members are welcome to bake and bring their own, or if you wish to order some from any of the fine Italian bakeries or pastry shops in or around Philly, that'd be great, too. Be advised, though: if you plan to order zeppolle for the gathering, order early! Come the week approaching Saint Patrick's day, you might find that many places in the area are no longer taking orders, they're so full up with requests!
• Other Foods!
  • ​We don't want to limit creativity or options. There are plenty more traditional Saint Joseph's Day dishes with which you may be familiar. Fava beans, for example, are a traditional ingredient on the day. Another item of note is the lemon (or lime), which is traditionally laid out on the Table as a garnish, rather than used as an ingredient. According to one tradition, a young lady's taking a lemon from the Saint Joseph's Table is a sure way of getting a husband! (Yeah, right - and burying a statue of him upside down in your yard will help your house get sold. Who comes up with these?) A final traditional item of note is figs, which are used especially in the making of cuccidati, tradional Italian fig-stuffed cookies.  
• Non-Food Items
  • ​The other essential items for a Saint Joseph's Table are:
    • A statue or image of Saint Joseph (this will be provided by the host);
    • Flowers (especially the Lily);
    • Mementos of our dearly departed: these can be images, keepsake items, prayer cards, or even just a stone with the initials of the loved one written on it in marker. Bring yours along according to your discretion: our prayer for the day will in a special way be in honor of our Society members' deceased loved ones.
• Last, by not least... Wine
  • Because, of course.
  • While all wine is wine welcome, if you want an added challenge for giving our little feast some extra authenticity, we'd suggest focusing on wines either from Campania (in Italy, where Naples is) or from Sicily. These are areas in which Saint Joseph is held in particular esteem.

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WHEN:

Sunday, March 18

Sunday evening
​6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Doors will be open from 5:30 - if people are bringing things that need a little extra set-up

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WHERE:

International Institute for Culture

Ivy Hall
6331 Lancaster Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19151
Visit the IIC's website

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