How do you know it's Saint Joseph?

There are two traditional depictions of St. Joseph.

Saint Joseph is always a man with a beard. He can either be seen with Jesus as a child in his arms while holding a staff with a flower at its end. Or, he can be seen without the child, holding the tools of his trade as a carpenter. St. Joseph is usually symbolized by a flower which tradition says grew from the top of his staff as a sign, to whom Mary should marry, from God.  

On Saturday the Universal Church will celebrate the feast of its patron, Saint Joseph. The chief sources of information on the life of St. Joseph are found in the first chapters of the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Known to be a carpenter and the husband of Mary, St. Joseph carries the very large burden of protecting the Christ child and the Blessed Mother in an unassuming manner. It is for this reason that the protection of the Church has likewise been placed in his care to protect. While not much is written in the offcial texts of the Church, many stories on the life of St. Joseph can be found in the various writings of the early church such as "Story of Joseph" and among the apocryphal texts.

The cult of St. Joseph has become great in th eItalian community. Among the traditions marking the feast day of St. Joseph have been eating St. Joseph Pastry or Sfinge and the traditional St. Joseph Table. This ancient tradition goes back to the middle ages. At that time there was an exceptionally sever droughtin Sicily. No rain fell for an extended period of time, no crops would grow, and countless people died of famine. The peasants prayed to God for rain, and they also prayed to St. Joseph to intercede with God on their behalf. They promisedthat if God caused it to rain, they woudl have a special feast honoring God and St. Joseph. By miracle, the rains came and the crops were planted. With the harvest, the people prepared a feast of foods from their crops. This has become known as the Tavola di San Giuseppe.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn there are 4 parishes dedicated to St. Joseph. The nearest to us is also the oldest, St. Joseph Church on Pacific Street off of Vanderbilt. I would invite you to check out this colossal building, which many have rumoredmay soo n become the Co-Cathedral of Brooklyn, as it can seat twice the number of people as St. James Cathedral.