THERE'S PATRICK BUT OH THEN THERE'S JOSEPH

It's said that all stories are true; and that some even happened. This one is both.

Everyone knows about St Patrick's Day, March 17. But this is March 19, St Joseph's Day. In honor of the great Irish saint, people wear green. In honor of the great St Joseph, Italians wear red. Especially Sicilians who have over the centuries created a unique festival in the saint's honer: The St Joseph Day Table.

Like most Italian-Americans, I remember the "table" as a child traveling with my parents to Little Sicily (the old near north-side of Chicago). Very much like those sepia scenes from "The Godfather," this neighborhood just east of the River and north of Chicago Avenue spilled over with gregarious residents of modest means. Greeting friends, shopping mom&pop stores, and nodding to the parish priests.

During the first half of 20th C Chicago, these same small streets were also known for the brutal crimes of the local Black Hand (mafioso); and yet, even they poured out to contribute to the great "table." It was usually in one of the prominent locals' home where sprawling tables groaned under the weight of foods donated in the saint's name for the local poor.

Today Chicago is dotted with Italian ristorantes and trattorias, some with national recognition for their haute cuisines. However, Italian-Americans have the right to laugh a little at the pretensions of these elegant eateries, for we will tell you there is nothing more elegant in the realm of Italian foods than those devotedly prepared and donated for the annual local St Joseph Day Table.

The sight of it is a visual and gastronomic explosion of little pleasures. Countless varieties of antipasti...pastas ...fishes of all kinds...salads of all tastes...specialty dishes invented just that week by their proud creators...and bounties of pungent Mediterranean pastries. Because it is Lent, everything before you is meatless.

Back then, every neighbor contributed something; both from their kitchen and their heart. It was the community's way of turning toil into beauty, the beauty of giving back. For while we all oohed and awed and ate on this family-festive day, it was understood everything was now blessed by the parish priest and to go to the poor.

America is a nation of nations, so that each nationality's traditions find their way into the scene. A good thing, too, for traditions are the glues that help hold the fabric of this coat-of-many-colors together. It's true that most people attending today's St Joseph Day tables are of an age, an age that remembers these as a precious part of their own development; and yet, youngsters show up here too. Maybe just out of obligation or curiosity. But watch them watch the elders for awhile, and something seems to happen.

With each bite, with each smile, the young and the old find themselves a little more in touch. And in a nation so diverse and sometimes so angry with one another, touching like this can be a very good thing....!