NEW ORLEANS – You expect to see a lot of food at Rouses Markets.
That’s why people shop at one of their favorite supermarkets.
And that’s what brings WGNO News with a Twist features guy Wild Bill Wood to Rouses Market in New Orleans Central Business District.
It’s the food. Always the food at Rouses.
And on March 19, it’s the St. Joseph Day Altar set up at Rouses Market at 701 Baronne Street in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It’s a blessing that’s being blessed by a priest, a rabbi, members of a Mardi Gras Indian tribe, and more.
It’s a bountiful buffet.
And it’s a tradition that started in Sicily.
Sicilian immigrants brought their tradition and their custom of honoring St. Joseph to New Orleans.
It happens every year on March 19.
It’s the tradition of the St. Joseph Day Altar across the city.
According to legend, back in Sicily, a severe drought and famine threatened the country.
So the people there prayed to St. Joseph, the father of Jesus here on Earth.
This was during the Middle Ages.
The drought and famine wiped out most of the farms. Many people in Sicily died from starvation.
As they prayed to St. Joseph to help them out of their situation, they made a promise then and there.
If they were saved, they would celebrate him with a feast day every year. And they would build altars to honor him.
At midnight on March 19, their prayers were answered with rain that ended the drought.
Since, then the St. Joseph’s Day Altars have been a way to remember and honor.