Participants visit the St. Joseph's Table at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, 1224 W. Lexington St., on March 19. When the St. Joseph's Day tradition started in the Middle Ages, Italian families welcomed the poor to eat from their tables at home. It began with Catholics in Sicily who were grateful to Joseph after they prayed for his intervention during a devastating drought. St. Joseph's feast day is March 19.
Photo: Karen Callaway / Chicago Catholic