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St. Joseph’s Day volunteers rolling biscotti: Mary Jo Cacioppo, Rose Ann Brocato, Ann Rothkamm, Stephanie Roberts, Diane Tweedie, Eleanor Means, Margaret Bood, Kate Jabbia and Carolyn Allen. Cacioppo, the event’s most senior volunteer at 92 years young, said that she has been making cookies for St. Joseph Altars since she was a child – taught by her mother and aunts. -
Linda and Joe Domino show off bags of fig cookies sure to be sold by March 18 if this year is anything like past years -
St Joseph's Altar
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, Southeast Texas’ traditional St. Joseph’s Day celebration at the St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica is back to in-person revelry for its 20th year of serving up great food and great fellowship on Friday, March 18.
According to St. Joseph’s Day Event Coordinator Linda Domino, the celebration will begin at 10 a.m. with a procession from St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica to the St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica Center, 700 Jefferson Street in downtown Beaumont, where Bishop David Toups will officiate the blessing of the Saint Joseph Altar. At 10:45 a.m., guests can witness Tupa-Tupa, the traditional Knocking Ceremony by those representing the “Saints,” before lunch is served at 11 a.m.
Enjoy Courville’s fried fish, pasta Milanese, artichoke and green bean casserole, dessert and more at the historic basilica for a donation collected at the door, or take it to-go for a $12 donation per meal until 2 p.m. Pre-orders forms are available now at
www.stanthonycathedral.org. Delivery is available for orders of 15 or more, and orders can be placed in advance via fax to (409) 833-8996.
For those who elect to spend some time at the Basilica, Italian music will be provided and complimentary tours of the beautifully renovated St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica will be available by a trained docent at 12:30 p.m.
For those with little time to spare, but who enjoy a good meal, a drive-thru is even available the day of the event, which will be located behind the Cathedral Basilica as in years past. Additionally, limited quantities of St. Joseph “Tomato Gravy,” artichoke green bean casseroles, stuffed artichokes, and St. Joseph religious items will be available for purchase at the St. Joseph’s Day event.
What likely won’t be available the day of the event, organizers warn, are the fan-favorite cookies lovingly crafted by the St. Joseph’s Day committee that bakes thousands of morsels of goodness each year. “And, each year, ALL of the cookies are SOLD!!”
Order forms to grab the cookies on a first-come, first-served basis can be found at www.stanthonycathedral.org. Choose from plain biscotti and iced biscotti, fig cookies and iced fig cookies, coconut balls, and sesame seed cookies.
The purpose of the annual St. Joseph’s Day event is to not only honor Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, but to also help local charitable organizations provide food, meals and assistance to people in need in Southeast Texas. Event proceeds will be donated to Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas, Some Other Place, the Southeast Texas Food Bank, St. Katharine Drexel Humanitarians, and the St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica Youth Mission Trip Project.
The celebration, open to all regardless of religious affiliation, is the result of a “labor of love,” requiring hours upon hours of prep work by the volunteer workers.
“Individuals who work on this event each year are doing so ‘to share their blessings with those in need,’” Domino shared. “After many centuries, the Saint Joseph Altar still serves as a reminder to those who have enjoyed some measure of good fortune that they must share it with those who have less.”
For more information, contact the St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica office at (409) 833-6433.