BATON ROUGE - Our Lady of Mercy church in Baton Rouge presented their St. Joseph's altar Sunday to celebrate his upcoming feast day and encourage the faithful to help feed the poor.

In the Catholic Church, followers believe St. Joseph is the foster father to Jesus Christ. Centuries ago, there was a famine in Italy. The people there prayed to St. Joseph to lift the famine. In return, they would build him an altar.

Once the famine was lifted, they got a big table and filled it with vegetables and other foods. Everything on the table has some form of significance to it. Residents used the food to feed others in the city who were less fortunate.

The altar has several meanings in the church. It can be used to pay homage to loved ones who are no longer living. It can also be a place to pray to bring back a loved one who has went to war. There are pictures on the altar of those who have recently passed.

On the altar is also Italian fig cookies, fava beans and St. Joseph's bread. Anyone who approaches the altar in prayer can take some.

Of all the things on the altar, the lemon is the most important.

"If you take a hidden lemon from the altar, and you take it home, you can place it under your pillow," director Brandi Clay said. "It's said that you will dream of your future spouse. Or, for anybody suffering infertility, you take the lemon and you place it on the counter in your house, and it's supposed to help you have a child."

Clay said if you place a fava bean in your wallet, it's said to bring good luck and riches.

Organizers say the altar is a great way to bring awareness of all the things St. Joseph has done, not just for the church, but for the Baton Rouge community.

A feast in St. Joseph's honor is celebrated every year before or on the day of his feast, which is March 19.