Easter filled Wooster Square with rituals, food rich with symbolism.

Lent was a serious time in Wooster Square, under the heavy influences of the Italian-born Scalabrini priests at St. Michael Church and with the encouragement of the pastor, Friar Leonardo Quaglia.

The Quaresima, 40 days of penance and anticipation for Easter, was observed with all the pious exercises that originated in Italy. St. Michael Church became a sanctuary for these preparatory exercises, offering the Stations of the Cross on Friday and providing guidance for all the rules in place: abstinence from meat at least one day, but very often two days each week, fasting and denying yourself your most favored pleasure, including eating candy, smoking, attending movies, even on Sunday, when the restrictions were eased.

During the weeks of the Lenten season, all of the statues in church were shrouded in purple cloth so as not to distract from the solemnity of the period, and music was kept to a minimum.

All of this was in preparation for the celebration that was to come on Palm Sunday and Easter.

Since the Wooster Square Italians brought with them all the traditions and customs that were part of their familiar observances, the holiday was filled with rituals and food preparations rich with symbolism.

One of the most symbolic was the exchange of palm fronds on Palm Sunday, a powerful, family-affirming observance through which family members would honor their relationship with this gesture. The palm, blessed in church, was regarded as a very personal tribute, and the symbolism was highly treasured. Palm crosses were worn by children, and palms were brought to cemeteries to be left on relatives’ graves as a mark of respect and remembrance. Palm was also used to bless the table on Easter Sunday. While some churches distributed a few symbolic palm fronds, at St. Michael, hands-full were offered so that everyone could fulfill their obligatory family visits.

Holy Week observances were highlighted on Holy Thursday when the custom was to visit three churches where special flower-bedecked altars were constructed to display the Blessed Sacrament. This was a solemn, yet communal event, with neighbors quietly greeting each other as they walked from church to church, usually St. Louis, St. Casimir, and finally St. Michael.

Of course, children and adults also prepared for the holiday by purchasing Easter finery — new shoes and a spring outfit, which would be revealed for church and family visits. But depending on circumstances, a new hat and a flower corsage might have to suffice for the mother of a large family.

For Pasqua, pies, both sweet and savory, would be prepared, including Pastiera Napoletana, the traditional Easter grain pie made with fresh ricotta and wheat berries, perhaps the most iconic holiday dessert. There might also be cream, rice, and ricotta pies, all highly anticipated.

In some households, a baked macaroni pastiera prepared with eggs, cheese, and slivers of meat would be eaten on Holy Saturday to break the fast.

The new, bitter greens of the spring season, cicoria, would be cooked in a soup, and the Easter dinner might include a special antipasto, stuffed pasta, veal or sometimes lamb, artichokes, and asparagus — vegetable harbingers of spring — and the fresh basket cheese produced only for this holiday.

Sweet and peppery breads with eggs embedded into the top were also traditional features, as were the sweet, cakelike round cassatelle decorated with sugar icing and multicolored sprinkles, with a marzipan lamb in the center, which was often gifted to children.

The most anticipated addition to the holiday table was the pizza chiena or pizza rustica, a cured meat-and-egg-filled torte favored as the representation of the end of the fasting and deprivation of Lent. They were almost universally made in every household, and while every family had a variation on this classic, the one ingredient that was always included was prosciutto, a rich, dry-cured ham that was usually considered a luxury. Sometimes, the local baker would offer the cooled oven to the neighbors to bake the pizza.

As the children became more acclimated to the American traditions, chocolate bunnies and eggs were included in the holiday celebration, but for Italians, the lamb was the most traditional symbol of the holiday.

March 19 was celebrated as the Feast of St. Joseph, a popular Italian religious holiday dedicated to Joseph or Giuseppe, Jesus’ father and, in Italy, the representative of all fathers. The highlight of this onomastico, or name day, was usually to enjoy a Zeppole di San Giuseppe, cream-filled, fried pastries topped with an Amarena cherry, associated with the celebration and prepared especially for this occasion by all of the local pastry shops. Of course, each baker tried to make their zeppola distinctive, and each family had their favorite place to shop: Liberato’s (Libby’s), Lucibello’s, Canestri’s, Beradesca’s, and Marzullo’s pastry shops were all within walking distance for most, and there would be a steady stream of customers eager to make this special purchase. In most families, a Giuseppe or Joseph would be gifted with the pastry, but all enjoyed them as an eagerly anticipated treat.

These holiday celebrations and observances were important links with a very strong cultural tradition that overcame the obstacles of transplantation; the fact that these traditions managed to survive and even thrive in the new environment is testament to the immigrants’ tenacity to maintain and validate their identity and served to foster a sense of pride in themselves. And, in time, the Wooster Square Italian enclave, and other similar neighborhoods in New Haven became centers of the Italian-American cultural and religious observances.