Friedrich Bente reports the following in Der Lutheraner V.50 p.76. (April 24, 1894).

Roman superstition. “The Catholic News” is annoyed that Catholics are often so stupid as to publish things which expose them to the ridicule of Protestants. In its columns of February 28, it reports the following case: “Mrs. Abel Ram—a gifted and enthusiastic Catholic—has just published with Longman a history of the founding and growth of the Order of the Little Sisters of the Poor. In it is found the following story. The patron saint of the Society is St. Joseph. They—the sisters of the order—turn to him when they run out of bread, and their prayers are usually answered. ‘If, however,’ says Mrs. Ram, ‘the saint waits too long for an answer to their insistent requests, penance is imposed on him; his face is turned to the wall, he is locked in a closet, or in some other way punished. Thus, in a convent in the Netherlands, the inmates had a shortage of butter. Finally, they—the sisters—became quite angry with St. Joseph, to whom they had prayed daily. The good mother—the superior in the convent—however, had a plan of attack. She had two old men carry the statue of the saint out of the chapel into the cellar and place it under the empty butter dishes. There was butter!”—Same as the Negroes in Africa do when their idols will not listen. The only difference is that the Negroes are neither considered civilized nor Christian, which the Catholics claim exclusively for themselves.

— F[riedrich]. B[ente].