Las Posadas

Children in Oaxaca, Mexico celebrating Las Posadas by breaking a traditional star-shaped Piñata.

Las Posadas is a novenario (nine days of religious observance) celebrated chiefly in Latin America, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and by Hispanics in the United States,[1][2] beginning 16 December and ending 24 December. Las Posadas is celebrated by Latinos and Spaniards and people who appreciate the culture and holiday of the Mexican and Spanish.

Etymology

Las Posadas is Spanish for lodging, or accommodation, which in this case refers to the inn in the story of the nativity of Jesus. It uses the plural form as the celebration lasts for a nine-day interval (called the novena) during the Christmas season. The novena represents the nine-month pregnancy[3][4] of Mary, the mother of Jesus celebrated by Christians.

History

The celebration has been a tradition in Mexico for 400 years. Many Mexican holidays include dramatizations of original events, a tradition which has its roots in the ritual of Bible plays used to teach religious doctrine to a largely illiterate population in Europe as early as the 10th and 11th centuries. These plays lost favor with the Church as they became popularized with the addition of folk music and other non-religious elements, and were eventually banned; only to be re-introduced in the sixteenth century by two Spanish saints as the Christmas Pageant, a new kind of religious ceremony to accompany the Christmas holiday.

In Mexico, the winter solstice festival was one of the most important celebrations of the year and it was on December 12 according to the Julian calendar used by the Spaniards until 1582.[5][6][7] According to the Aztec calendar, Tonantzin Guadalupe (the beloved mother of the gods) was celebrated on the winter solstice, and she is still celebrated today on December 12;[6][7][8] while their most important deity, the sun god Huitzilopochtli, was born during the month of December (panquetzaliztli). The parallel in time between this native celebration and the birth of the Christ lent itself to an almost seamless merging of the two holidays. Seeing the opportunity to proselytize, Spanish missionaries brought the custom of the re-invented religious pageant to Mexico, where they used it to teach the story of Jesus' birth to Mexico's people. In 1586, Friar Diego de Soria obtained a papal bull from Pope Sixtus V, stating that a Christmas Mass (misa de Aguinaldo), be observed as novenas on the nine days preceding Christmas Day throughout Mexico.[9]

While its roots are in Catholicism, even Protestant Latinos follow the tradition.[3] It may have been started in the 15th century by Friar Pedro de Gante.[4][10] It may have been started by early friars who combined Spanish Catholicism with the December Aztec celebration of the birth of Huitzilopochtli.[4] The Las Posadas text and ritual are also strongly identified throughout the Rio Grande with converso settlers. For more information see Song From a Withered Limb in the journal HaLapid, Autumn/Winter 2015.[11] also found here: https://cryptojewisheducation.com/2016/09/05/song-from-a-withered-limb-las-posadas-and-the-converso-crisis-of-the-16th-century/

Re-enactment

Two people dress up as Mary and Joseph. Certain houses are designated to be an "inn" (thus the name "Posada"). The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lampshade. At each house, the resident responds by singing a song and Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. The people asking for posada travel to 1 house each night for 8 nights.

Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. Children may carry poinsettias.[12] The procession will be followed by musicians, with the entire procession singing posadas such as pedir posada.[4] At the end of each night's journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open star-shaped piñatas to obtain candy and fruit hidden inside, and there will be a feast.[4][13] Piñatas are traditionally made out of clay. It is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession.

Regional variations

In Wisconsin, the procession may occur within a home, rather than outside, because of the weather.[3]

One event in Portland, Oregon finishes with Santa Claus and Christmas gifts donated for needy children.[14]

In New York, worshippers may drink Atole, a corn-sugar drink traditional during Christmas.[15]

A large procession occurs along the San Antonio River Walk and has been held since 1966.[16][17] It is held across large landmarks in San Antonio, Texas, including the Arneson River Theater, Museo Alameda, and the Spanish Governor's Palace, ending at the Cathedral of San Fernando.[18]

Similar celebrations

In the Philippines, where strong cultural influences persist from Spanish colonial times, the Posadas tradition is illustrated by the Panunulúyan pageant. Sometimes it is performed immediately before the Misa de Gallo (Midnight Mass), sometimes on each of the nine nights. The main difference from Mexico is that actors are used for Mary and Joseph instead of statues, and sing the requests for accommodation. The lines of the "innkeepers" are also often sung, but sometimes these respond without singing. Another difference is that the lyrics are not in Spanish but in a local language, such as Tagalog.

In Nicaragua the older generations grew up celebrating posadas but somehow they became extinct in big cities by the 60's. However, there is a major holiday in Nicaragua called La Gritería (The Shoutings), on 7 December in honor of La Purísima Virgen (The Purest Virgin). The Purisima originated in Leon in the 1600s with Franciscan monks but the celebration spread quickly throughout the country. By the 1800s it became a national holiday and today it has become a tradition wherever Nicaraguans have emigrated to such places such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Purisima starts at noon on December 7 with major fireworks throughout the country. Then at about 6:00pm more fireworks announce the time when adults and children go out around their neighborhoods or towns with burlap sacks in hand visiting different, beautifully crafted altars while caroling the Virgin Mary. In exchange for singing people receive sweets, refreshments, fruit and toys. The celebration goes on well into the night. Finally at midnight the most outstanding fireworks in the shape of Mary, stars and angels begin, lasting for half an hour.

Cuba also has something similar, called Parrandas (though Parrandas has more of a Carnaval in atmosphere). The tradition began in the 19th century when Father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones, the priest of the Grand Cathedral of Remedios, in order to get the people to come to midnight masses the week before Christmas had the idea to put together groups of children and provide them with jars, plates and spoons so they could run around the village making noise and singing verses. The idea persisted over the years and with time it gained complexity ending in the street party that has remained till these days.

In Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, families and friends get together from 16 to 24 December to pray the novena of aguinaldos.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Southwestern Christmas - Luminarias and Farolitos". Santafedecor.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  2. ↑ "No Room in the Inn: Remembering Migrants on the U.S. Border". Peace.mennolink.org. 2010-07-04. Archived from the original on 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Erickson, Doug (2010-12-23). "Latinos here celebrate Christmas tradition Las Posadas, 'festival of acceptance'". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Aldama, Arturo J.; Candelaria, Cordelia; García, Peter (2004). Encyclopedia of Latino popular culture. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33211-8.
  5. ↑ Mansueto, Anthony E., Religion and Dialectics, p. 110, University Press of America, 2001
  6. 1 2 Flores Segura, Joaquín, Tonantzin, Guadalupe, p. 74, Editorial Progreso, 1995
  7. 1 2 Campos, Jorge. Guadalupe: Symbol of Evangelization, Ibukku, 2017
  8. ↑ Fee, Christopher R. and Webb, Jeffrey B., American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore, p. 747, ABC-CLIO, 2016
  9. ↑ https://mymissiontastesofsf.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/las-posadas-contraband-fruit-and-warm-mexican-christmas-punch-wrecipe/
  10. ↑ Guerrero-Huston, Thelma (2010-12-22). "'Las Posadas' event celebrates the Christmas story". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  11. ↑ Heller, Reid (Autumn–Winter 2015). "Song From a Withered Limb". HaLapid. XXXIII/XXXIV.
  12. ↑ Pemberton, Tricia (2010-12-15). "St. Mary's students observe Las Posadas tradition". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  13. ↑ Candia, Pablo (2010-12-20). "Las Posadas: Passing on a Hispanic tradition in Dodge City". Dodge City Daily Globe. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  14. ↑ Langlois, Ed (2010-12-23). "Event mixes Christmas tradition and charity". Catholic Sentinel. Portland, Oregon.
  15. ↑ McCaughan, Pat (2010-12-17). "Las Posadas observances adapt, recall Latin American celebration of the nativity". Episcopal News Service. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  16. ↑ Fisher, Lewis F. (1996). Saving San Antonio: the precarious preservation of a heritage. Lubbock, Tex: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 0-89672-372-0.
  17. ↑ Hoyt, Catherine A.; Simons, Helen (1996). A guide to hispanic Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-77709-4.
  18. ↑ Eakin, Tyra (2010-12-20). "San Antonio's River Walk offers winter wonderland". Victoria Advocate. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
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