Starting tonight and continuing until Christmas Eve, Christians in Hispanoamérica (including in Latino areas of the United States) will walk through neighborhoods enacting the journey of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter at Bethlehem. They go from house to house, asking if there’s room for them. House to house—until they reach the designated “manger”—they are turned away. Finally, they are allowed in.
Whereupon everyone celebrates; there’s usually a piñata, and refreshments for the adults, too.
Las Posadas (literally, “The Inns”) is a lovely tradition. I remember going to one in LA’s Olvera Street when I was in grade school. It seemed neighborly; especially as each night the welcoming house is a different one, so nobody has to be a grinch all the time.
Today’s Advent entry is “Pidiendo Posada”, which dates back at least 400 years. The sequence is that one group of singers asks for shelter as Joseph, and the second group turns them away…until the end.
The first exchange basically goes:
“In the name of heaven, I beg
you for lodging
My beloved wife cannot walk”
“This is not an inn, so keep
going
I can’t open the door—you may be a rogue”
You get the idea.
Here’s Tropical Tepexpan singing it.
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