Posadas

Posadas

December 16-24

This nine-day Christmas celebration in Mexico commemorates the journey Mary and Joseph (the parents of Jesus) took from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Reenacting the couple's search for shelter ( posada in Spanish) in which the infant Jesus might be born, a group of "pilgrims" will knock on someone's door and ask the owner to let them in. Although they may initially be refused, the master of the house finally invites them to enter, and the Posadas party begins. The children are blindfolded and given a chance to break the piñata (a clay or papier-mâchÉ animal that hangs from the ceiling and is filled with candy and toys) by swinging at it with a stick. The posadas are repeated for nine evenings, the last occurring on Christmas Eve.
The Misa de Gallo, or Mass of the Cock (so-called because it's held so early in the day), ends after midnight, and then there are fireworks and, in some towns, a special parade with floats and tableaux vivants representing biblical scenes.
In small Mexican villages, there is often a procession led by two children bearing images of Joseph and Mary riding a burro. The adult members of the group carry lighted tapers and sing the Litany of the Virgin as they approach each house. There is also a famous Posadas celebration on Olvera Street in Los Angeles.

CONTACTS:
Mexico Tourism Board
21 E. 63rd St., Fl. 3
New York, NY 10021
800-446-3942 or 212-821-0314; fax: 212-821-0367
www.visitmexico.com
Olvera Street
El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historic Park
845 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-680-2525
www.olvera-street.com

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 232
BkFestHolWrld-1970, pp. 137, 155
BkHolWrld-1986, Dec 16
EncyChristmas-2003, p. 624
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 496
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 743
RelHolCal-2004, p. 85

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. © 2010 by Omnigraphics, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Posadas

 

a city in northeastern Argentina and capital of Misiones Province. Population, 104,100 (1970). Posadas is a port on the Paraná River and has a railroad station. Industries include food-processing, tobacco, woodworking, and logging. Posadas is the trade center for the surrounding agricultural region, which grows Paraguay tea, tobacco, and tung trees.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.