Posada, La

Roughly translated as "the pilgrimage," La Posada commemorates the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in fulfillment of Herod's command for a census. According to Christian tradition, the couple attempt to secure lodging at several inns before being allowed to bed down in a stable, where Mary gives birth to Jesus. It is this tradition that is played out annually at Christmastime in the solemn feast of La Posada.

While, according to Judy Blackwell, La Posada began in the sixteenth century as a communal liturgical event, in Mexico it has since evolved into a nine-day celebration involving the entire community. Though there are regional variations, including new expressions of the celebration in American Latino congregations, there are several key elements that constitute La Posada. Generally, the first Posada begins on the night of December 16, the feast day of La Vırgen de Guadalúpe, the patroness of Mexico. Often, in American Latino Catholic communities, La Posada is celebrated on this one evening and incorporated into a veneration of La Vırgen. Also, La Posada ritually reenacts the pilgrimage, with participants traveling in procession to a predesignated house and, after thrice being denied entry, are allowed in for the celebration. Another feature of nearly all Posadas is the musical accompaniment of the procession, generally provided by mariachis.

La Posada, then, is both a ritual reenactment of the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, and a communal celebration in anticipation of the birth of Jesus at Christmastime.

See alsoBelonging, Religious; Christmas; Latino Traditions; Liturgy and Worship; Marian Devotions; Mary; Music; Patron Saints and Patron-Saint Feasts; Roman Catholicism; Sociology of Religion; Virgin of Guadalupe.

Bibliography

Díaz-Stevens, Ana María, and Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo. Recognizing the Latino Resurgence in U.S. Religion: The Emmaus Paradigm. 1998.

Dennis Kelley