How do different Christian cultures remember, celebrate and pass on the story of the birth of Christ to new generations? in Latin America, Christmas traditions implanted during the colonial period include setting up a scene depicting the stable where baby Jesus was born (a nacimiento or pesebre), re-enacting biblical scenes or related stories and songs about good vanquishing evil (pastorelas), and attending a midnight mass on Christmas eve (misa de gallo), among many other local celebrations.

In Mexico and Central America, the posadas have been a central part of Christmas celebrations for centuries. Posadas literally mean “inns”, “lodgings” or “shelter”, and their central feature is a re-enactment of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where they asked for lodging along the way but were refused until finally being offered the stable where Jesus was born.

History

The origins of this enduring tradition clearly illustrate the attempts made by early Catholic orders to evangelize the population by drawing on existing local beliefs and then superimposing Christian beliefs on them over time. In pre-Hispanic times, the Aztecs celebrated the winter solstice from the 6th to the 26th of December (a period known as Panquetzaliztli), carrying out rituals and processions in honor of the god of war and of the sun, Huitzilopochtli. The Catholic orders saw this as an opportunity for conversion, by adding street processions with Christian idols and distributing the traditional corn figures and amaranth sweets (called tzoatl) during the open-air masses leading up to Christmas.

Historians attribute the precise origin of the posadas to Fray Diego de Soria, prior of the large Augustinian convent of Acolman in central Mexico, who sought and received permission from Pope Sixtus V in 1587 to conduct special daily masses - that included a procession depicting Mary and Joseph’s journey - during the nine nights before Christmas. These nights, known as the novena, marked a period of extended devotional prayer that also commemorates each of the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, and the masses were known as misas de aguinaldo because a gift of fruits and sweets was offered to those accepting the faith (aguinaldos). The masses and re-enactments became known as posadas and were followed by a party with food and drink for everyone. By the end of the 18th century, this tradition spread from churches and convents to neighborhoods, where it was organized by lay people in the streets as well as in homes. Today, the posadas have become a time for holiday celebrations and get-togethers of all sorts, even without a religious connotation.

Main features

The Procession and Songs

Although there are many local variations, the nightly processions are generally composed of children dressed as angels and adults carrying statues or images of the Holy Family, as well as candles. The procession goes from door to door in the neighborhood, singing traditional verses and carols specific to the posadas, where one part of the group asks for shelter and the other, standing inside the homes, denies it repeatedly, arguing that they cannot admit strangers. Finally, the procession is admitted to a designated house that is hosting the posada that evening, where the celebration takes place, with a piñata for the children and food for everyone.

The most well-known contemporary posada songs, which may have been re-interpreted multiple times over the centuries, were compiled and edited by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the verses of one of the main songs, Entren santos peregrinos (“enter, holy pilgrims”) are as follows:

En nombre del cielo/ pedimos posada,/ pues no puede andar/ mi esposa amada.

(Sung by those on the outside: in the name of heaven/we ask for shelter/since my beloved wife cannot walk further.)

Anfitriones/ Aquí no es mesón/ sigan adelante/ yo no debo abrir/ no sea algún tunante.

(Sung by those on the inside: guests/this is not an inn/go on your way/I should not open/for it might be some wrongdoer.)

Entren, santos peregrinos/ reciban este rincón/ no de esta pobre morada/ sino de mi corazón.

(Sung by those on the inside, when shelter is finally granted: enter, holy pilgrims/ receive this corner/ not of this poor dwelling/ but of my heart.)

The Food and the Aguinaldo

Following the historical tradition of the aguinaldo, small baskets or bags filled with fresh and dried fruit, peanuts and special sugar-coated pastries (known as colación) are distributed among all of the participants in the procession. Traditional winter drinks are also served, namely ponche – a warm combination of boiled guava, a small regional fruit known as tejocote, apple and sugar cane - together with typical food such as tamales (stuffed corn-meal patties wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks).

The Piñata

This well-known part of festive occasions – a paper mache figure filled with sweets, broken open by blindfolded children wielding a stick - was traditionally in the shape of a 7-pointed star. There are two interpretations of the meaning of this figure: the first is that it represents the star that guided the wise men towards the place where Jesus was born, and the second is that the points represent the seven deadly sins, presented in a shiny and tempting form (the beautifully decorated piñata). These are destroyed by our blind faith in God (the reason for being blindfolded while hitting the piñata), and we are rewarded by the blessings that come to us from above (the sweets that fall from the inside). In addition, the blindfolded person is supposed to be turned around 33 times before striking, representing the years of Christ’s life. The words of the accompanying song admonish believers to steer away from temptation: dale, dale, dale, no pierdas el tino…porque si lo pierdes, pierdes el camino (strike it, be sure not to miss…because if you miss, you will lose your way).

Sources

Gobierno de México, “Las posadas, tradición navideña”, at: https://www.gob.mx/conanp/articulos/las-posadas-tradicion-navidena

Fernando Ayala Acevedo, “Historia de las posadas navideñas”, at: https://www.academia.edu/40484743/Historia_de_las_posadas_navideñas

Anastasia Krutitskaya, “Versos de posadas. Las nueve jornadas de los santos peregrinos, publicadas por la imprenta de Vanegas Arroyo”, Revista de Literaturas Populares XIII-2 (2013) at: http://www.rlp.culturaspopulares.org/textos/25/02.krutitskaya.pdf

Rafael Solana, “Las Posadas”, Artes de México no. 72, Nacimiento, Villancico Y Pastorela (1965), pp. 14-16, at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24312358

México Ruta Mágica, “Este es el origen de las posadas navideñas”, at: https://mexicorutamagica.mx/2020/12/10/posadas-navidenas-origen-historia-juegos-elementos/

“Origen de las posadas navideñas y las piñatas en México”, at: https://turismo.guadalajaravisit.com/celebraciones/origen-de-las-posadas-navidenas/