By: Miguel Rivera
Nine days before Christmas, where families gather to have a banquet, put together the nativity scene, sing Christmas carols and decorate the tree; Christmas posadas are held.
During these festivities, people traditionally gather to ask for posada with songs and litanies. We tell you what day this celebration begins that this year will be different. From December 16 to 24, the posadas are held, which represent the pilgrimage of Joseph and Mary during the time they walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city where the baby Jesus was born. In such a way that the celebrations begin on December 16 of each year.
Each of the nine days that the posadas last represents a value such as humility, strength, detachment, charity, trust, justice, purity, joy and generosity. The origin of the traditional posadas dates back to the year 1587, when the Augustinian Diego de Soria asked the current pope for permission to hold daily masses from December 16 to 24.
After the authorization, he began to celebrate the masses that were accompanied by representations of the Virgin and Saint Joseph, who asked for a posada, that is, decent accommodation. With the passage of time, the posadas ceased to be celebrations of faith, to become parties where the hosts offer punch, canes, seasonal fruits and a bag of sweets. Without forgetting the representation and at the end of the evening, the piñata is broken.
