Above: File photo from 2017. Fayetteville’s St. Ann Catholic School reenacts Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter in Bethlehem. As part of this one-day Las Posadas celebration, the community turns each classroom into an ‘inn,’ and completes the journey in the parish hall with prayer, song and a great feast. The celebration, which originated more than 400 years ago in Mexico, is traditionally a nine-day event lasting from December 16 to December 24.
Today is the beginning of the annual “Posadas Navideñas” in Mexico and “Novenas de Aguinaldos” in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.
Nine days before Christmas is celebrated, the Catholic faithful participate in the traditional posadas and Christmas novenas as a family or in neighborhood groups. The objective is to recreate the path that the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph traveled when they arrived in Nazareth in search of a place where their son Jesus could be born.
The origin of the novenas is found in Mexico at the end of the 16th century, when the Spanish instilled religious customs in the indigenous people, including preparation to receive the child on Christmas Eve. The novena was originally created by a Franciscan monk, Fray Fernando de Jesús Larrea, born in Quito in 1700, who preached in his home country of Ecuador and also in Colombia.
As time passes, people try to keep this tradition and share it with others through readings, prayers and Christmas carols. While the Christmas tradition has always been celebrated among Latin American family, friends and neighbors including in the United States, this year is very different due to the pandemic and that meeting together is limited to prevent the coronavirus from continuing to spread.
Typically, beginning tonight, families and small groups of friends and neighbors would meet in a different home each night through the novena, sharing prayers and traditional dishes. But this year most will be meeting virtually. While it is in some ways a struggle for families to preserve the tradition, the challenge of maintaining this year’s celebrations also brings innovations and opportunities, as local neighbors can join together with faraway friends and family in other countries through technology. The journey may be different this year but it still brings opportunities to pray as a family and community and strengthen our faith.
Here are some recommendations if you decide to organize a virtual Posada. You may visit the diocese's Spanish Facebook page, where we will be praying the Holy Rosary hosted by the Hispanic Community in St. Thomas More, Chapel Hill, and continuing to share other Advent content.