‘Posada’ (Spanish for ‘inn’) is a Christmas activity when small versions of Mary and Joseph travel around different households in the community and stay there for one night during Advent.
If you would like to ‘host’ our mini Mary and Joseph for a night during Advent, please sign up on the sheet at the back of church. Contact the Parish Office for further details.
Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in time for the
birth of Jesus has been celebrated for many centuries in Latin American
countries with the traditional festival of ‘Las Posadas’ which is Spanish
for ‘the inns’.
The Festival reminds us of the challenges of Mary and Joseph’s
journey where they were unable to find anywhere comfortable to stay so that Mary could have her baby.
In Latin American countries, children dress up as Mary and Joseph or carry statues of them as they process through the neighbourhood. The procession visits three houses singing traditional songs asking for somewhere to stay. Mary and Joseph are refused entry at the first two houses, before being admitted at the third where there is often a celebration feast.
Traditionally the Posada festival lasts for nine days in December, and is a time for the whole community to come together in celebration.
Your Posada Pictures from 2020
Last year, as we were unable to send our knitted characters around the parish, we asked people for their own Posada pictures.
These are tiny terracotta figures, part of a Nativity set bought many years ago on holiday in Provence and cherished. Here they are surrounded with lavender, rosemary and olive sprigs, to be truly Mediterranean and to give an idea of scale.
I made Mary and Joseph when I was an OT in the Day Hospital. Inspired by the hospital chaplain. Here are Mary and Joseph on their way through Hatherley, sporting both the lockdown and COVID- free look.
This picture is taken from a much loved book which my late mum gave to my children – it holds wonderful memories.
This book may look a bit frivolous, but the telling of the story is brilliant, with an appropriate guinea pig picture on every page.
In the midst of the Christmas preparations it’s easy to forget what we celebrate: two humans awaiting the arrival of a third member of their family. Right now in the midst of COVID all we really, really want is to be safe and with those we love. My Nativity scene pieces remind me of the human element of the story and how God kept them safe during their long, hard journey. May He keep all of us safe on our travels.