las posadas 2019 HD images, las posadas 2019 event details 2019

Las Posadas HD image 2019

Las Posadas is a novenario (nine days of religious observance) celebrated chiefly in Latin America, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and by Hispanics in the United States,beginning 16 December and ending 24 December. Las Posadas is celebrated by Latinos, Spaniards and people who personally identify with the culture and holiday of the Mexican and Spanish people.

Celebrating las Posadas Event in Mexico 

Etymology

Las Posadas is Spanish for lodging, or accommodation, which in this case refers to the inn in the story of the nativity of Jesus. It uses the plural form as the celebration lasts for a nine-day interval (called the novena) during the Christmas season. The novena represents the nine-month pregnancy of Mary, the mother of Christ Jesus celebrated by his mortal followers.

History

The celebration has been a tradition in Mexico for 400 years, and started in 1586. Many Mexican holidays include dramatizations of original events, a tradition which has its roots in the ritual of Bible plays used to teach religious doctrine to a largely illiterate population

in Europe as early as the 10th and 11th centuries. These plays lost favor with the Church as they became popularized with the addition of folk music and other non-religious elements, and were eventually banned; only to be re-introduced in the sixteenth century by two Spanish saints as the Christmas Pageant, a new kind of religious ceremony to accompany the Christmas holiday.

Las Posadas image jpg.

Las Posadas Image GIF

In Mexico, the winter solstice festival was one of the most important celebrations of the year and it was on December 12 according to the Julian calendar used by the Spaniards until 1582. According to the Aztec calendar, Tonantzin Guadalupe (the beloved mother of the gods) was celebrated on the winter solstice, and she is still celebrated today on December 12; while their most important deity, the sun god Huitzilopochtli, was born during the month of December (panquetzaliztli). The parallel in time between this native celebration and the birth of Christ lent itself to an almost seamless merging of the two holidays. Seeing the opportunity to proselytize, Spanish missionaries brought the custom of the re-invented religious pageant to Mexico, where they used it to teach the story of Jesus' birth to Mexico's people. In 1586, Friar Diego de Soria obtained a papal bull from Pope Sixtus V, stating that a Christmas Mass (misa de Aguinaldo), be observed as novenas on the nine days preceding Christmas Day throughout Mexico.

While its roots are in Catholicism, even Protestant Latinos follow the tradition. It may have been started in the 15th century by Friar Pedro de Gante. It may have been started by early friars who combined Spanish Catholicism with the December Aztec celebration of the birth of Huitzilopochtli. The Las Posadas text and ritual are also strongly identified throughout the Rio Grande with converso settlers. For more information see Song From a Withered Limb in the journal HaLapid, Autumn/Winter 2015.

Re-enactment

Two people dress up as Mary and Joseph. Certain houses are designated to be an "inn" (thus the name "Posada"). The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lampshade. At each house, the resident responds by singing a song and Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. The people asking for posada travel to 1 house each night for 9 nights.

Dress like Marry and joseph Image

Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. Children may carry poinsettias. The procession will be followed by musicians, with the entire procession singing posadas such as pedir posada. At the end of each night's journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open star-shaped piñatas to obtain candy and fruit hidden inside, and there will be a feast.Piñatas are traditionally made out of clay. It is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession.

Las Posadas Candle Burning Image

Regional variations

In Wisconsin, the procession may occur within a home, rather than outside, because of the weather.

One event in Portland, Oregon finishes with Santa Claus and Christmas gifts donated for needy children.

In New York, worshippers may drink Atole, a corn-sugar drink traditional during Christmas.

A large procession occurs along the San Antonio River Walk and has been held since 1966. It is held across large landmarks in San Antonio, Texas, including the Arneson River Theater, Museo Alameda, and the Spanish Governor's Palace, ending at the Cathedral of San Fernando.