COMMENT: Advent Third Sunday

Third Sunday of Advent

Thank you, William.
A must, for the Website of Carlisle St. Augustine's.
D. 

From: William W...>
Subject: Las Posadas
To: Donald....>Date: Sunday, 16 December, 2012, 9:24

Dear Father Donald,

I am delighting in the link you gave on your Blog a little while agohttp://www.instituteforchristianformation.org/AdventCalendarYOG2013/ThirdSundayofAdvent.html which today introduces us to a lovely custom, Las Posadas. It has delighted me and confirmed the tradition being continued in one parish in Carlisle under Fr. Geoffrey Steel:

St. Augustine's newsletter:

Our Children’s Liturgy

team is organising the Travelling Nativity: At the

beginning of Advent, Mary & Joseph leave for Bethlehem, and the children of

our parish offer them a place to stay for each night until Christmas.

It is always a joy to learn of such traditions passing from one generation to another uniting a parish community.

With my love in Our Lord,

William 

I 

In addition to being the Third Sunday of Advent, or Guadete Sunday, today is also December 16, the day of the beginning of the Las Posadas celebration. "Las Posadas" is Spanish for lodgings or inns.  Recall that in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, the infant Jesus was laid in a manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. (Luke 2:7) In many Hispanic cultures, there is a tradition of a novena (nine day prayer) preparing for Christmas.  This includes the celebration of Las Posadas.  Las Posadas begins on December 16 and concludes on Christmas Eve, December 24.

Las Posadas may involve an entire neighborhood or village.  It is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph searching for lodging in Bethlehem, as they awaited the imminent birth of Jesus.  Each evening of Las Posadas, those participating process from home to home asking for lodging and hospitality.  The participants may be led by two people dressed as Mary and Joseph.  Perhaps Mary might even be riding on a donkey!  Sometimes two children play the roles of Mary and Joseph, or the participants might carry statues of Mary and Joseph in their procession.  The pilgrims are rudely turned away, until finally they find hospitality and are welcomed in!  There are traditional songs for the Las Posadas celebration, and luminaria light the way.  The home offering hospitality generally has a manger set up.  The pilgrims have a small statue of the Christ Child which they place in the manger.  Las Posadas ends with the breaking of a piñata, and is usually followed by participants going to church to celebrate Midnight Mass.