By Nikki Rajala

The Visitor
12/23/11

Outside a door, pilgrims gather. One carries a basket with a statue of Joseph. He is joined by another statue of a very pregnant Mary riding a donkey. In Spanish, the pilgrims sing, asking shelter for two, “Os pido posada …”

From the other side of the door, their request is denied: “Aquí no es mesón,” (“This is not an inn.”)

The pilgrims persist: “Grant us charity.”

The prospective hosts respond: “Go away.”

Again the pilgrims plead: “We are exhausted. I am Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth.”

The hosts deny them, again and again, but Joseph tells him his wife Mary, the Queen of Heaven, needs a place to rest.

Finally convinced, the hosts open their door to the pilgrims, offering them shelter.

This litany, called “Para Pedir Posada” — meaning “asking for a place to stay” — is sung each year by Mexican families as part of “Las Posadas,” a novena beginning Dec. 16 and ending Christmas Eve. In Mexico, people go house to house in their neighborhoods “searching for a safe place for Mary and Joseph.”

Las Posadas tells the story of people far from home who need sanctuary. Because it’s not showy, there aren’t costumes, only the statues of Mary and Joseph. At the end, everybody finds a home.

Tradition continues

Minnesota’s usual snow banks, icy paths and chilly gusts alter some details, but not the heart, of Las Posadas.

Mayuli Bales, director of multicultural ministries for the St. Cloud Diocese, said, “The tradition of our Hispanic ministry is to host one posada at the church; the other nights are in people’s homes. The third day of Las Posadas happened on a Sunday, so we were at St. Boniface Church in Cold Spring. More people could be a part of it.”

Following St. Boniface’s 1 p.m. Spanish Mass celebrated Dec.18 by Father Freddimir Villavicencio, about 100 Hispanic parishioners reenacted the traditional litany at the church instead of at homes, using the door to the fellowship area. Once invited “indoors,” they prayed the rosary and then celebrated with tamales, a special hot chocolate and “Ponche Navideño” (see box). Children ages 3 to 8 swatted piñatas for wrapped sweets.

Bales said parishioners would continue hosting the novena in their homes Dec. 19 through Dec. 24. The procession of Las Posadas is celebrated with different adaptations at different parishes.

Month for Mary

December is dedicated to Mary, Franciscan Sister Carol Virnig explained.

“First is the novena for Our Lady of Guadalupe, ending Dec. 12. We start Las Posadas Dec. 15, a high point of family faith formation. Every night it’s held at a different family’s home. The family leads as the host or innkeeper.

“This year,” said Sister Carol, who ministers at Centro Hispaño under the auspices of St. Joseph Parish in Waite Park, “our Hispanic neighbors will reenact Las Posadas at homes, moving around the communities of whoever is hosting. We’ve been doing posadas for about 10 years, and some years Centro Hispaño is used instead of homes — an option for families.

“Someone carries statues of Joseph and Mary. Candles might be lit, making it very festive,” she said. “The statues are placed under the Christmas tree or in a special place until the next evening’s posada. And after the novena prayers, they serve an evening meal. The host then brings the statues to the next posada.”

The number of people participating ranges from 15 to 40, Sister Carol said, depending on the weather and where the posada is. Work schedules can make it hard. “We also include American parishioners — the family may invite neighbors or co-workers to join them.”

Across the diocese

 Las Posadas is celebrated across the diocese in many Hispanic communities; each reenactment is unique.

“Our Hispanic community gathers at the church for the novena, because most of them live in mobile homes which are too small,” said Father Stan Wieser, pastor at St. Leonard of Port Mauritius Parish in Pelican Rapids. “Half stand on each side of the church door for the dialogue between the innkeepers and Joseph and Mary. It isn’t scheduled on the church calendar but occurs every December.”

“The feeling is of expectation, closeness, coming together, waiting,” Sister Carol said. “They do this to help them remember their Hispanic traditions, and to prepare as families and as a faith community for the Christmas Day celebration.”

Pictured above

Paul Middlestaedt/The Visitor
(Top) At Las Posadas Dec. 18 at St. Boniface in Cold Spring, parishioners led by Blanca Estela Ramírez (holding song book) sing, pleading for shelter for Mary and Joseph, accompanied on guitar by Miguel Salazar, from Indianapolis, Ind., and a student at St. John’s University. Las Posadas is a nine-day novena traditional in Mexico.

Nikki Puente Guardiola, parishioner at St. Boniface in Cold Spring, holds the statues of Joseph and Mary during Las Posadas Dec. 18. She and the other St. Boniface parishioners are listening to the response to their plea for shelter for Mary and Joseph. The basket, made in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, holds a traditional statue of Mary and Joseph looking for a place to stay.