Christmas Cards - Las Posadas

Las Posadas is the Spanish for "the Inns" and refers to the reenactment of the search for a place to stay by Mary and Joseph as they traveled to Bethlehem for the census. As we all know, their search was in vain, and they took refuge in a stable, where the angels heralded the birth of Jesus.

While in Alamos over the Christmas period of 2002, I was able to take part in the Las Posadas celebration on Christmas Eve. A local man and woman played the parts of Mary and Joseph, and a real donkey played the role of, well, the donkey. The crowd followed with lit candles behind the "holy family" as they went from house to house knocking on the door asking for a room for the night, only to be turned away. Ultimately the parade ended at a location where a mock stable was set up, and an infant was brought out to be laid in the manger to a happy chorus of "Noche de Paz" (Silent Night) and the beginning of Christmas Eve revelry.

Well, Christmas is not quite on the horizon yet, but I was at Costco yesterday and they had this year's Christmas decorations on sale! And some people are quite organized about Christmas like my friend Lesli who has finished all her Christmas shopping already! I always remember as a kid that the first Christmas card that would show up in our letter box would be the one from Aunty Peg, who proably got her cards in the mail sometime in early November! So it's not too early to offer these photos from that night of Las Posadas in Alamos for Christmas cards, perhaps. If you would like to use any of these photos for one-off Christmas cards, they are available at my store at Imagekind.

I put together this brief video of the Las Posadas celebration with music from Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album "Wintersong"
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A high definition version of Las Posadas is available here at YouTube.

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