Los Posadas: Holiday tradition follows trek of Mary, Joseph
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By Mary Louise Speer | Thursday, December 20, 2007 |
Children have candles lit by the Rev. Stacie Fidlar, right, during Las Posadas Wednesday night at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rock Island. Buy this Photo
Mary and Joseph wearily searched for shelter around Rock Island Wednesday night seeking a place where Mary could give birth to her child.
Las Posadas is a Christmas tradition in Mexico where the holy couple go from house to house asking for help. The event was hosted by St. John’s Lutheran Church, Rock Island.
“Las Posadas is a nine-night tradition which begins as Mary and Joseph seek lodging, seek to be welcomed in our homes and hearts,” said the Rev. Stacie Fidlar, pastor of St. John’s Church.
About 60 people from senior age to infant walked with Mary and Joseph in their search for shelter along darkened streets. Overhead shone a slice of moon but there was no trace of the star that guided the wise men in the nativity story.
The group made three stops as Mary begged for help but each time the homeowner or inn keeper said no as part of the ceremony. “The inn keeper pleads, ‘Just let me go back to bed.’ And Mary once again goes away sad,” the Rev. Fidlar said.
The couple finally found a warm haven inside the church and a fiesta with plenty of food. “I’ve been on journeys before where it was hard to find some place to stay so I guess I identified more with them,” said first-time participant Chuck Wilt of Rock Island.
Wilt is unsure if he wishes that long ago journey would have resulted in the couple finding help right away. Maybe that journey was the first of many struggles they went through, he said. Perhaps it built their faith for those future challenges. In the end, “it turned out good for all of us,” he said.
The shepherds featured in the nativity story probably felt they had plenty to fear on that topsy-turvy night, Fidlar said during a short reflection. What the angel says to them is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. “Do not be afraid,” she said.
“The reason why I think that’s so powerful is often we are motivated by fear. Time and again God comes to us and says, ‘Do not be afraid.’ This is a God who will stand with us in the middle of our fears,” said Fidlar.
The service ended with praying the Lord’s Prayer (El Padrenuestro) in English and Spanish. “I’d heard about the tradition but it was fun to experience it in the real setting in both languages and to process with the candles,” Janet Stodd, of Moline and a first time participant, said. “I think it was fun to experience it with people of all ages.”
In Mexico, Las Posadas ends with the presentation of gifts on Jan. 6 which is Three Kings Day, or Dia de los Tres Reyes. Alicia Gomez of Rock Island and her family put together a fiesta of foods that would be served in Mexico on that night, including pork pozole soup and tamales.
The Christmas fruit ponche was made out of chunks of sugar cane, hibiscus flowers, guava, small apples and tamrind, all readily found in Mexico. “It’s became fairly easy to get the ingredients up here. I go to the local Mexican stores,” she said. “The sugar cane, the kids like to suck on and get all the sugar out.”
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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