Las Posadas

Devotions

A nine-night Mexican and Central American Advent tradition re-enacting Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging in Bethlehem.

Las Posadas is a nine-night devotional custom, kept especially in Mexico and parts of Central America from December 16 to 24, in which a procession representing Mary and Joseph goes from house to house asking for posada, or lodging, re-enacting the Holy Family’s search for shelter in Bethlehem before Christ’s birth. It is a culturally specific expression of Advent piety rather than a universal observance of the Roman Rite, traditionally connected to the catechetical efforts of Augustinian missionaries in colonial-era Mexico, and is not dependent on any private revelation.

Quick Facts

  • Category: Liturgical Year — Advent & Christmas
  • Origin: Historic popular piety accompanying the Roman liturgical year, developed in colonial-era Mexico
  • Country: Mexico and Central America, with diaspora observance elsewhere; not a universal Roman Rite custom
  • Observed: December 16 to 24 each year
  • Church status: Recognized/encouraged popular piety when harmonized with the liturgy
  • Private revelation: Not dependent on private revelation

What Is This Devotion?

Each night from December 16 through 24, participants form a procession, often led by children dressed as Mary and Joseph or carrying their images, sometimes accompanied by a figure of a donkey, and go from house to house singing a traditional call-and-response song that asks for shelter (posada). At each stop the household inside first refuses in song, echoing the innkeepers of Bethlehem, before finally recognizing the pilgrims and welcoming them in with a final verse, at which point the group enters for prayer, often the Rosary, followed by festivities such as food, songs and, especially for children, a piñata.

The nine nights correspond to the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, or in another common explanation, to a novena of preparation leading directly into Christmas Eve, when the final Posada culminates in the placing of the Christ Child figure in the Nativity scene and, often, attendance at Midnight Mass.

Origin and History

Las Posadas is traditionally traced to the catechetical efforts of Augustinian missionaries in sixteenth-century New Spain, popularly credited to Fray Diego de Soria at the monastery of San Agustín Acolman near Mexico City, who is said to have obtained permission to hold special Masses, known as Misas de Aguinaldo, from December 16 to 24 as a way of teaching the Nativity story to indigenous converts through drama and song. Documented historical detail about the earliest years of the custom is limited, and some scholars note that the timing and communal, nighttime character of the celebration also drew on pre-existing local winter observances, blending Catholic catechesis with elements of the surrounding culture, as popular devotions have often done in mission contexts.

Over the following centuries the custom of Misas de Aguinaldo developed into the home-to-home procession familiar today, becoming a defining feature of Advent in Mexico and, through migration, in Mexican and Central American communities well beyond it.

Catholic Theology

The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy explicitly recognizes the legitimacy of culturally rooted popular devotions that express the liturgical mysteries through a people’s own artistic and communal traditions, provided they remain harmonized with, and do not substitute for, the Church’s official liturgy (CCC §§1674-1676). Las Posadas embodies this well: it dramatizes the same Gospel search for lodging proclaimed at Christmas Mass, making the mystery of the Incarnation vividly present through song, procession and communal welcome, while explicitly building toward, rather than replacing, the celebration of Mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

How to Practice It

  • Join or organize a nightly procession from December 16 to 24, singing the traditional posada song of request and welcome.
  • Conclude each night’s Posada with shared prayer, commonly the Rosary, before any festivities.
  • On the final night, December 24, place the Christ Child figure in the Nativity scene and attend Christmas Eve Mass where possible.
  • Recognize Las Posadas as a specifically Mexican and Central American custom rather than assuming it is kept universally across the Catholic world.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

Las Posadas is kept each year from December 16 through 24, a fixed nine-night span leading directly into Christmas Eve. It is a regional custom of Mexico and Central America, carried elsewhere through Mexican and Central American communities, rather than a date observed by the wider universal Church.

Church Status

Las Posadas is recognized, long-established popular piety within Mexican and Central American Catholic culture, consistent with the Church’s general teaching that devotions rooted in a people’s own culture and expression are a legitimate way of living the liturgical year, provided they remain harmonized with the Church’s official worship.

Common Misconceptions

“Las Posadas is a universal Advent custom observed throughout the Catholic Church.”

It is not. Las Posadas is a specifically Mexican and Central American devotional tradition, carried elsewhere primarily through diaspora communities from those regions. Many Catholics in other parts of the world keep Advent through entirely different customs, such as the Advent wreath or, in the Philippines, the pre-dawn Simbang Gabi Masses, none of which the Church treats as more or less legitimate expressions of the same universal liturgical season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Las Posadas last exactly nine nights?

The nine nights are commonly explained either as corresponding to the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy or as a novena of preparation leading directly into Christmas Eve, both readings reinforcing the same theme of patient waiting for Christ’s birth.

Who is traditionally credited with beginning Las Posadas?

Popular tradition credits the Augustinian friar Diego de Soria, at the monastery of San Agustín Acolman near Mexico City in the sixteenth century, with obtaining permission for special pre-Christmas Masses that developed into the custom, though documented historical detail from that early period remains limited.

What happens on the final night of Las Posadas?

On December 24, the procession’s final stop typically culminates in placing the figure of the Christ Child in the Nativity scene, followed where possible by attendance at Christmas Eve Mass, directly connecting the nine-night custom to the Church’s own liturgical celebration of Christ’s birth.

Sources

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