Posadas in La Antigua Guatemala
Catholics in the American Continent celebrate many of the same religious events and traditions on the same days, more or less, but they do not do it exactly the same. For instance, Posadas, small processions that take to the streets the images of Mary and Joseph on platforms, beginning on December 15th, are celebrated differently in Guatemala than they do in Mexico, which is my only other reference. Below a detail explanation of how are Posadas celebrated in La Antigua Guatemala.
The faithful follow with torches and candles, singing as they go to the rhythmic beating on turtle shells and high pitches played on clay pipes, both very important to the tradition. The images leave their places in the nacimientos of churches, homes and business establishments to enact the journey of the young couple form Nazareth to Bethlehem to register their citizenship, along with the rest of their birth. But the young woman is soon to deliver a child, and it’s tough finding lodging for the rest she urgently needs. —Quoted from an article by Joy Houston in the December 2005 edition, page 16 of Revue Magazine (available as a PDF download).
Literature Side Note: For an interesting twist on the story that 35% of the population of the world knows about, I recommend you read The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago, Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.
How are Posadas celebrated in your neck of the woods?
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