La Posada is a South American Advent custom which we have brought to our Parish.
You can read the diary entries for La Posada 2017 here
‘Posada’ means a roadside ‘inn’ and refers to the various places in which Mary and Joseph stayed on their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while awaiting the birth of Jesus.
The Posada (the image of The Holy Family prior to the Birth of Jesus) travels around our. homes during Advent, spending a night here and there (as did Our Lady and S Joseph), sharing in the lives of those who offer them ‘shelter’. The final hosts bring the Posada to the Crib Service in Church on Christmas Eve, representing the arrival of the Holy Family in Bethlehem.
The en route ‘hosts’ keep a ‘diary’ of what happens (from the point of view of the Holy Family as it were) and have an opportunity to reflect on what it means to have Jesus ‘hidden’ yet Present at the heart of our circumstances (with all our joys and challenges), just as did Mary and Joseph as they journeyed towards Bethlehem that first Christmas, many years ago.
Whether or not we host the Posada, that message is for each one of us as we approach Christmas.
You may want to use the devotion below in front of any image or icon of the Holy Family, or that of our own La Posada image above.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Blessed is the house that shelters this day Joseph the Carpenter and Mary his wife, as they await the birth of the Holy Child in her womb.
O beautiful Mary and holy Joseph, pray for us as we prepare for the coming of the Christ Child this Christmas, that He may dwell in our hearts and in this home forever.
Hail mary, full of grace…
Our Father…
O come to us, abide with us:
Our Lord Emmanuel.In the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.