CNA Newsroom, Dec 18, 2022 / 07:00 am
In the days before Christmas, the traditional “posadas” are usually celebrated in Mexico, recalling the difficulties of St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary in finding a place for Jesus to be born. How did this custom come about?
Father José de Jesús Aguilar, deputy director of Radio and Television for the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico, explained that the posadas, which means “inns” in Spanish, are the fruit of the inculturation of the Gospel in the New World.
In a video, the priest highlighted that “the Gospel reached these lands with the preaching of the first groups of missionaries: Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians.”
“The Augustinians discovered that the indigenous people celebrated the birth of the sun with songs and lights around the winter solstice, i.e. from Dec. 20 to 23. So, they decided to compare Christ to the sun and teach that Jesus Christ is the true sun of truth and justice,” the Mexican priest explained.