Rhoda's old-fashioned minced meat pie.

Rhoda's old-fashioned creamed onions.

The Santa Fe Plaza Posada

 

SANTA FE, New Mexico (By Judy O'Meara, The Jon Garrido Network) October 28, 2010 ― Planning for our trip to Santa Fe to participate in the Santa Fe Plaza Las Posadas on December 12, brings back memories of an old friend I respect and deeply admire.

 

I want to dedicate this article to the remembrance of the contribution she made to my young life. Like her name, Rhoda, she reflects the past when traditional values really meant something to us.

 

She grew up in a world of abject poverty, but she never lost hope there was more. Her faith, family and tradition became the driving force of her success. She especially enjoyed the Christmas holidays by making her own ornaments and creating those wonderful old-fashioned recipes of minced meat pie and creamed onions associated with this time of year.

Let us take time to celebrate this Christmas holiday with family and friends. Renew the old traditions, capture the meaning and excitement of Christmas, and attend a Las Posadas!

For those unfamiliar, La Posada means "The Inn."

It is a Mexican festival which takes place during the nine days before Christmas which, according to religious tradition, represent the period when Mary and Joseph were seeking shelter before the birth of Christ "El Niño Jesús."

During this festival, people form a procession while symbolically stopping at homes to ask for shelter. People in the procession dress up, sing songs, and sometimes bring a burro or donkey along to represent the donkey, which brought Mary into Jerusalem.

In some regions, the procession ceremonially asks for shelter at two other homes before reaching the location of the designated party for the evening in a reminder of the difficulty Mary and Joseph had when they tried to seek shelter before the birth of Christ.

Typically, the location of the party is decorated with a large nativity scene. At the party, guests are served an assortment of traditional Mexican holiday treats and children play with a piñata, traditionally made in the shape of a star.

On the last night of Las Posadas, the party ends with a trip to church for the midnight Nativity mass.

Typically, several neighborhoods in a town will have Posadas parties going on and these parties may meet up as they wind their way through the streets to church. Afterward, families head home for an exotic Christmas feast of dishes like tamales, rice, chiles rellenos, menudo, roast pig or turkey, along with hot fruit or cider punches and other spirits such as rompope (eggnog) and of course, at our inn in Santa Fe,  minced meat pie, creamed onions and also Jon's must have: home made red chili tamales.

Mexico is a very religious country and while Las Posadas is a great excuse for socialization and parties, it is also a deeply religious event.

Many communities may join together in prayer at the nativity scene before the party begins. For example, traditional Posadas songs are filled with religious symbolism. The holiday also celebrates and encourages kindness, generosity, and love among the members of a community.

Many historians believe the Mexican tradition of Posadas dates to 16th century missionaries who were trying to teach indigenous people the story of Christmas.

It was St. Ignatius Loyola, who used an Aztec festival to teach about the birth of Christ. He also wanted to replace the nine-day celebration of the birth of the Aztec Sun god with a Christian celebration. What started as a novena, or nine days of prayer, eventually moved from the Church to the community and was celebrated in peoples' homes.

Even though many Mexican immigrants struggle to keep this tradition alive, it is now celebrated in many other parts of the world.

Although Las Posada celebrations are common in Northern New Mexico towns and deeply rooted in Spanish Catholic tradition, early celebrations of Las Posadas on San Antonio Street became a secular event but because of a 1970s neighborhood campaign to restore Spanish Catholic tradition, Las Posadas was moved to the annual event now celebrated by many at the Plaza in close proximity to the Catholic Cathedral.

As indicated on the New Mexico Land of Enchantment web site, the Santa Fe re-enactment diverges in a few details from the Biblical story.

Last year's event consisted of costumed devils playing the role of mortals, refusing lodging to a young pregnant woman and her fiancé. As the couple strolled around the Plaza, they stopped on each street of the square to seek lodging. The crowd booed the devils as they ridiculed, taunted and spat upon the Holy Family from perches on Plaza portals.

The devil's supernatural power allowed him to magically appear at each of the Plaza "inns" where the couple stopped to find shelter, which took four mortals to simulate those powers by crawling out of second-floor windows to discourage the travelers.

While enjoying the merriment, one hopes it was an opportunity to reflect on the difficulties Mary and Joseph must have experienced. It is such a wonderful Mexican Christmas tradition.

Please join Jon and I on December 12th of this year to see Las Posadas at the Santa Fe Plaza in New Mexico "The Land of Enchantment."