Christmas in Santo Tomás
For this Holiday Seson I am sharing Chapter 41 of Love’s Rebirth which is about the Latin American tradition of the Posadas.
Thanks to A_Naranjo (Pixabay)
Chapter 41 Loves Rebirth: A Tejana Story
“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve
the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and
strengthens this community—and this nation.”
—Cesar Chavez
The pilgrim parade was to start at 7:00 p.m., but by seven fifteen,
the participants were barely arriving at the point of departure.
At the head of the entourage, a monk carried a large candle inside a
luminaria candle bag. The procession followed with Teresita who
had on a white tunic covering her large cushion belly and a blue
rebozo covering her head. She rode a stubborn donkey that young
José pulled with a rope tied to its head. The three other older
students wore turbans and finer robes than José’s, representing
the three wise men; they each carried the make-believe containers
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The other thirteen children
depicted shepherds, angels, and veiled girls carrying poinsettia
plants. Little David took his role seriously, walking very straight
with his shepherd’s cane. The students were followed by a band,
some goats, a calf, and about twenty other parishioners, some
dressed in period clothes. Most of the pilgrims carried lit candles.
The group stopped to sing the litanies at the first designated
home.
They sang the first litany at an unwelcoming home: “In the
name of Heaven, I request you grant us shelter, given that she
cannot walk, she my beloved wife.”
The uninviting home and its family answering sang, “This is
not an inn. Please continue ahead, I cannot open, you may be a
robber.”
The group moved on to a second home and sang, “In the name
of Heaven, I request you grant us shelter since the King of Heaven
will prize you for that.”
The unwelcoming innkeeper answered, “You can already go
away, and do not bother because if I get upset, I will beat you up.”
And so on. The pilgrims went to different assigned homes
singing similar litanies and being refused shelter until the last
home of the evening: “In the name of Heaven, I request you grant
us shelter. I am Joseph the carpenter, my wife is Mary.”
The welcoming inn responded, “Are you Joseph? Is your wife
Mary? Come in, pilgrims. I did not know you.”
The pilgrims answered, “May God pay, sirs, your charity, and
may Heaven bless you with happiness.”
The welcoming innkeeper lets them in: “Joyful be the house
that this day hosts the pure virgin, the beautiful Mary.”
These or similar litanies were sung for nine nights as they
visited the different homes. Each night, the home that welcomed
the pilgrims served food, drinks, and broke one of the nine piñatas.
Once this was done, prayers would be said as the participants sat
or stood around a Nativity scene.
On the twenty-fourth of December, the entourage ended at
the church hall for the welcoming Posadas festivity. At midnight,
almost the whole town attended midnight Mass, after which
all the Posadas participants went back to the church hall where
Teresita and José sat in the nacimiento with little Omar, who
portrayed baby Jesus. Music and singing continued until late into
the night.
After Ana Dee was praised for the wonderful job her students
had done, André dropped her off at her home with her dear ones
around two in the morning.
Adria Cruz Tabor
