Diocese schedules celebration of las posadas, a traditional Hispanic Christmas novena

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UTAH — As Christmas approaches, Hispanic parishioners from all over the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City are finalizing the details for las posadas, a traditional celebration that recalls Joseph and Mary’s search for lodging as they traveled to Bethlehem in answer to the census called by Caesar Augustus.

The nine-day celebration begins every year on Dec. 16 and ends on Dec. 23, known as Noche Buena or “holy night.” Each night in Utah, a different parish hosts the posadas (see the box for the schedule.)

Having the posadas at his parish “is important because this is something that happened in our hometowns,” said Juan Manuel Estrada, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes in Magna who also represents his parish on the Hispanic Commission.

In the celebration, people have the opportunity to pray the rosary “with Saint Joseph and the Virgin,” he added.

Traditionally, participants in the posadas go from house to house asking for shelter for Mary and Joseph, but at Utah parishes the celebration often occurs in one building such as the social hall.

“There we pray and sing the litany and then we share some food like tamales, chocolate, sweet bread, and sometimes we also give aguinaldos (bags with candies) to the children,” Estrada said.

“Here in Utah we need to involve our kids in this tradition so they can grow close to God and learn the origin of this tradition,” he added.

To present the posadas, “all the servers collect funds and offer the posadas to the community, and our parish families also contribute,” Estrada said.

The posadas are an important tradition for the community, he explained.

“Because many of us cannot gather with our families during this holiday season, being able to celebrate them here gives us energy; it makes our faith alive. … We see the people very excited to celebrate the posadas and we feel very happy,” Estrada said.

Similarly, Lourdes Huerta sees having the posadas at Santa Ana Mission in Tremonton as a blessing.

“Celebrating the posadas is important because we have the opportunity to teach our kids the meaning of them, that we are waiting for Jesus to be born,” she said. “He comes with presents for them in the form of the aguinaldos.”

It is amazing to see the expressions of happiness when the children break open the piñatas to receive the bags of treats inside, she said.

Piñatas for the posadas are traditionally shaped as a seven-point star, with each point representing one of the deadly sins: pride, envy, lust, gluttony, anger, greed and sloth.

To organize the posadas in Tremonton, Huerta starts by calling people, inviting them to participate by helping put it on, contributing donations or attending.

“I have been inviting people with a month in advance. … For me to be able to organize this tradition is a blessing,” Huerta said.

Like Huerta, Ortencia Muñiz at Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden starts organizing the posadas weeks in advance.

“It’s important to keep on reenacting our Savior’s birth; … it is important to teach our kids the journey that Joseph and Mary took to give birth to Jesus,” she said.

At her parish, organizers use the posadas to help ensure that young people participate in the Church, she said. For example, as part of the posadas, a boy dresses as Joseph and a girl dresses as Mary, and “sometimes other kids dress up as pilgrims too,” she said.

Diocesan Posadas Schedule

Dec. 16: St. Andrew Catholic Church, 11835 South 3600 West, Riverton

Dec. 17: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2840 South 9000 West, Magna

Dec. 18: St. Jude Mission, 160 E. Center St., Ephraim

Dec. 19: Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, 210 N. Carbon Ave., Price

Dec. 20: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 725 South 250 East, Hyde Park

Dec. 21: St. Joseph Catholic Church, 506 24th St., Ogden

                and Santa Ana Mission, 600 North 760 West Tremonton

Dec. 22: Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple, SLC;

                  and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, 1505 W. White Pine Canyon Rd., Park City

                 and St. Henry Catholic Church, 380 South 200 East, Brigham City

Dec. 23: St. Pius X Catholic Church, 112 West 400 North, Moab

Dec. 24: all parishes and missions

For times, contact the parish.