Las Posadas Comes To Wilson College

Las Posadas is a Mexican Christmas tradition that is usually celebrated Dec. 16-24. This celebration reflects Mary and Joseph’s search for a shelter in which Mary could give birth to Jesus. Friends and families take turns acting as innkeepers with children dressing up as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they travel around with their loved ones. Each day, they arrive at a new “inn” and the innkeepers refuse to give them lodging. Then, on Christmas Eve, they arrive at the final destination and are finally accepted, allowing the new king to be born. At each “inn”, the families sing both their request and rejection/acceptance and then each host family, or the innkeepers, provide everyone with a traditional Las Posadas meal. After the evening’s festivities, the host family provides the wanderers goodie bags to help them on their journey.

Learning Campus is a K-5 tutoring program that focuses on migrant education and underrepresented children. Due to its’ importance to the children and their families, they like to celebrate Las Posadas here at Wilson. On campus it is condensed into one night, to make it more accessible for everyone to see the entire celebration. Additionally, it cannot be held on the traditional days due to break, so it will be held on Dec 6. Everyone is invited, children of the K-5 program, their families, Wilson students, faculty, staff, and, residents of the community. Las Posadas will begin at 5:30 on Thursday evening. The “journey” will begin inside the Science Center. Everyone, following Mary, Joseph, and a trail of beautiful luminaries, will then go to the first inn, which is outside of Lortz. After the songs have been sung back and forth, they will move to the next “inn” at Lenfest. Next, everyone travels to the final destination which is Laird. Here, the singing ends with a new and joyous verse as Mary and Joseph are let in. After this, everyone goes inside of Laird and the celebration truly begins. Music will be filling the halls and smells of traditional food will be tugging at hungry stomachs. At Laird, everyone will be provided warm food and drinks and great communion.

Last year was my first experience with Las Posadas. As a tutor and officer in Learning Campus, I loved getting introduced to a piece of the kid’s culture. It was also a great opportunity to talk and learn more about their families. The night was cold but the snow added to the beautiful ambiance surrounding us. After going inside to warm up with hot chocolate, we all just sat around and enjoyed each other’s company. It was especially moving to me when one of the local dads, picked up a guitar and everyone started singing together. I found this such a rewarding and amazing night and hope to see more of the Wilson community involved this year!