The ecumenical Christmas festival of Las Posadas made its symbolic trek across the Holy Land of Perry Friday night, with a homeless Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in a cold, dark and unloving world, as friendless as undocumented immigrants in Donald Trump’s America.
The annual ceremony began at the First Christian Church in Perry, with the singing of popular Christmas carols in both English and Spanish. First United Methodist Church pastors Paul Burrow and Rosa Soto led about 80 people in bilingual prayers and readings.
A procession followed, with a Perry boy and girl dressed as Joseph and Mary. They walked from the First Christian Church to Second Street, followed by the rest of the congregants bearing lanterns and candles and singing carols.
The procession made three stops along the way, asking for shelter as the congregation sang. The holy family was symbolically rejected at each stopping place, as in the gospel accounts.
At last they found warm and generous acceptance, and a community meal followed in the Fireside Room of the First United Methodist Church. The meal served about 150 people, a significantly larger number than attended the chilly walk downtown, and songs and dances enlivened the feast.
The nine-day religious ceremony of Las Posadas represents the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus. The procession has been a Mexican tradition for at least four centuries and possibly blends elements of Spanish Catholicism with the December Aztec celebration of the birth of Huitzilopochtli, according to cultural anthropologists.
The Perry Las Posadas ceremony is sponsored by Hispanics United for Perry (HUP). The group works to foster intercultural communication and understanding in Perry and to preserve alive the richness of immigrant and native Latino culture in Iowa.
