Photo By: Garrett RudolphPosada
Crowds of children put their hands together in prayer in song Dec. 16 at the St. Luke Catholic Church posada.
St. Luke Catholic Church held its annual posada for the Christmas season last week.
The interactive celebration simulates a story in the Bible about Mary and Joseph seeking a room to give birth.
“Traditionally, in the context of a parish setting, the posadas are celebrated nine days before Christmas in people’s homes,” said Jason Nunez, a seminarian at St. Luke. “They would be with the same words — Mary and Joseph asking for a room and four times getting rejected and then the final time, finally let in.”
The service began with a reading of the rosary and music before the parish was divided into two groups and the posada began.
Nunez said the ceremony itself is more serious and afterwards is when the party begins.
“Essentially at the end of posadas, we celebrate the fact that they found the room,” he said. “Jesus has been born in Bethlehem in a manger, so that’s the last part.”
Nunez said for Woodburn specifically, the posadas are an integral part of Christmas.
“I think what the posada does … is create a sense of tradition because it’s mainly seen in more Latin American countries,” he said.
“So for those that participated in it, I think they found a sense of home, a sense of locality, a sense of back with their roots.
“It unifies us in the sense that we’re all on the same mission. … Jesus is born in a manger on Christmas …. we’re all prepared for the same thing, the same celebration.”
About 450 people turned out to the celebration Wednesday night, which included cake and hot chocolate as well.
“By the end of the night, it was to the point where we didn’t even have enough tables and chairs,” Nunez said.
There were several other posadas throughout town as well this year.
