Die Posadas sind vorweihnachtliche Feiern, die in Mexiko ab dem 16. Dezember gefeiert werden. Es sind insgesamt 9 Tage und jeder Tag bedeutet ein Monat der Schwangerschaft von Maria. Sie stellen die Suche Marias und Josephs nach einer Herberge auf ihrem Weg von Nazaret bis Betlehem vor der Geburt Jesu dar. Die letzte Posada wird deshalb am Heiligabend gefeiert.
Die Tradition kommt von den Augustinern, welche in ihrem Versuch die Indianer zu bekehren deren Sitten nutzten, um sie dem christlichen Glauben anzupassen. So feierten die Azteken im Dezember das Kommen Huitzilopochtlis. Die erste Posada fand statt im Kloster von Alcolman im Nordosten von Mexiko-Stadt. Dazu gab es immer Piñatas und es wurden Weihnachtslieder gesungen.
Heutzutage hat sich die Tradition geändert. Freunde und Verwandte treffen sich in einem Haus. Manche stehen vor der Eingangstür und stellen Maria und Joseph dar, die um eine Bleibe bitten. Im Haus ist der Gastwirt mit seinen Gästen. Abwechselnd wird gesungen. Alle haben eine kleine Kerze in der Hand. Manchmal tragen Kinder die Figuren Maria, Joseph und den Esel in der Hand.
Die draußen Stehenden fangen an zu singen:
En el nombre del cielo
os pido posada
pues no puede andar
mi esposa amada.
Im Haus wird geantwortet mit:
Aquí no es mesón,
sigan adelante
Yo no debo abrir,
no sea algún tunante.
Alle vier Verse wechselt man sich ab.
No seas inhumano,
tennos caridad,
que el Dios de los cielos
te lo premiará.
Ya se pueden ir
y no molestar
porque si me enfado
os voy a apalear.
Venimos rendidos
desde Nazaret,
yo soy carpintero
de nombre José.
No me importa el nombre,
déjenme dormir,
pues que yo les digo
que nos hemos de abrir.
Posada te pide,
amado casero,
por sólo una noche
la Reina del Cielo.
Pues si es una reina
quien lo solicita,
¿cómo es que de noche
anda tan solita?
Mi esposa es María,
es Reina del Cielo
y madre va a ser
del Divino Verbo.
¿Eres ú José?
¿Tu esposa es María?
Entren, peregrinos,
no los conocía.
Dios pague, señores,
vuestra caridad,
y que os colme el cielo
de felicidad.
¡Dichosa la casa
que alberga este día
a la Viren pura.
la hermosa María!
Zum Schluss singen alle:
Entren, Santos Peregrinos,
reciban este rincón,
que aunque es pobre la morada,
os la doy de corazón.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posadas_(Fest)

David Summerford plays Feliz Navidad while pictures depicting the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas flash on the screen. Las Posadas (Spanish for "the inns") is a nine-day celebration with origins in Spain beginning December 16 and ending December 24. It is a yearly tradition for many Catholic Mexicans and some other Latin Americans and symbolizes the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born, based on the passage in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke (2:1-9): "Now, at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census -- the first -- took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his home town to be registered. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up to Judaea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David's House and lineage, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn. In the countryside close by there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took turns watching their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them."[1] Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims (peregrinos), who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lamp shade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. At the end of the long journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful papier-maché objects with bats while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast. Traditionally, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession