Navidad

La Navidad in Mexico In some ways I think it would be great to celebrate Christmas in Mexico. Mexican culture is so vibrant and colorful, filled with celebrations, delicious food, and meaningful cultural practices. The Christmas customs of Mexico are no exception. One of the best reasons to celebrate Christmas as they do, is because Mexican Christmas last several weeks. It begins on Dec. 16th with the Dia de Santa Guadalupe and ends with the Dia de la Candleraria on Feb. 2. The weeks in between are filled with parades, singing, family get-togethers, gift giving and many other types of festivities.

The reason for celebrating Christmas in Mexico is similar to Christian traditions for celebrating this holiday in the U.S. But Mexican are probably even more focused on the fact that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Secular traditions, such as Santa Claus, do play a small part, but the Nativity remains central. Much of their celebrating has more of a religious focus and many of the traditions presented here come from their Catholic influence.

For most Mexicans, Christmas means going to church or mass... a lot. The festivities kick off on December 16 with the Feast of St.Guadalupe with a special meal and mass and the beginning of the celebration of Las Posadas. Las Posadas is a procession that takes place over several days and is meant to reenact the search for lodging that Joseph and Mary endured prior to the birth of Jesus. Most of the community takes a part in this by going from door to door in the neighborhoods and singing a traditional song which is meant to symbolize a request for lodging. (Click on the audio file below to listen to this song.) This goes on for several days. Each day the procession goes to a different house, requests lodging through song and is denied a place to stay. Then finally on December 24, as they go through this same process, the residents of the home who symbolize the "innkeepers" invite "Mary and Joseph" and the rest of the procession to stay with them and they all have an elaborate fiesta together. Christmas Eve culminates with La Misa del Gallo (Rooster Mass) which got name because the service starts at midnight and generally last several hours into the early morning hours when the rooster is starting to crow.

You would think that the next day would be the day for opening gifts, as it is here in our country. But, actually, Mexicans wait until Jan 6th, a day that we call Epiphany and that they consider "El Dia de los Magos Reyes" (or the Day of the Magi/Kings). To them, the gifts symbolize the event recorded in Scripture where the Wisemen from the East brought gifts to Jesus in Bethlehem. Of course, once again this celebration calls for a large fiesta with friends and family and lots of good food. One type of food that they eat on this day is called the Bread of the Kings (Rosco de los Reyes) in which a tiny, ceramic figurine of Jesus is baked into one of the circular loaves. The person who gets the loaf with the figurine in it also has the privilege of hosting the next fiesta on the Day of the Candlemas (El Dia de la Candalaria) which is held on February 2.

El Dia de la Candalaria is the culmination of Christmas celebrations in Mexico and involves... yes, you guessed it... going to church/mass, spending time with family and friends and eating lots of good food. Probably the most common food eaten during this time are tamales and a popular drink is chocolate. Some Mexicans have Christmas trees, but most decorate with Nativity scenes and El Arbol de la Vida (Tree of Life) which symbolizes the creation of all things. To see pictures depicting these customs, click on the powerpoint link below.

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