About Las Posadas
Las Posadas — 'the lodgings' — is a nine-night Advent tradition introduced to New Spain in the 16th century by Augustinian friars who used it to teach the Christmas story to recently converted Indigenous communities. The nine nights echo the nine months of Mary's pregnancy or the nine-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, depending on which catechist you ask.
For a deeper historical treatment, see Las Posadas — Wikipedia.
Each night the neighbourhood gathers behind two participants playing Mary (often on a small donkey) and Joseph; they walk from house to house singing the traditional posada call-and-response, asking for shelter and being refused at door after door until at the appointed home the door opens, the pilgrims are welcomed in, and the night dissolves into prayer, hot ponche (fruit punch), tamales, and a star-shaped piñata. The ninth night, 24 December — Nochebuena — culminates in midnight mass.
Traditional greetings
The phrases below are the ones most often used to mark Las Posadas in person, by phone, and on cards. The native-script column shows the greeting as a recipient would read it; the transliteration is for those who would like to say it aloud; the English column is a literal rather than a poetic translation.
| Language | Greeting | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Felices Posadas | Happy Posadas | |
| Spanish | En el nombre del cielo, os pido posada | In heaven's name, I ask you for lodging |
Design tips for printable Las Posadas cards
Hand-printed cards for Las Posadas reward restraint and specific reference. The notes below distil what the most thoughtful cards in the tradition tend to do — and what the most commercial ones tend to get wrong.
- A single seven-pointed star piñata is the most recognised Posadas image (the seven points represent the seven deadly sins).
- Candle-lit procession silhouettes against an indigo dusk evoke the festival's mood without literalism.
- Use poinsettia (Nochebuena flower, native to Mexico) as the floral motif rather than holly.
- A folded insert with the call-and-response text in Spanish and English makes a beloved keepsake.
- Warm terracotta and brass over deep midnight is the right palette — not Christmas red.
A starting palette:
Five verses for Las Posadas cards
Each verse below is short enough to copy onto a folded card by hand. They progress from formal to intimate; pick the one that best fits the relationship and the year you are writing into.
- May every door you knock at this Christmas open for you — eventually. Felices Posadas.
- Nine nights of asking, nine nights of waiting, and on the ninth — a star, a song, a piñata. Blessings for your Posadas.
- From one neighbourhood to the next, the small candle-lit procession that makes Christmas feel like home.
- May the door at the end of your ninth night open wide, and may the tamales be hot.
- En el nombre del cielo, os pido posada — and tonight, of all nights, that door is mine to open for you.
Related cultural holidays
Other holidays observed in the Latin America family of traditions: