Day 21. Las Posadas: Songs of the Heart.
As the Las Posadas processions wind through neighborhoods, music becomes central to the ritual. Traditional songs, often sung in call-and-response style, invite community participation, reinforcing solidarity and shared hope. Children and adults alike lift voices into the night, asking for shelter and offering blessings. Music transforms the ritual into a living conversation between the community and the sacred story it enacts.
These songs are more than festive-they carry history, resilience, and moral lessons. They remind participants that the work of caring for our community requires persistence, creativity, and welcome, especially in the darkest months. Music opens hearts, and Las Posadas is a beautiful example of how songs, as a cultural and spiritual acts, carry our values from generation to generation.
Unitarian Universalists singing together embodies similar covenantal principles: it connects hearts, uplifts spirits, and strengthens bonds across generations and cultures. Like the Las Posadas songs, our hymns and musical offerings are tools for collective resilience, joy, and liberation.
“Entren, santos peregrinos, reciban este rincón,
aunque es pobre la morada, os la doy de corazón.”
(“Come in, holy pilgrims, take this humble corner;
although the dwelling is poor, I give it to you from the heart.”) – traditional letanía (song) used in Las Posadas in Mexico
Reflection: How does music help you maintain hope or bring light to others?
Learn More
- Listen – The Las Posadas (The Inns) song – Ryan & Ian teaching the members of St. Peter’s Chelsea the Las Posadas song about Joseph & Mary seeking refuge to give birth to the baby Jesus. It is a traditional call & response song between those representing Joseph (the pelegrino, “pilgrim”) and the innkeeper (posadero).
- Explore Traditional Las Posadas Songs by Inside Mexico
- All Ages – The Night of Las Posadas – Tomie dePaola’s book read aloud
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