Did you know that in Questa, the Christmas season has long begun with a knock at a door? For nine nights each December, from December 16 through Christmas Eve, families across Questa, Costilla, and Cerro have kept Las Posadas, one of the oldest living traditions in northern New Mexico. The word posadas means lodging, or an inn, and the custom reenacts the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and their search for a place to stay. Neighbors carry statues of Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother from house to house, and for a little while the whole village becomes part of the Christmas story.
The tradition came from Spain, where it began as a way of teaching the Christmas story, and its nine nights are said to signify the nine months Mary carried the baby Jesus. A knock at the door signals the start. Some celebrants wait inside while others accompany Mary and Joseph outside, and the request for lodging is made in song. Those inside answer that there is no room, and the singing goes back and forth until, at last, the door opens and everyone comes in to the song "Vamos todos a Belen," let us all go to Bethlehem. A Mass follows the procession, and it is not until the final night, Christmas Eve, that the baby Jesus is brought out and the traditional Christmas songs are sung. Afterward comes the meal, in a host family's kitchen or in the parish center: posole, red chile, tortillas, and biscochitos.
Lifelong Questa resident Lorraine Duran, born September 17, 1942, the youngest of seven children of Eloy and Emelina Garcia, grew up inside this tradition. Her father worked long days at the Questa mine, and church life shaped the family's year. During Las Posadas, families took turns hosting the nightly novenas. In the early years, hosts offered simple cups of coffee, punch, and homemade treats. Over time the meals grew heartier, into plates of fried potatoes, enchiladas, and warm bowls of posole, but the heart of the evening never changed: prayer, singing, and a table shared with whoever came to the door.
"It was such a beautiful tradition," Duran recalled. "People opened their homes with such warmth, and we celebrated with prayer, singing and Mass, then shared a meal together." When she and her husband, Nilo, hosted, her sister Florence always helped them prepare, and when Florence and her brother-in-law Felimon hosted, she returned the favor. Christmas itself meant midnight Mass, even when the family left church at two or three in the morning in frigid cold. "What mattered was celebrating the sacred birth of Jesus together as a family," she said.
Las Posadas is living history, and like all living things it needs tending. In recent years fewer volunteers have stepped forward to host, and the tradition has become harder for the parish to maintain. Yet it is still celebrated throughout the parish community each year from December 16 to December 24, closing with the traditional midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at Saint Anthony's Catholic Church in Questa. The tradition survives the way it began, one opened door at a time, carried by families who learned it at their grandparents' tables and pass it on at their own. Readers who would like to host a night or find this year's schedule can contact the parish office at (575) 586-0470.