One of my holiday traditions...Luminarias
If you visit Albuquerque in December, you'll experience the Old Town Plaza's annual Luminaria Tour where hundreds of people walk into the cool night and wander through the golden glow of more than a thousand twinkling paper lanterns. Every Christmas Eve, my friend Dianna and I go to Old Town Albuqueque (my home town) to look at the lights, have hot chocolate, sing carols in the plaza gazebo (people walk up off the street, sing a song or two and then move on).
The glowing brown sacks that adorn sidewalks, churches, and homes each holiday season in the Southwest date back more than 300 years.
In New Mexico, the terms Luminarias and Farolitos have come to be almost interchangeable. Most Santa Feans call the bags Farolitos while Albquerqueans say Luminarias.
In the 1800’s luminarias were small bonfires built along the roadside to commemorate Christ’s birth. They were used to guide people to Midnight Mass on the final night of LAS POSADAS, “lodging or inn”.
Later people used farolitos, small paper bags with sand in the bottom and a small candle inside to light the bag. This was a substitute for the more dangerous bonfires. Children in the southwest, reenacting the night of Las Posadas often carried the farolitos in their hands. Today they are used to line walkways, driveways and roof tops.
The night of Las Posadas is a festive celebration first introduced to the Mexican Indians by European missionaries reenacting the story of Joseph and Mary’s search for lodging in Bethlehem in a series of NOVENA, “nine days”, beginning December 16th.
Each night a group of carolers would go from house to house, carrying small lanterns made of a paper bag with a lit candle inside (farolitos). The carolers would sing a song pleading for food and shelter. Some homes would turn them away, but others would invite them in and offer food - posole, red and green chili stews, Christmas Eve tamales, biscoshitos, etc.
What are some of your holiday traditions?
