Las Posadas
St. John of the Cross started it?
Did you know the tradition of Las Posadas is attributed to St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila? Its popularity with these two saints suggests that the practice may be even older. Some historians are able to link it to St. Ignatius of Loyola, who encouraged a similar type of Christmas novena. At any rate, the Spanish missionaries carried the custom to the New World, and it continues to this day.
There are stories from the lives of both Holy Father St. John and Holy Mother St. Teresa, describing the Christmas processions within the enclosure of their monasteries. In these posadas, they carried figures of Our Lady and St. Joseph, seeking hospitality at the cells of the religious. One story has it, during the procession of Christmas 1580, as the friars reached the chapel, St. John of the Cross danced in ecstasy with the figure of the Infant Jesus.
Devotion to the Child Jesus gained great popularity due to the influence of the Discalced Carmelites. It is documented that Holy Mother St. Teresa always carried a statue of the Child Jesus along with her, when making new foundations.
[Art: St. Felix of Cantalice. I substituted him for John of the Cross - because I'm unable to find a painting showing St. John with the Child Jesus. Maybe I can paint one myself.]
