Feliz Navidad: A Mexican Christmas

Mexico is a devoutly religious country and almost everyone is Catholic,
so a Mexican Christmas has a strong religious flavor to it celebrating
the Nativity. Families traditionally celebrate with a Novena, or nine
day celebration before the holy night of December 24, Christmas Eve.

Villages and homes both schedule the Novena and reenact the journey of
Joseph and Mary when they were looking for lodging while on their way
to the Roman census. Re-enactors will sing a simple chant. Every home
has a Nativity scene, and home owners play the part of the inn keepers.
All of the re-enactors carry small lit candles and usually four
teenagers will carry small statures of Mary and Joseph, with Mary riding the
donkey. The head of the procession will carry a small lantern made of
paper with a candle inside. The enactors will ask for lodging at three
houses and only the third will let them in. Then the guests come into
the home, kneel before the Nativity scene and sing praises for the
Virgin Mary and traditional Christmas songs. Then the home will host a
party for the children. The highlight of the party is the Piñata. A
tradition imported from Italy, it is thought of as Mexican and is paper
mache or a clay pot decorated with paper, and is filled with hard candy,
peanuts sugar cane and fruit. All the children are blindfolded and take
a turn at hitting it with a stick until someone breaks it open, then
all scramble for the treats inside.

As in the United States Mexicans exchange gifts but rather than doing
it on Christmas, they wait until New Year's Eve for a celebration called
Misa de Gallo, or Rooster's Mass. Many families go to church early and
open gifts at midnight. Others wait until January 6 which is known as
the Day of Kings, or Wise men's Day, and celebrates the Magi who
brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Children traditionally place their shoes
near the window so the Magi can fill the shoes with gifts. If the
present is bigger than the shoe, it is placed next to the shoe; and many
children receive new shoes as Wise Men's Day gifts. The day also includes
a Merienda, kind of a tea time with hot chocolate and La Meridenda, an
evening meal of celebration.

Another Mexican Christmas tradition is the Rosca de Reys, a big oval shaped
wreath made of a special egg bread filled with dried fruit and sprinkled
sugar decorations and a small ceramic doll inside. The doll represents
the baby Jesus and whoever gets the doll is the Godparent of the baby
Jesus in a celebration called Candelaria on February 2.

As Christmas is celebrated throughout all of Mexico, government offices
will be closed for two weeks for all of the celebrations. In recent
years many Mexicans, especially the most affluent, have adopted Santa
Claus and many American traditions, but even then the flavor remains
distinctly Mexican. As the land of the Piñata accepts the Christmas Tree, Mexican
Christmas traditions melding show the true spirit of Christmas, with
nation's coming together in peace.