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As we stand alongside those who are homeless and far from home, this page will help you make the most of welcoming the ‘Las Posadas’ image.
The image sets off on Advent Sunday and will make its journey around South Cardiff until Christmas Eve.
Here you’ll find:
- Bethlehem Bound: What is Las Posadas?
- Croeso: Prayers of Welcome (for the Las Posadas image)
- In your Place : Ideas for the Las Posadas image
- Back to Bethlehem: Bible Reading
- As the Cold Clings: Prayers for those who are homeless
- A Safe Lodging – more prayers
- Wallich: discover more about Wallich which works with and for those who are homeless
- How you can help: donate to our Christmas Charities, including Wallich and Croeso Butetown
Bethlehem Bound: what is Las Posadas?
Las Posadas is a celebration from Latin America. It’s a nine day celebration filled with pageantry and colour, a reenactment of the journey that Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem, with children chosen to play the part of Mary and Joseph and various in keepers
It begins on December 16th which is a turning point in the Advent season. The idea of Las Posadas has emerged in various guises in the UK and although not celebrated with such Latin American flair, quite often an image of Mary and Joseph journeys around the community, stopping in homes and other places.
This image can become a beautiful focus for prayer and devotion, drawing us closer to Christ, and preparing us to welcome him into our hearts and homes.
However, our prayers and thoughts will also be turned to those who are homeless in our own day – individuals and families who experience housing insecurity, those who are in temporary or inadequate accommodation, people who move from place to place, and those who sleep on our streets.
This image sets off on its travels on Advent Sunday 3rd December.
Video: What is Las Posadas?
This video for children explains how the Festival is celebrated in Latin-America
Croeso: Prayers of Welcome
These prayers may be used when the image arrives at a new place. The one presenting the image says:
May Mary’s Son and Saviour
bring joy and peace to this home.
Blessed be God for ever!
The image is placed in a prominent position.
God our Father,
as we gaze on the image of Mary and Joseph
making their way to Bethlehem,
may our hearts be turned to those
who seek a place to call home.
As we prepare for Christmas,
may we share Christ’s love
through active service
and loving concern.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Our Father…
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Before leaving the home:
May this home be aglow with the Spirit
and filled with the joy of Jesus.
May Christ be born in our hearts
and in our lives.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all ever more. Amen.
In your Place: Ideas for the Las Posadas Image
If you’re able to welcome the image of Mary and Joseph, then here are some ideas to make the most of their stay:
- Place the image in a prominent position in your home – or wherever you are
- Use it as a place to pray – create a little shrine, if only for a day!
- Light a candle (safely!) at the image
- Place the image in your window for others to see
- Use it as a talking point with friends, family or work colleagues. Talk about how the experience of Mary and Joseph relates to the experience of people today
- If appropriate, provide hospitality to the person handing on the image to you. Pray together.
- Share a photograph of the image in your home, school or workplace. We’ll be posting and sharing on social media #homeforchristmas
- Encourage friends and family to donate to our Christmas Charities, as we support those who seek a place to hall home
- Let the imagination of any children in your home or within your family lead the way!
Back to Bethlehem: Bible Reading
Words from the gospel according to Luke:
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:1-7)
As the Cold Clings: prayers for those who are homeless
As the cold clings to the earth
and the darkness deepens,
we seek warmth and light,
praying especially for
those who are homeless.
We pray for those who are homeless,
for all who sleep on the streets
and in our parks,
in doorways and dark corners,
or in hostels and supported living,
those who move from place to place,
for all who live in poverty,
and those who seek a way out or find it difficult to move on.
God of Love, hear our prayer.
We pray for those separated from their families by distance or disagreement,
all who have been hurt and hindered
and carry still their childhood scars within them,
for all who are judged or misunderstood,
those who struggle with systems and strange ways
and all who have been let down and let go.
God of Love, hear our prayer.
We pray for all who work with those who are homeless,
for paid workers and volunteers,
for the kind hearted and all who reach out
with care and compassion to those in need,
who stand and sit and walk and wait with them,
sharing a small part in their journey through life.
God of Love, hear our prayer.
We pray for all who have died,
for our own families and friends,
and those who have died homeless,
especially those we have known
and who have touched our lives,
whose memory remains with us still,
whose names still raise a smile and stir our heart.
God of Love, hear our prayer.
God our Father,
hear the prayers we have made.
Let justice and peace fill the hearts and lives of all people,
and may all who have died come at last to their home in heaven,
where there is no sorrow or sighing, no pain or unhappiness,
only joy and life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Safe Lodging
This beautiful prayer from St John Henry Newman is particularly lovely to use at night before going to bed.
O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shades lengthen and the evening comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done; then Lord, in thy mercy, grant us safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The image of Mary and Joseph can be a lovely focus of prayer in your home. Here are some ideas for prayer:
Loving God, as Christmas approaches and we celebrate that great mystery of your love when Christ came to live among us, we pray for all who have nowhere to call home. Open our hearts to their needs, help us to listen to the story of their life, and move us to help with generosity and love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for all the blessings we have received. As we appreciate what we have, let us not dwell on what we want. And when we feel in need may it remind us also of the needs of others, and the call to love one another as you have loved us. Amen.
Wallich
Wallich is a homeless charity which works in Cardiff and across Wales.
They believe that everyone deserves the right to a home but also that everyone deserves the right to feel safe, valued and positive about their future.
The Wallich operates under three core objectives: getting people off the streets, keeping people off the streets, and creating opportunities for people.
This video offers an introduction to Walich’s Cardiff Solutions Centre:
Find out more
You can find out more about the work of Wallich at their website.
How you can help
Donate to our Home for Christmas Appeal as we raise funds for two local projects which support those who seek a safe lodging, a place to call home.
You can donate online, in church or by using the Gift Envelopes which accompany the travelling image.
During the Christmas season (from Christmas Day to the Feast of the Epiphany) you can also make an offering at the Crib Scene in each of our churches.
Questions and Answers
Some useful Questions and Answers about Homelessness from Wallich
Here we are
God,
here we are,
more or less.
The interested and curious,
the worshippers and wonderers,
the characters and questioners,
the seekers and the singers,
the givers and the takers,
the leavers and remainers,
the time wasters and ‘waste of timers,’
the comedians and seriously strange.
The ‘do no-gooders’
and the ‘good no doers’
the lonely and the lost,
the laughers and the losers,
the wasted talent and talented wasters,
those with no home and the
‘Told to go home-ers’
the spinners and winners,
the shakers and breakers,
the broken and the broken down,
those surprised by life and those with no life in them.
The fixers and the mixers,
the weepers and sleepers,
the dazed and easily amazed,
the discoverers and undiscovered,
the have-beens and the could have-beens
the frightened and the fallen,
the ‘lookers’
and the one’s to look out for,
the ‘hard knocks’ and the ‘hard done-bys
the misunderstood
and the mistaken stand-aloners,
the loved and those who long for love.
We’re all of these, well more or less,
we’re less than we can be
and more than we will know.
God,
here we are,
more or less.
Croeso Butetown
Our other Christmas charitable cause is Croeso Butetown which is part of the Community Sponsorship of Refugees whose aim is to establish groups to welcome, home and support a refugee family in their community for up to two years.
As we seek a house, rising rental costs will mean that the family we welcome to Butetown will need more financial support, and so we are extending our fundraising campaign.
Well be focussing on the experience of those who are refugees with our second image of the Holy Family on their escape into Egypt during the twelve days of Christmas
Featured photographs by Nick Fewings and Levi Meir Clancy, Unsplash.com
South Cardiff Ministry Area 