Misa de Gallo

For nine days before Christmas, posada processions pass through the streets of Guatemala. They beat drums and light fireworks as they carry statues of Mary and Joseph (and other Saints) to friends houses where they sing carols and ask for lodging for the Holy Family in the families Manger by singing traditional songs about the pilgrims

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They sing, dance, and eat Tamales. On Christmas Eve, the Christ Child is added to the Manger and everyone involved in the posada in the last nine days is invited to this last night.

A Christmas tree is added (due to the large German population in Guatemala) and presents are left for the children by the Christ Child on Christmas morning. (Parents and adults exhange gifts on New Year’s Day.)

There is a midnight mass on Christmas Eve and a full supper. The mass on Christmas Eve has been traditionally known as Misa de Gallo, the Mass of the Rooster, as the rooster is long known as one of the first witnesses of Jesus and the first to announce his birth.