The lights are placed in lines and rows on the ground, along streets and sidewalks, around plazas, and on porches, parapets, porticos, and the flat rooftops in New Mexico. In a land which has had a large Catholic population, these lights traditionally have had a religious, symbolic significance for lighting the way of the Holy Family on Christmas Eve, also known as Las Posadas.
The lights have been adopted in other places, and sometimes have been replaced by strings of plastic sacks and electric bulbs. In Santa Fe and elsewhere in northern New Mexico, there is a long-held distinction between farolito, meaning one of these paper lights, and luminaria, meaning a small vigil fire or bonfire.
It generally includes singing, praying, and food. It is said, too, that these luminarias were originally used to light the way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. We went out to the plaza to find a restaurant but there was this line outside Saint Francis. There was to be a concert that night of Christmas carols in the Basilica, how could we miss that, we could always eat later. Next morning we took the High Road up and back between SF and Taos to look at the many churches and pueblos dressed up for the holiday..
By the time we got back to Chimayo it was dark but there were no lights on the chapel! I noticed a priest working in the office to the left of the entry way so I tapped on the door window and inquired. He said that the lights were on a timer but he could turn on some of them. He did, I took some pictures, it was splendid. The next night, Sunday, we did The Walk. It was a wonderful trip. The only downer was when we were on our way back home, we heard on the radio that James Brown had died that Christmas morning.
They played his Christmas Album while we drove north, a weird Christmas album, but moving just the same that day. I have sort of a history with that album, but that's another story.
Oops, I saw this question about the electric luminarias here but answered it in a comment on another post on Christmas in Santa Fe , which gives a nice summary of some traditions in Santa Fe. Anyway, as I said, I gave up on the plastic and electric ones because of the wind. While it's nice to have the electric ones up for weeks around the holidays, I found it easier to spend the time collecting my bags and candles and sand and putting them all out on Christmas Eve or get a local group, like scouts, to set you up.
We sure can get some wind I have seen the plastic ones nailed to blocks of wood. I used to pile rocks around them, too. Not sure what you'd do for roof; those may be more permanently affixed and explain why some are up year-round.
Thank you for your reply, Destination, even though it wasn't very encouraging Skip to main content. Sign in to get trip updates and message other travelers. Farolito or Luminaria? It is an ongoing, sometimes contentious, usually light-hearted, debate. While there is a belief that the words are synonymous, there also is a belief that the words divide the state geographically, with farolito prevailing in the northern part of New Mexico and luminaria prevailing in the southern part of New Mexico.
This Site and all information contained here including, but not limited to news stories, photographs, videos, charts, graphs and graphics is the property of the Los Alamos Daily Post, unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed by readers, columnists and other contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Farolitos Or Luminarias? Submitted by Carol A. Clark on December 12, - pm. Luminaria In a land which has had a large Catholic population, these lights traditionally have had a religious, symbolic significance for lighting the way of the Holy Family on Christmas Eve.
Sign Up. Log In. Purchase a Subscription. We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. We hope that you enjoy our free content. Edit Close. Toggle navigation Menu. Welcome, Guest. Sign Up Log In. Dashboard Logout. Newsletter sign up.
0コメント