Part of a traditional Christmas in Mexico...

Part of a traditional Christmas in Mexico is a colorful procession along cobblestone streets, re-enacting Joseph and Mary’s search through Bethlehem for lodging on the first Christmas Eve.

The observances are called Las Posadas, literally “the inns.”

Drawing on some obvious parallels, the All Saints AIDS Service Center is putting on its own Pasadena Posada Saturday to dramatize the plight of people with AIDS.

“Joseph and Mary were rejected from inn to inn, and they wound up in a stable,” said Dan Morin, coordinator of the third annual Pasadena Posada. “A recent poll found that nearly a third of all physicians do not agree that they have a responsibility to treat people with AIDS.”

But the emphasis in Posada Pasadena--as it is in Las Posadas-- is on acceptance, rather than rejection, Morin said.

The two-mile procession, beginning at 5 p.m. at

All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., will offer an ecumenical potpourri of entertainment and observances--including a choir performance, instrumental music, ethnic dances and the lighting of a menorah.

Television stars Sharon Gless and Meschach Taylor are honorary co-chairs of the event, which concludes at City Hall Plaza with a poignant memorial to people suffering from AIDS. Participants will each be given a votive candle to light and a piece of chalk to write dedications on the sidewalk to friends or loved ones who have died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Participants are asked to contribute $25 apiece. Proceeds go to the All Saints AIDS Service Center, a major provider in the San Gabriel Valley of support services for people who are HIV-positive or who have been diagnosed as having AIDS. For more information, call the Posada Hot Line, (818) 796-7942.