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Chapel services will celebrate Christmas in Norwegian, German, Russian

By Trent Chaffee '09
November 30, 2007

Chapel services will be infused with traditions from around the world this week, with music and Gospel readings in Norwegian, German and Russian.

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Professor of Norwegian Margaret Hayford O'Leary performs.


The Norwegian Christmas Chapel will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 11:10 a.m. (view photos from the event); the German Christmas Chapel will be held Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 10:10 a.m.; and the Russian Advent Chapel service will be held Thursday, Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. All services will be in St. Olaf's Boe Chapel, and students, faculty, alumni, and staff members are welcome to attend.

All three services will be streamed live.

Norwegian hymns, gospel, stories, cookies and a fiddler
The Norwegian Christmas Chapel, sponsored by the Norwegian Department and Norwegian House, will include Christmas hymns and the Christmas Gospel in Norwegian. Two St. Olaf students from Norway, John Gunnar Staver '09 and Christin W. Strandli '09, and American students Jessica Steinbach '08 and Joshua Martin '09 will describe Norwegian holiday traditions in English.

The Norwegian Choir, led by Professor of Norwegian Margaret Hayford O'Leary, will lead hymns. Lars Skjervheim Spelemannslag, a Hardanger fiddle group led by Dr. Andrea Een, will perform. Coffee and cookies provided by the Norse Federation and the Norwegian Department will be served before the service in the Sun Ballroom in Buntrock Commons.

German celebration
Coinciding with the German Nikolaustag, the service will include German Christmas hymns led by the German Christmas Choir and director Rachel Foster '09, the Christmas gospel in German, and a sermon. Amy Thoren '94, associate pastor of youth and family ministry at St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, will conduct the service.

The event will be held the day before the German holiday Nikolaustag. On Dec. 6, Nikolaus, the German version of Santa Claus, brings small presents to children who were good throughout the year.

Russian advent service
Russian classes will lead the Russian Advent Chapel, which will include Russian Christmas music sung by a student choir and Russian Orthodox chanting. Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Vitaly Buldakov will offer readings similar to what would be found in an Orthodox service.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.