Home. For the Holidays

By ABIGAIL GUENTHER
Staff Writer

The Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary was a haven for Saint Rose students on the evening of Dec. 5, away from the blustery wind and frigid temperatures. Heavy footsteps got lighter - and drier - as they tracked inside and into the sanctuary basement.

Inside, students found a welcoming winter wonderland. With a tables dedicated to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and the beauty of winter itself, the sanctuary’s “Celebrations of the Season” left no holiday under wraps. On one table, a christmas tree glittered with lights. From one corner of the room, a banner wished students a Happy Hanukkah.

Each table was decorated with crafts for a wide variety of passions and abilities, from stuffed-sock snowmen to silver and gold ornaments.

The evening was co-sponsored by Better Together, Catholic Student Organization and the Jewish Student Organization. Complete with crafts and holiday-themed snacks, the sanctuary provided a festive retreat, separate from impending finals and pointing towards the ways each individual might celebrate in the coming months.

Nadia Payan, a first-year Saint Rose student, decided to come to the celebration for the fun, stress-free environment. What she found was more than ambience, however. She was eager to promote potato latkes, a traditional food at Hanukkah. Latkes are fried potato snacks, symbolic of the miracle of Chanukah, when the Israelite army won a battle for their religious freedom with only enough oil to last one night. The battle went on for eight days.

“It’s kinda an outside holiday,” Payan said about celebrating Hanukkah. She explained that Hanukkah doesn’t always fall around Christmas, although this year it is celebrated from Dec. 22 to Dec. 30, and seldom receives the limelight in the same way that Christmas does.

On Dec. 6, the sanctuary wasn’t only a place of celebrating culture, but of discovering it.

“It’s a journey to learn how to be curious about others,” said Joan Horgan, director of spiritual life at Saint Rose. “We don’t need to act like we already know.” People enjoy talking about what’s important to them, she said. Horgan coordinated the Celebrations event.

Sharing about beliefs is at the heart of Horgan’s mission for the role of the Office of Spiritual Life at Saint Rose, and the role of college ministries in general.

This holiday event is celebrated annually, but it has been a learning process for everyone involved, including the Spiritual Life staff. It started as a Christmas party, and expanded to include several other cultural and spiritual celebrations.

December is the season of celebrating several spiritual cultures and journeys, including Buddha’s birthday, the Feast of Kings, or the Winter Solstice.

For Horgan, Sanctuary events are not meant for those with all the answers, but an opportunity to ask others about what they believe, and to truly listen and discover the traditions or passions of others.

Horgan said that she wants all students to feel welcome entering the sanctuary, as the Spiritual Life office continues to extend in ways that make it a home for students.

For Aeryn Fall, a sophomore at Saint Rose, the sanctuary became close to home early in her freshman year. Fall attended the Adventure Challenge pathways program, where met Laurie Lester, the administrative assistant in Hubbard.

Now, Fall works in the sanctuary. Though she originally picked the sanctuary because of her connection with Lester, she continued there because the environment encouraged her personally.

“I try to be at most of the events at the sanctuary,” Fall said. Alongside her, making snowmen out of socks, were her best friends, housemates, and dance partners from RKP, the Saint Rose K-Pop dance group.

For Fall, winter break means several Christmas parties with several family members. But before heading home to Massachusetts, Fall celebrated Christmas in the sanctuary with her Saint Rose family.

In the past, the Celebrations of the Seasons event has included performances, like stories about many different traditions or carols.

Horgan said in an interview that she hopes to bring a group carolling next year. This year, the late Thanksgiving and unforeseen snowstorm complicated matters, so no groups performed.

Even so, the sanctuary provided a holiday haven for students to warm their hands and open their eyes to the brilliant colors and beautiful cultures around them.

The sanctuary recently held an Open House as well. The hope—to open opportunities for talking about faith on campus—is to be actualized in more regular events being hosted by the sanctuary.

According to Horgan, the Spiritual Life team hopes to open the sanctuary once a month for a craft and a movie.

“It brings us back to childhood even,” Horgan said. And even if the next event isn’t centered around December, ugly sweaters are always welcome.