Episode 2 Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a flagship institution.

It's right there at the centre of national life in this country.

Westminster Abbey is the Coronation Church.

The Abbey has been the place where people commemorate

the great men and women of our history.

Here was the origins of Parliament.

I think of the Abbey as being an upbeat place.

The most unusual phone call was from Michelle Obama's Secret Service.

On a standard day we would probably process a thousand people per hour.

Even though we are a massive tourist attraction,

we still are very much a living church.

Westminster Abbey represents faith at the heart of the nation.

To think there have been people

with their eyes turned in the same direction,

towards worship of God in this place, for over 1,000 years.

There's a feeling of a really Rolls-Royce musical setup here.

Being the Queen's choristers, we really can't afford to let her down.

Quite a lot I see people crying.

When you sing, it brings tears of joy AND sadness.

I do wake up every day and think this is a fantastic place to be.

It's a thrill even after 17 years.

Can you believe you've got that to look after?

There's a tremendous sense of being part of something

that goes back all those hundreds of years.

Magnificent building. I feel like I'm part of history just being here.

Boys, here, come forward just a little bit for me.

Lovely. Now I can see you.

I'm going to have the Dean and Chapter in the middle,

so you're not to join up, OK?

Founded by Catholic monks in 960AD,

a church has stood in London on the banks of the Thames

for over a thousand years.

Today, it's no longer a monastery, and employs 250 staff

and 500 volunteers to support 1,500 services

and over a million visitors a year.

Boys, best smile out, OK, here we go, looking to me.

Thank you very much.

That was the one for the police, now the Inland Revenue...

The history of the Abbey reflects the history of Britain,

and the seismic rift in the 16th century

between Catholics and Protestants.

This summer, the Abbey will be making a historic trip

to the Vatican, to help heal this centuries-old divide.

For 1,500 years the Church in England

was part of the greater western Church,

the Roman Catholic Church,

and then 500 years ago it broke away,

immediately over the divorce of King Henry VIII,

but then the Elizabethan settlement under Queen Elizabeth.

There was huge persecution on both sides.

The Catholic Queen Mary persecuted Protestants.

So this division took place in great rancour and anger,

but we never quite lost faith in each other.

We never stopped seeing each other as churches.

Over the past 50 years, there has been a slow thawing

of relations between the Church of England and the Vatican.

In 2010, Benedict XVI became the first Pope

to make a state visit to a British monarch.

The congregation here represents the whole of Christianity

in these islands.

And the first Pope in history to set foot in Westminster Abbey.

CHOIR SINGS

When the Pope came here for the Papal visit,

one of the things that was evident to me and to all of us

is that he loved the music.

And he was obviously very impressed

with the quality of music that he saw here.

What we never imagined at the time

was that it would result in an invitation to the choir

to go and sing at the Papal Mass

in St Peter's Church, on St Peter's Day.

Now that is extraordinary.

The trip to Rome has added significance because St Peter,

the first Pope, is also the Abbey's patron saint.

How many of you have been to Rome before?

The man spearheading the visit is the Abbey's spiritual leader,

the Dean.

He's come to the Choir School to talk to the boys.

This is a thing that has never, ever, ever happened before.

What you need to bear in mind is that one of the great pains

for us as Christians is our division from one another.

We love one another,

and it's important that we show respect for each other's traditions.

And that out of the pain of separation

we pray for the peace of reconciliation.

So our sense of being separate is a pain.

It's hard for us, but we ought, in that sense of deprivation,

to be praying for the gift of reconciliation.

And out of all that will grow a great visit,

and much more than that, will advance us together

on that great road towards Christian unity.

OK?

So you're engaged in a mission of vastly greater importance

than you can possibly imagine.

Hello. Good morning. How nice to see you.

And you.

Jonathan Milton. Hello.

-This is George.

-Come on in, George.

The Abbey Choir School teaches up to 36 boarders

between the ages of 8 and 13.

During term-time, they sing eight services every week.

The standard is high and throughout the year, the master

of the choristers, James O'Donnell, holds auditions for new recruits.

Voice Trial is a rather awful name really for a series of auditions

that are designed

to establish whether a seven-year-old boy

has what it takes to be a chorister here.

I am looking for somebody who has a reasonable way of already

expressing themselves through their voice, through their singing voice.

Who's got a bit of get-up-and-go as well, a bright spark.

Somebody with a bit of resilience,

maybe a slightly quirky sense of humour or something about them

that isn't going to mean they're going to stand there like a pudding

and receive instructions and just reproduce them mechanically.

I want someone who'll engage.

OK, lovely. Can you see the music there?

Take a step back, so I can really hear you properly. Good chap.

# Oh, for the wings For the wings of a dove

# Far away, far away would I rove... #

Lovely.

George is just one of around 25 boys

auditioned over the course of a year

for a possible six places.

About a year ago

we met someone who had a nephew at the school.

So we looked it up on the website,

and we came to the open day,

and it all started then, really.

As we came out, and he said very seriously,

having been taken off while we were talking to the headmaster,

he'd been taken off by some of the older boys

to see the dormitories and the other things.

And as he came out he said very quietly,

"I want to go to that school."

He hasn't changed his mind since.

And any boy who spent five years here

as a matter of routine

producing something which is outstanding every day,

as good as it gets anywhere in the world, must learn the lesson

that practice pays, and do something properly and you get results.

OK, if I play you three notes at once,

do you think you could sing those? OK? I'm sure you can. Just listen.

It's all about just what you hear, OK?

La-la-la.

Yes. Do you recognise that sound?

Do you know what it's called?

What we call that chord?

It doesn't matter if you don't.

What do you call a bicycle with three wheels?

-A tricycle.

-And this is called a... Does it ring a bell?

-Triad.

-That it! Triad. Because it's got three notes.

That's all it is. OK?

It's not exactly complicated. Good.

If George is selected, he'll start in September

and spend his next five years

singing at a professional level in a choir

that performs for an incredible range of congregations

that include royalty, statesmen and the world's religious leaders.

The Dalai Lama arrives at the West Door.

Today, the Abbey is welcoming

one of the world's great spiritual leaders,

the Dalai Lama.

It seemed to me that it was important in itself to welcome the Dalai Lama

here, that it would be a statement of our interest in the plight

of the people of Tibet and the people in exile with the Dalai Lama.

But more particularly it is a chance to recognise

that he is a world figure promoting peace and reconciliation

and mutual understanding, and that we could work with him.

We recognise that the Abbey has a worldwide significance,

and therefore what we do can be exemplary

and can encourage people in other places as well.

Your Holiness, it's a real delight and a pleasure to welcome you

back to Westminster after almost 30 years.

My beloved brothers and sisters, we gather from many Christian

and faith traditions in this holy place

for a moment of reflection and prayer.

On behalf of the Dean and Chapter, I warmly welcome you all.

Respected spiritual leaders, spiritual brothers and sisters.

Once more I find this opportunity

in this magnificent church, chapel,

people from different religious faith sit together.

And I think pray together.

Is really wonderful.

BOY SINGS

Establishing good relationships with people of different

religious traditions, whether it be other Christian traditions,

as with the Roman Catholics, or other religions

as with the Dalai Lama here -

all of those are very important things for the Abbey

to be involved in, I think,

and this visit to Rome takes its part within that broader business

of being friendly towards ecumenism

and being friendly towards people of other faiths altogether.

That's part of what we want to do, and it's part of our mission.

CHOIR SINGS

Absolutely wonderful. Extraordinary man.

Extraordinary man. Really great. Thank you very much, everyone.

Organising the historic five-day tour to Italy

is the responsibility of Minor Canon Jamie Hawkey.

Salve, buonasera...

SPEAKS ITALIAN

It's quite unusual to be organising something away from the Abbey.

Most of our work here as Minor Canons is organising services

that people will come to here,

so we're extremely used to internal liaison

and to external liaison with outside agencies, outside individuals,

people who are going to come here for a special service.

But it's quite unique to be organising something

that not only is not in the Abbey and not in England, but in Italy.

This isn't just the Abbey Choir

going out to do a big concert in a concert hall.

This is the Abbey Choir singing at a Papal Mass,

at the Mass which is one of the biggest occasions

in the Vatican calendar.

Seven weeks before the trip to Rome,

the Sistine Chapel choir is in London.

In recognition of the importance of the Pope's invitation,

they've come to the Abbey for a rehearsal.

SPEAKS ITALIAN

The Pope has stipulated what he wants from the two choirs together.

He wants the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina,

which is one of the most famous settings of the Mass ever composed.

Both choirs have sung the music many times before,

so the challenge for the conductors, James O'Donnell

and Monsignor Massimo Palombella,

is to integrate their very different sounds.

The Sistine Chapel choir has its own tradition

which goes back many centuries,

and of course inevitably they develop their own style of singing.

And we have developed our own style of singing,

which comes partly from the language we speak -

they sing almost entirely Latin music.

They sing in a very much bigger building, which means that

quite a lot of their music

is perhaps less complicated rhythmically.

And they have a very direct sound.

We have a slightly more demure approach.

Good afternoon, and can I welcome to London

our colleagues from Rome. It's very exciting to be singing with you.

At the beginning of the Credo... # Da da da.. #

HE SINGS

CHOIRS SING

For James O'Donnell, who himself is a Roman Catholic,

the visit has a personal as well as a professional resonance.

To sing in Rome with the Sistine Chapel Choir at a Papal Mass

is going to be one of the most amazing moments of my life, I think.

I'm really looking forward

to singing to the Pope again

and I'm also really looking forward to seeing the Vatican

and the Sistine Chapel which I don't think I'd ever have seen otherwise.

Seeing the Pope again, that'll be quite cool. I remember

when the Pope came to the Abbey.

That was quite a big ceremony.

This is going to be even bigger.

I'm really excited

about the whole prospect. The Pope inviting us.

It's going to be amazing.

19 boys and 12 professional singers,

along with the music department, the Dean, several members of the clergy

and the press office - a total of 44 people will make the trip to Italy.

The Abbey's governing body, the Dean and Chapter,

has decided that the cost of the tour

will be met by the Abbey itself.

The man in charge of balancing the books

is the Canon Treasurer, Robert Reiss.

You can't have a medieval building like this without it costing you

quite a lot of money to look after it.

It costs about £11m a year to run Westminster Abbey.

And nine-tenths of our income comes from the charges at the door.

I think it's very important to say

that we never, ever charge for coming to services.

They are and will always remain free.

So we're not charging people to worship.

But if people are coming here as tourists to look at a place

of very considerable historical attraction, we really have no choice

but to charge them, because we have no other way of raising that money.

My role is head of Visitor Services.

I'm responsible for the 1.2 million paying visitors

last year as well as the 600,000 worshippers

that come into the Abbey every year.

On a standard day, we would probably process 1,000 people per hour.

We have quite a short space of time to get people in

because of our statutory services.

We open the doors around 9.30 most mornings

and we need to be closing by 3.30, so it's quite a short day.

During that time we would put 6,000 people through on a standard day.

It can be more, and it can be less,

but 1,000 people an hour is a very good rule of thumb we use here.

There by the gate is Robert Peel who founded the Metropolitan Police.

Robert's first name, short name, is Bobby.

Now you know, London bobby is so-called after Robert Peel.

The number isn't necessarily reflective of demand.

It's controlled by how many people

we can physically get into the building at any one time.

Making sure that, a - it's safe for people to still enter.

And b - that people inside are still getting the best possible visit.

It can at times feel very busy in the Abbey,

but we make sure people are still getting the most out of visiting us.

We don't have an open revolving door policy.

There are times when we have to slow things down just to make sure

the people inside are getting the best experience.

Excuse me, sir, there's no photography permitted inside.

'Last year we were'

phenomenally busy thanks to the Royal Wedding.

In fact we were busy from the minute

the royal engagement was announced, we started picking up.

The two weeks after the Royal Wedding,

the place was absolutely packed.

Can I help you at all?

I was just asking where Catherine walked down the aisle. Through here?

She came through the big door.

On the Royal Wedding day

I had to press the bell to signal

to the bell ringers to make sure

they started the bells at the correct time when she exits,

because we make sure that when they come to the door

at the end of the wedding, that the bells are ringing

perfectly at the right time.

Part of my job was to communicate.

We have a Morse code button

because of course they're up in the bell tower,

and I have a little button to press

to make sure they start at the right time.

That altar wasn't there. It's movable. It was moved

Oh, I see.

-She didn't hop over it.

-Yeah, I didn't know if she went around it.

That staging and the altar can be moved

-and we do that for all our big services.

-Oh. Right.

Mollie Johnston is one of 20 marshals employed by the Abbey

to ensure the smooth-running and safety of its million-plus visitors.

Hello! Do you need any help at all?

Everyone says no two days are the same, and it's absolutely true.

One day you're at a Royal Wedding,

next day President Obama's here.

But then I'll be doing something different.

I'll be interacting with the public,

I'll be directing somebody to the bathroom, I'll be answering

a question about a carving on a wall.

You've got kings and queens buried here,

you've got musicians and poets buried here.

The Abbey itself is just somewhere that captures

Britain through the years.

Edward is actually interred up here in a shrine.

His whole body in its entirety is within that shrine.

I wouldn't call it like a religious experience, so to speak,

but it's as close as you can get, I think.

Tourism is the Abbey's lifeblood,

and the most senior priest in charge of visitor welcome

is known as the Canon Steward. In 2005,

Jane Hedges became the first woman to be appointed to the role.

Obviously if you're lucky enough to be a Canon in Westminster Abbey,

I do wake every day and think this is a fantastic place to be.

And I suppose for me as well, that tremendous, extraordinary feeling

of, "Gosh, I'm the first woman to be here in this position.

"and it's a historic moment."

And when I was appointed there had been a feeling at that stage

that it would be good to have a woman canon here.

So although it is a very male place - and it is -

at a symbolic level it's really rather important

that there are men and women working together and to recognise that women

have got as many gifts as men

and therefore that they should be able to exercise them

at all levels of leadership within the Church of England.

Do follow me.

Canon Hedges' role is based on a tradition that was

established here in 960AD, when the Abbey was founded

as a community of monks who lived according to the rule

of the Italian saint, Benedict.

In 1540, Henry VIII dissolved the monastery here,

as was happening all over the country.

But interestingly, once the Abbey was re-established as it is today,

as a Collegiate church with a Dean and Chapter, some of the roles

that had been taken on within the Benedictine tradition were retained.

And it's the role of the Canon Steward today to make sure

that everybody receives Benedictine hospitality.

Benedict talked himself about receiving anybody that came

to the monastery as if it was Christ himself.

So we're just off to our volunteers' lunch which we hold annually,

because we're so lucky here, we've got around about 170 people

who help out in the Abbey and welcome our visitors.

And of course one of the really important things

about being a welcoming community

is that not only do we make sure people get a welcome

as they get to the Abbey but also as they're leaving.

That we make sure that they're happy and know where they're going next.

So this group of people are fantastic.

170 of them will be coming to lunch today and it's an opportunity to

say thank you to them for all that they offer to the life of the Abbey.

'There have been some very lovely things happening this year,'

apart from all the things to do with work,

and I'd like, on your behalf,

to offer congratulations to Steven, who got married a few weeks ago.

And that's really lovely.

But also, love is obviously in the air,

because Mollie got engaged.

One of the amazing things

at the Abbey - last year we had over 1.25 million people

paying to come in and go on a tour.

We had just a handful of letters of complaint.

And I think that's fantastic that we had so few,

when we're dealing with so many people.

That's largely down to the work you're doing,

alongside our wonderful Marshals and Vergers.

So on behalf of the Dean and Chapter I'd like to say

a very, very big thank you to all of you.

The Abbey is always looking for new ways to welcome their visitors,

and to keep up with the demands of modern tourism,

they embarked last year on their biggest building project

for 20 years.

The man in charge is the secular head of the Abbey,

and former private secretary to Prince Charles, Sir Stephen Lamport.

The Cellarium project is really important for us because

it's been important over the centuries

that Benedictine monasteries can look after their visitors properly.

At the moment they have a coffee shop in the North Cloister,

which is in the open air.

It's cold, it's draughty, it's wet when it's raining,

there's nowhere properly to sit, there's no running water.

We make do with that in terms of offering people refreshment.

This project enables us to do something much, much more than that,

which is much more in tune with our traditions.

What we're looking at at the moment is what is called the Cellarium,

which was the old monastic store for food and drink.

This will hold about probably 70 covers,

70 people will be able to sit here.

They'll have a chance to eat and drink.

Good quality, modestly-priced food is the objective.

We're going to go down through here now.

You see these great beams here?

This actually was originally a flat roof behind the Chapter office.

This is going to house a second part of the Cellarium,

probably to accommodate about 50 people.

This will give you views east over the Victoria Tower of Parliament

and wonderful views across to the West Towers,

the Hawksmoor Towers of the Abbey. So you'll have

this remarkable context in which to eat and to drink.

The plan is, that keeping up momentum -

the chaps are working extremely hard at this,

they're doing 12-hour shifts - we are hoping and planning

that this will be very much open in time for the Olympics.

The project is behind schedule because the builders

came across medieval archaeological finds which interrupted the works.

I was quite amazed by some of the findings.

In the Cellarium area they found an actual cold store.

A cellar we thought was a well, but it turns out

it was actually used for keeping meats and produce cold.

There was an old brick well in the floor

that no-one knew was there.

We had to do some exploratory work around the footings

and I was amazed to see oyster shells and fish bones there.

We thought someone had put them as a bit of a joke,

but it's actually in underneath there.

So in every shovelful, there's history.

As well as unforeseeable delays,

the builders have to work around the Abbey's routine

of daily services, and the great landmarks of the Christian calendar.

SINGING

Today is Pentecost,

50 days after Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.

It marks the moment when the Holy Spirit descended on St Peter

and the other Apostles, empowering them to spread the word of Christ.

Well, here we are, we see the Apostles, probably John,

I should think, in the middle and Peter there on his right.

And you can see the tongues of flame distributed on their heads.

And above, the Spirit as a dove coming down, and inspiring them.

And they went out and Peter preached confidently

to all the people who were gathered there

from all over the Jewish world, and gentiles as well in Jerusalem.

And that day 3,000 people were baptised.

So it's the beginning of the Church.

CHOIR SINGS

Pentecost has really caught the imagination of composers.

It's a very dramatic feast, its full of sort of a sense

of a surge of power, of God's power coming through the Church.

Through the world.

So the music can reflect that and pick up on those things.

For Pentecost, James O'Donnell has chosen a piece of music

that was written in Latin by an English composer, Thomas Tallis,

during the Reformation in the 16th century.

SINGING

The use of Latin liturgically was very much

a bone of contention at the Reformation.

Latin was seen to be a very distant language,

which made the words spoken only accessible

to those who were learned and had studied it.

It's only quite recently that places like Westminster Abbey

have been able to perform this sort of music,

because of its Latin text.

And the insistence that liturgical music in the Church of England

should be sung in English.

In fact a few years ago if you wanted to do this music,

you would have had to translate the text and sing it in English.

This new openness to using Latin in Anglican church music

is a sign of increasing dialogue with other faith traditions.

The greatest church in the world is St Peter's Basilica in Rome,

which is where St Peter himself is buried.

We'll be making a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Peter,

just as the Pope made a pilgrimage from Rome to Westminster,

to the Shrine of St Edward.

So it will be, as it were, a return match,

and it will be a marvellous occasion for us.

We'll also be going to Monte Cassino, to the Shrine of St Benedict,

so it's very exciting.

We're just coming up to the last few days before we go to Rome,

and I'm just taking the time to revise

some of the rehearsal we did a few weeks ago,

both with the Sistine Chapel choir and also our own preparations.

And trying to just go back over

certain things that emerged in our rehearsal together.

And some of us were singing "tibi dabo claves"

in a rather English way.

-It's going to have to be...

-ITALIAN ACCENT:

-"tibi dabo claves".

And particularly "caelo". "Caeolorum", not "caeol-oh-rum".

Don't let the vowel be plummy.

We're actually going to sing several settings of the text Tu Es Petrus,

or Thou Art Peter, You Are Peter.

Which is a setting of the biblical passage where Jesus says to Peter,

"You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church."

OK. So you need to watch me.

# Tu es Petrus... #

There we are. That's just proved my point. And...

# Tu es Petrus... #

Then we wait another two.

'This is obviously an absolutely critical text'

for the papacy,

for the Feast of St Peter which we are going to be singing in Rome,

and even in the Abbey,

'we would have been singing

'a setting of Tu Es Petrus on that feast.'

-Then...

-THEY SING

That's it. You just have to be sensitive

to how they want you to do that.

Taking part in high profile events

is the business of the Abbey. None have been more spectacular

than the marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton,

but moments like these are punctuated

by more private celebrations.

Martin's at the front of the procession,

the Dean, Piper, Carol and your father.

The man organising the trip to Rome, Jamie Hawkey,

has a big event of his own to arrange.

When he gets back, he'll be marrying his fiancee, Carol Ripley.

They'll be the first couple to take their vows at the High Altar

since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Turn your right hand over.

No, Carol's right. You're the priest, you should know this by now.

-THEY LAUGH

-I just had a blank.

I think whoever's getting married, whether it's a Royal Wedding,

or a wedding like ours or a wedding at Gretna Green with two witnesses,

it's the same sacrament, the same utterly simple bond

of two people pledging, covenanting their life together.

Jamie, you lead Carol across.

Mm-hm.

-I take this hand.

-That's perfect.

So much of what we do at the Abbey is really based on precedent.

And the precedent for Minor Canons

when they get married while they're here

is that they marry in the Abbey at the High Altar

'and it's just pretty extraordinary for us.'

At which point, a verger will come from that side...

He's really good at this. Multi-tasking.

-..with a patten.

-Oh, yeah?

-Yep.

THEY LAUGH

Our wedding has involved so many members of the Abbey team

who are also friends. And so we sat down here with James O'Donnell

to talk about music, we sat down with my colleague Mike

to talk about how the service might work,

we sat down with the Dean for wedding prep,

'like any other couple going to a parish priest.

'My dad and I, and then my dad and Carol and my mum and I,'

went to France to get loads of the booze

some other friends then went to do a top-up run.

'So it's been a brick by brick building-up

'of what we hope is going to be a fantastic day for all our friends.'

We've done our best to cover all the bases

and we've got fantastic colleagues here who, you know,

if there's a problem on the day we can say,

"Do you think you can go and do that?" And they'll do it.

All right. Hugh could you...?

Make sure you put your name on it. Thank you.

The Abbey party leaves in the morning for Italy.

Their packed schedule includes the Papal Mass,

a recital in the Sistine Chapel and a pilgrimage to Monte Cassino,

the heart of the Benedictine Order.

I had seven in my case and now I've only got five.

Preparing the boys for the five-day tour

is the job of the choir school matron, Mair Hill.

I'm only missing one, Matron.

I've packed 19 suitcases.

The 20th is mine. I haven't done that one yet.

-I've got four pairs of socks.

-You've only got four?

I bought some spare ones, so if you're stuck for any

let me know, I've got some spares.

I'm sure I'll be excited tomorrow morning. I'm a bit tired today.

But no, it'll be lovely, it'll be fabulous experience.

For the boys particularly, I think.

I'm looking forward to visiting Monte Cassino.

I remember when I was about their age

watching a programme about the siege of Monte Cassino,

and being quite fascinated by that, during the Second World War.

So it'll be nice to go and visit it and see how they've rebuilt it.

We've got here and it feels wonderful to be here,

even in this heat.

And we're just, as it were, on the cusp of the two big events -

the recital in the Sistine Chapel

and the Mass with the Pope tomorrow morning.

The recital is a way for the two choirs being able to sing in concert

for the Cardinal Secretary of State and members of the Roman Curia

as well as for the Papal Mass on the Friday morning.

So it's going to be wonderful to have a concert moment together

and a liturgical moment,

and the principal focus of this trip is the liturgical moment

because we're liturgical choirs, but it's going to be wonderful

to share some of our musical heritage together this evening.

It's taken five months' planning to reach the Vatican,

the heart of Roman Catholicism,

where the first Bishop of Rome, St Peter himself, is buried.

The two choirs are meeting to rehearse

in the magnificent St Peter's Basilica,

the largest Renaissance church in the world.

James O'Donnell and Monsignor Massimo Palombella

are sharing the conducting.

HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN

THEY SING

THEY SING

I think that the rehearsal showed that we had already met.

I mean, I certainly felt there were very few teething problems.

When you know what to expect

and when you are right there in the place where it's going to be,

the rehearsal takes a different life on

and a different kind of intensity.

So I think it felt as if things work on the way to having

finishing touches put to them,

but you don't want to do that until the actual service.

There needs to be a feeling that we haven't yet done it

and I think the sense of occasion when the congregation is there

and the Pope comes in, it'll be amazing.

CHOIR SINGS

It was great.

We had to wait a while to get moved around into our new places.

But it went really well and the rehearsing the music was really good.

It's very hot.

It's all going well. Rehearsal going well.

We're just having a tour of the Vatican Museum.

It's great. Hot. Very hot.

I love this weather. No, it's absolutely marvellous.

It's a little warm for the boys, but we're getting used to it.

One of the ancient titles of the Bishop of Rome is Pontifex Maximus,

pontifex being a bridge. And there's no doubt this experience

is a bridge between two cultures, between two churches.

And so tomorrow, when both choirs are singing at the Papal Mass,

there'll be a sense in which communion is not only deepened,

but on one level where communion is already achieved

because of that common worship,

a common entering into the depth of the life of God.

Father Jamie has had the lion's share of work on this tour

and has done a phenomenal job at organising today's rehearsal

in the Basilica, St Peter's itself.

Amazing, seeing their preparations for tomorrow's Papal Mass.

To be so close to the Shrine of St Peter,

whom everyone agrees is the father of the Church

and who's our patron saint at the Abbey,

it really is an honour to be here.

Now we're just about to re-group

and go into the Sistine Chapel this afternoon for a rehearsal.

This morning's positions, as close as we can get.

'We're giving a very private recital.

'The Secretary of State to the Vatican -

'who's the Pope's number two - will be here

'and some of the Papal household

'and some of the Abbey's delegation as well.'

It'll be a private thing

but we want it to be a memorable and a good musical experience.

THEY SING

The two choirs are rehearsing in the Pope's private chapel

surrounded by some of the most beautiful frescoes in Western art

painted between 1508 and 1512 by the great Michelangelo.

We've just been rehearsing in the Sistine Chapel.

It's meant to be informal, but it's not that informal.

And, well, it's amazing!

Glorious sound that they're making, the Sistina.

I'm loving it. Exciting and raw and gutsy.

CHOIR SINGS

It was marvellous. It was a bit like a dream.

I had to pinch myself a few times

and think, "This is actually the Sistine Chapel we're singing in."

It's amazing how we can merge the two sounds

and make one beautiful sound.

Singing with them is a really good feeling.

Especially in this beautiful place.

It's much louder and you don't need to sing loud here.

You just need to sing normally and it comes out massive.

THEY SING

APPLAUSE

It's amazing. Amazing to hear the two choirs combined.

And to see them sing together was really good, really good.

It looks like a sheet with a face on it.

And that's Michelangelo. That's him.

It's amazing thinking about Michelangelo

lying on his back on scaffolding to paint this

in just a couple of years.

They are tired, the heat is getting to them.

It's getting to all of us.

But they just turn it on, really, don't they?

They're just great. Yeah, I was very impressed.

Tomorrow's going to be one of the best days.

The most tiring day. I think we'll get up at 5.30.

The feast day of St Peter and St Paul

is the high point of the Vatican's year

and thousands are queuing for the Mass.

It will be celebrated by

the successor of St Peter, Pope Benedict.

After all these centuries,

to bring a choir such as that of Westminster Abbey -

which in a way epitomises the Church of England

and its role in English society, its independence -

to bring that choir and that community here to Rome

is an immense sign of how far we've come

after all the divisions and centuries that we've been apart.

It's remarkable that in the last decades

we've drawn so close together that we're now able to make

this gesture of friendship and recognition of each other

and this invitation is extended

towards the choir and clergy of Westminster Abbey

as a sign of recognition of our common baptism,

how much we have in common

and that we have much more in common than what divides us.

THEY SING

But today of all days, the feast of St Peter and St Paul,

is the feast day of Rome, St Peter and St Paul,

the great saints on whose leadership the papacy is founded

and so to invite a choir and a group of clergy

from a non-Catholic establishment on such a day as this,

to Rome to the Pope's Basilica, for his Mass,

is an immensely significant gesture.

THEY SING

Pax domini sit semper vobiscum.

-CONGREGATION:

-Et cum spiritu tuo.

Offerte vobis pacem.

CHOIR SINGS

At the heart of this two-and-a-half hour service is Holy Communion,

the receiving of bread and wine,

which Catholics believe to be the body and blood of Christ.

For the Abbey, this is a painful moment.

Non-Catholics are excluded from receiving communion

because of historic, theological divisions.

THEY SING

But this remarkable, historic service

culminates in Pope Benedict warmly greeting the Dean

together with James O'Donnell and the choir.

Boys, all right, make your way in now, please.

Thank you very much.

It went well. Mostly.

Entirely, actually.

No, it was great to see the Pope.

It was really hot.

I don't think I'll ever go to somewhere like it again.

The acoustic in that building is amazing,

but with all the people in there

it was quite difficult to hear yourself.

It was amazing but absolutely boiling.

Best buy ever. £4.

Oh, I can't really express it. It was... It was fantastic.

It was a sort of incredibly big, theatrical event,

slightly chaotic in times,

cos it just, in times, cos there's so many people and so much to do.

But, actually, really, it's a fantastic,

um...thing to be involved in.

I'm just, I'm rather reeling from it.

It was a powerful moment for me. Deeply moving.

I felt, during Communion, the pain of our separation.

Not being able to receive communion.

I think the pain of that we can offer as a small gift

towards the hope of reconciliation,

full communion between us in God's good time.

The news of this historic meeting is being tweeted around the globe

by the Abbey's own press team.

We've been sending out regular tweets

because we've had all sorts of lovely kind of access

to the Vatican behind the scenes

and we just thought it would be very interesting for everyone to see

that unofficial side of the visit.

So, yeah, we've been on our mobile phones constantly

taking pictures and posting them

and hoping that that's OK with everyone in the Vatican.

SHE CHUCKLES

It seems to be, so... And it's gone down really well.

Everyone seems to be following it.

Particularly, all our followers in North America

seem to be enjoying getting those posts.

After an exhausting three days in Rome,

the Abbey is leaving the heat and bustle of the city

to embark on the last leg of their Italian tour.

They've been invited to the Abbey of Monte Cassino,

the burial place of St Benedict,

whose order founded Westminster Abbey.

'The historic Monastery of Monte Cassino was the...'

It has an added poignancy for the British group,

because, during the Second World War,

the monastery was occupied by the German Army

and, after a long stalemate, in 1944,

the Allies destroyed the building.

'The rain of high explosives

'completes the destruction of the Monastery of Monte Cassino.'

After the war,

the Monastery was completely rebuilt by the Italian government

and today, a community of 17 Benedictine monks live here.

Benedict founded this order of monks in 529AD

and this is the first time in the Monastery's history

that their hospitality has extended to women and children,

so they've set up new quarters especially for them.

Welcome, this is your room.

Hugh, Joshua, come and look at the view.

This teddy's name's Edward.

I would normally take my other dog, called Doggy,

but I thought he might get left behind or I might lose him,

so I thought I'd bring him instead.

The men in the Abbey's contingent

are staying in the monks' closed quarters,

an area not open to women or children.

Magnifico, magnifico. Si.

Translation would be helpful, chaps.

-It's in the style of Grimaldi. It's a fusion of architects.

-Ah, OK.

Is this built in the same style as the previous monastery?

Yeah, it's a complete copy.

-Complete copy of the previous monastery?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Hi!

-Hey. This is fantastic. Wow, really amazing!

You got a bigger room than me.

THEY LAUGH

It's an accident.

You can have a proper party here.

It's extraordinary. How many...? One, two, three, four...

Yeah, easily, a drinks party for 12 in here.

Easily. Drinks are on you tonight.

I was expecting a kind of white cell.

-You know, that's kind of what you think of the cloister rooms.

-Yeah.

But I think that lots of people get confused

and think that Benedictines are like Franciscans.

-They're not. The Benedictines don't take a vow of poverty at all.

-No.

You know, they don't own anything themselves personally

but, whereas Franciscans want, you know, that very, very simple life,

for Benedictines, the vows are different.

They're far more ancient -

the vows of stability, conversion of life, you know?

I've never been to Monte Cassino before...

I've heard about it because of the battle and everything else,

but it's extraordinary to be here.

Not least of all to realise that this is all rebuilt after the war,

after terrible bomb damage to it.

And, I understand, all built by the State of Italy

and maintained by the State of Italy.

But it is the most extraordinary place. It's vast.

And it is such a fabulous setting. I mean, high up on this hill,

you can see why there was a war for here.

You can see, if you had big guns up here,

you would command the whole of the valley up to Rome.

Having now, all the time that I've been at the Abbey,

been more conscious of the Benedictine tradition

than I ever was before,

that means a lot to me

and to realise this is very much the heart of that whole tradition,

which I think is one of the most attractive parts

of the Roman Catholic whole setup.

I mean, the Rule of St Benedict was very wise,

was very balanced, was very sensible.

It led to very remarkable communities

that, in themselves, did some very, very good things.

And the quality of the rebuilding is amazing.

So full marks to the State of Italy, I think.

Even though they beat us at football.

HE CHUCKLES

There's something incredibly calming

about being in a Benedictine monastery.

I mean, the word written on the top of the door is PAX, peace in Latin.

And that kind of sums up this place.

So, it's a wonderfully decompressing thing to do.

And also, we're singing services with a Benedictine community

and because we're at Westminster Abbey,

there's something that feels right about that for us.

As a choir of a place which was once a Benedictine house.

So it's a wonderful final stage.

THEY SING

The boys have been wonderful. I mean, you know...

I take my hat off to them.

It's my job to give them quite a hard time, be quite demanding.

And I am, but I really,

I do have enormous respect for what they've done.

They've sung as well as they possibly could every occasion

and their deportment and their conduct,

and their ambassadorial representation of the Abbey

and what it stands for,

and the choir and what that stands for, has been really good.

And I will choose the right moment to make that completely good.

It's St Benedict who unites us.

I spoke to the Prior at lunch

'about the extraordinary feeling.

'And he said it is the grand "cuore di Benedetto" -

'the great heart of St Benedict who draws us together.'

HE SINGS

'The Rome and the Monte Cassino experience together'

will be for ever memorable.

But I believe they won't simply stand there.

They stand within

'a stream of relationship,

'of developing relationship,

'between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England

'and the Anglican communion more widely.'

But what is going on here

is profound friendship, mutual exchange,

and, out of that context, will eventually grow a reconciliation.

In London, it's the end of the summer holidays

and at Westminster Abbey, there's a very special event taking place.

The community is preparing for the wedding of one its own -

Minor Canon Jamie Hawkey to his fiance Carol Ripley.

Weddings at the High Altar are extremely rare,

confined to royalty and the Abbey community.

Yeah, last shave. A bit like the last rites.

HE LAUGHS

But not with such a fatal outcome.

When you think of what the girls go through,

this is virtually nothing.

I think he's had quite a busy morning,

cos there's been quite a few last minute things

he's had to sort out. But I imagine he's fine.

He'll be absolutely fine. He's a pro.

SHE LAUGHS

He does services all the time.

SHE LAUGHS

It does feel quite bizarre being on the other side.

But it's kind of good for a priest

to have that discipline, actually, you know?

For us to remember what it's like for other people.

I spent quite a lot of time trying to get the creases out of my dress.

Um, and out of the veil, just sort of trying to steam it.

We borrowed a steamer from the Abbey, which was helpful.

Looking forward to having a little glass of champagne

before we head off.

Unlike a lot of men, I actually quite like wearing a tie

and I sort of miss wearing a tie for formal things, actually.

So I thought, "Do you know what? On my wedding day,

"I'm just going to wear an ordinary morning dress, a morning coat."

I'm really looking forward to getting there now.

The butterflies are slightly swirling round my tummy.

BAGPIPES PLAY

'When we first talked about it, I did feel quite intimidated

'but when the Abbey did the trip to Rome,

'I went with Jamie and the rest of the choir

'and the community that went out.

'And so, that was great to get to know them even better.

'So, actually, I'm really looking forward to it.

'It's such a glorious place.

'And it's normally confined to royalty,

'so we're very, very honoured to be getting married at the High Altar.'

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

ALL: And also with you.

It's wonderful to hear the skirl of the pipes

here in Westminster Abbey,

and it's glorious to be here on this happy and joyful day

for the wedding of Carol and Jamie.

'The Abbey community is an ever-expanding community.

'Those of us who work here know that we just come to play our part here

'for a very short space of time, we dip our toes in,

'we're fully immersed in it, and then, we leave again.

'But today, the Abbey has gained

'another member of that community in Carol.'

'I've been experiencing that slightly on the fringes.

'But to be here now,

'as a legitimate part of the team, is wonderful.'

Over the coming months, the cycle of life at the Abbey continues.

ALL: One!

You tend to forget, from year to year, just how little they are.

I've never slept at school before, so I'm a bit scared.

Christmas is obviously a beautiful and wonderful season

and, for us, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful

and we have to prepare for it.

THEY SING

I like carols cos they're all cheery

and it means Christmas is soon!

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