0:00:02 > 0:00:05This weekend, Christians all over the world
0:00:05 > 0:00:07are celebrating the feast of Epiphany.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Known to some as Three Kings' Day, it's a time to remember the story
0:00:12 > 0:00:14of the Wise Men who arrived in Bethlehem
0:00:14 > 0:00:19sometime after the birth of Jesus to worship the light of the world.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24So what better place to be than at the UK's largest light festival,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26here in the beautiful City of Durham?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Welcome to Songs Of Praise.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53On this week's programme,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I discover how science can tell us more about the mysterious Wise Men
0:00:57 > 0:00:59and what led them to Bethlehem.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02So, two planets meeting together in Regulus
0:01:02 > 0:01:04might have meant the dawn of a new king.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06That is known to have happened.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Pam Rhodes goes behind the scenes at The Daily Service,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12the radio broadcast that's brought the light of faith
0:01:12 > 0:01:15into people's homes for 90 years.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And as Durham's magnificent cathedral is transformed by light,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23I hear the story of the saint who inspired this great house of God.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25He suddenly saw a vision.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30A vision of angels guiding a soul wondrously bright to heaven.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42The theme of light in the darkness runs through our music today,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44which comes from right across the country.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46We start with that great hymn,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50written especially for the feast of Epiphany by Reginald Heber in 1811.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Its words, like the star, lead us to Bethlehem
0:01:53 > 0:01:55and to the Christ child.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The visit of the Wise Men that we celebrate at Epiphany
0:03:51 > 0:03:54remains an iconic part of the Christmas story.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57But the account in the Bible has intriguing differences
0:03:57 > 0:04:00to the story we've come to know.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Earlier, I met professor of physics Tom McLeish in Durham Cathedral
0:04:03 > 0:04:05to find out more.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08We have no idea there were three.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The Bible doesn't mention there were three.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13It mentions that they were searching for a king
0:04:13 > 0:04:15because they had seen his star.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It might have been a comet.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22It might have been what we call a conjunction of planets.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27We do know that around BC3 and BC2, there were some very close passages
0:04:27 > 0:04:30of Jupiter and Venus together in the skies.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Seeing two bright planets very close together in the sky
0:04:33 > 0:04:35is rather striking.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38When they are next to a star in the constellation of Leo called Regulus,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41some ancient civilisations will recognise that
0:04:41 > 0:04:44as a regal constellation, so two planets meeting together
0:04:44 > 0:04:47in Regulus might have meant the dawn of a new king.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50That is known to have happened. We can show that has happened.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55This is the light that brings
0:04:55 > 0:05:00the gentile Wise Men to worship the baby Jesus,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and it reminds us that the great hope of Israel,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07the great forgiveness from God and feeling of all people,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09is not for the Jews alone,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13but through them, for peoples everywhere.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18And someone who looked into the history of science
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and looking specifically at that was Bede. Tell us about him.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24A big hero of mine and there he lies right behind us.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Here we are in the Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Bede was a 7th and 8th century monk, a wonderful scholar.
0:05:31 > 0:05:32A very learned man.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Probably born in the North East, not very far from here.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41He has, very famously here, and it's just beautifully lit now,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43a prayer, a very famous prayer,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47in which he talks about Christ as the morning star.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- So, that takes us back to our... - Takes us back to Epiphany.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Takes us back to, yes, Epiphany.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55The reason Bede talks of Jesus as the morning star
0:05:55 > 0:05:57I think is very beautiful.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00It's not because the morning star, which is of course the planet Venus,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02is the brightest star.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04It's for a very special reason.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Venus rises long before the sun does but in the same part of the sky.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12So when this bright shining thing is there,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15although the night is still as dark as midnight, there's no other
0:06:15 > 0:06:19sign of dawn, no pink line on the horizon, anything like that,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21yet for those who know what this sign means,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23dawn will surely come soon.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26That's why, for Bede, Christ is our morning star.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Because those who see his resurrection,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31though life might be very black
0:06:31 > 0:06:33and though the present might be very grim,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36they have the sure sign of hope in the future.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Here in Durham, the cathedral is preparing for one of the highlights
0:10:14 > 0:10:18of the Lumiere Festival, and I've got a few steps to climb.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20243, to be precise.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Beginning in Durham in 2009 as an experimental art project,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Lumiere has grown into the UK's largest light festival.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33The cathedral has always offered a wonderful canvas,
0:10:33 > 0:10:34but now, for the first time,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36sound and light are combining.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Well, I'm out of breath, but I've made it to the bell tower.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42Now, in a few minutes,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44a specially-composed piece will be rung from here,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46by the bell-ringers behind me.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48And Chris is in charge. What can we expect?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Um, so, you'll have heard bell-ringing all over the country.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53And the idea tonight is that we're going to be
0:10:53 > 0:10:55visually projecting what we're doing.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57So the lights outside are measuring exactly what the bells do,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and they'll be projecting that image for people to, hopefully,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02understand what it is we're ringing.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04BELLS RING
0:11:07 > 0:11:08With the bells in full swing,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11the results are quite extraordinary.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16It's no wonder an incredible 240,000 visitors come to see this spectacle
0:11:16 > 0:11:19across the four days.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Helen Marriage is the woman in charge.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26It's an invitation to the public to come and wander the streets
0:11:26 > 0:11:27of this lovely medieval city.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30But we turn it into an open-air art gallery.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32It's free to attend. Anybody can come.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36I suppose we believe that if you can physically transform a place,
0:11:36 > 0:11:37even for a brief moment,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40you can change forever the way people feel about it,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and the way they feel about those they share it with.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48And now a hymn that celebrates the God of light.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The magnificent Durham Cathedral was originally built
0:13:51 > 0:13:54as the shrine of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Earlier, I met Marie-Therese Mayne to find out more
0:13:58 > 0:14:01about this great saint of the North.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03He's many things.
0:14:03 > 0:14:04He was a monk, he was an abbot,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08a bishop, and a saint.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10He's the reason that Durham Cathedral is here.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14He was born in the early 7th century.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16And grew up fairly normally.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19And then, when he was in his teens,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21he had an extraordinary vision -
0:14:21 > 0:14:23an epiphany, you might say.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26One night, he was looking after sheep in the Lammermuir Hills,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and he suddenly saw a vision -
0:14:29 > 0:14:34a vision of angels guiding a soul, wondrously bright, to heaven,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and he took this as a sign from God.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41The young Cuthbert then found out that St Aidan -
0:14:41 > 0:14:42Bishop of Lindisfarne -
0:14:42 > 0:14:44had died that very night.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48He was inspired to devote his life to God,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50to become a monk.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55A few years later, he too would become Bishop of Lindisfarne.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59He was ascribed miracles of healing, of prophecy,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04and when he died, he was very quickly announced a saint.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08That was reinforced 11 years after his death.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12He'd been taken back to Lindisfarne and buried outside the church there.
0:15:12 > 0:15:1611 years later, the monks decided to elevate his body
0:15:16 > 0:15:20to recover the bones and place them in a reliquary,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23so they could be seen by pilgrims,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26and they had quite a surprise in store.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29When they opened the coffin, they expected to find bones.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30But what did they have?
0:15:30 > 0:15:34A complete body, looking as if it was just asleep.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36He was incorrupt. He hadn't decayed.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39And this was a sign of great, great sainthood.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44So he became a focus for pilgrimage.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49People visited him. Again, miracles ascribed to his intervention.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52And he stayed on Lindisfarne for about 170 years,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55until the Viking raids forced the monks to flee.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57They gathered up all of their treasures,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00they gathered up the relics, they gathered up their saint,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04and they eventually settled here in 995 AD.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And the very first Durham Cathedral,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09the Anglo-Saxon cathedral,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13was built in honour of St Cuthbert, to house his shrine,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15and to the glory of God.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17But what's the function of the cathedral today?
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It's very much as it always has been.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Our primary aim is to be here for the worship and the glory of God.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27But we also are serving the community.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29We're serving our congregation.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30We're serving our visitors.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32We are a living, breathing church,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34a working church,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and we're part of the Unesco World Heritage site as well.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42And all along, Cuthbert, who had that epiphany all those years ago,
0:16:42 > 0:16:43has been watching it all.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45And he's still watching over us today.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07The Lumiere Festival takes over the whole of the city of Durham,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10but the centrepiece is always the cathedral.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13People will come to Lumiere for all sorts of different reasons.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16But one of the things that we do hope is that,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19as they come through the cathedral in their thousands,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23we hope that they will pick up something of the light of Christ.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24They may have a moment of stillness.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26They may want to come back another time.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29They may just receive a warm welcome.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31And as the bell welcomes them,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34we hope that they'll hear something of Christ in that.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Rachael, you've been helping out with people lighting candles.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45What is it that draws people to lighting candles?
0:19:45 > 0:19:48I think people find that it's a nice, easy way
0:19:48 > 0:19:49of being able to remember someone.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52So, lighting a candle, that physical action,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54seeing the candle light up,
0:19:54 > 0:19:56and just being able to pause and reflect,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I think people feel drawn to do that.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Epiphany is about light and discovery and revelation,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05and that's something that's happened in your life as well, isn't it?
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Yeah, about five years ago, when I was in Afghanistan,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12serving out there, I had a moment where I went from
0:20:12 > 0:20:16really being a complete non-believer, an atheist really,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19to walking into a shipping container
0:20:19 > 0:20:22where a service was being held.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24And in that shipping container,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27that's where my whole life changed really.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32The Army chaplain sent out a message to say,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36"Come to the service whether you're of any faith or none."
0:20:36 > 0:20:39And I felt that I was included in that.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42You know, I felt that I had a legitimate reason to be able to go,
0:20:42 > 0:20:43because I was invited.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47And I had had a very difficult day.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49I did feel quite burdened.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51And it was an opportunity to go in,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and to pause, and to reflect on my day.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55And I took it.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59What happened? What was happening in your heart?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02I wish I could remember the exact words the padre said,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04the exact Bible passage, but I can't.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08All I know is that in that 20 minutes that I was in there,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12I went from not believing to understanding that God is real,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14that God has always loved me,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16and that God was calling me home.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20So it was a really incredible and quite overwhelming experience.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Luckily, the padre saw that I...
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I seemed like I had something on my mind and he took me to one side,
0:21:28 > 0:21:32we sat on some sandbags and he said, "Is everything OK?"
0:21:32 > 0:21:37And I said, "I'm really worried that I might be becoming a Christian."
0:21:37 > 0:21:39And he said, "Well, don't panic."
0:21:39 > 0:21:41He gave me a copy of the New Testament and The Psalms,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43a little camouflaged Bible.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47And I spent the next nine months discovering who Jesus was.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51- You walked into the shipping container an atheist...- Yep.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53- ..and you walked out a Christian. - Yep. Basically.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56- A shipping container. - A shipping container, yeah.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58- Rachael.- Not the most glamorous of places to meet God.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00But it happens in the strangest places.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Obviously, the Magi were in the desert too.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06And so it's exciting that they were following a light
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and they desperately wanted to go and meet the Christ child.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11And it felt a bit like that for me.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14I'd learned in the shipping container that God was real,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18and then I wanted to go and find out who this Jesus character was.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29The Feast of Epiphany celebrates the good news of Jesus
0:24:29 > 0:24:31spreading beyond Bethlehem
0:24:31 > 0:24:32to people far away.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36And the BBC's Daily Service has been bringing Christian worship
0:24:36 > 0:24:39to people's homes for a staggering 90 years.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Pam Rhodes has been tuning in to a bit of broadcasting history.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46- ON RADIO:- This is the BBC.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51It was 1926 and radio broadcasting was in its infancy
0:24:51 > 0:24:55when a devout Christian named Miss Kathleen Cordeux
0:24:55 > 0:24:56wrote to the man in charge
0:24:56 > 0:24:59of the new British Broadcasting Corporation.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01What she asked was,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03"How many are there who listen in
0:25:03 > 0:25:07"who long to hear something daily of God and his love?"
0:25:07 > 0:25:10And John Reith, later the celebrated Lord Reith,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12thought that there might be an enthusiasm for it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15And so, 90 years ago this week,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17in January 1928,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20the first Daily Service went on air.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23The 15-minute service of speech and worship
0:25:23 > 0:25:27is now the longest-running daily radio programme in the world.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29And it's endured some turbulent times.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32When Broadcasting House was bombed in World War II,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35the services had to be moved to secret locations
0:25:35 > 0:25:37in Bristol and Bedford.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40For many years, the programme was broadcast from here,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43All Souls, Langham Place, right next door to the BBC,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48before, in 1992, it moved up to its new, permanent home in Manchester.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Today, it's being broadcast
0:25:50 > 0:25:53from the modern studios in Media City, Salford.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57The biblical story of Jonah begins with God asking him to...
0:25:57 > 0:25:59And I'm here in time to join rehearsals,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02as I'm told I may have a job to do.
0:26:02 > 0:26:0540 days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- I was going to actually add something to the reading.- All right.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11- We can get this printed up.- Yep.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13I'm always extremely nervous,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16but that's a good thing, because it keeps you on your toes.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And the fact that it is live, actually,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20it feels so current.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23So The Daily Service has weathered the years, but has it, in essence,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25changed down the decades?
0:26:25 > 0:26:28There are still prayers. There are still Bible readings.
0:26:28 > 0:26:29There's still music.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33What has changed is how the world worships.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34Here's some music.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS
0:26:36 > 0:26:39And The Daily Service has always been adaptable.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44It's always been fluid enough to take on the modern world.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47I feel really privileged actually to be part of something
0:26:47 > 0:26:48that has such a long tradition,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51something that's reaching so many people, you know,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53in the privacy of their homes or in their cars,
0:26:53 > 0:26:54or wherever they're listening.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56SHE SINGS
0:26:56 > 0:26:58We get quite a lot of letters and e-mails.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00And this is quite a typical one.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04The Daily Service has been my go-to place on a good and a bad day.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08I feel at peace, feel supported, less alone,
0:27:08 > 0:27:09and come with the nation to pray
0:27:09 > 0:27:12for this fragile and broken world that we live in.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16- Good luck. Five minutes to go. - Thank you.- Places.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21On long-wave and DAB digital radio, it's time for The Daily Service.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27# Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty... #
0:27:27 > 0:27:29He was petrified.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31They were, after all...
0:27:31 > 0:27:36We take presenters from a very, very broad range of backgrounds.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38All types of denominations.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41You have this phrase in radio
0:27:41 > 0:27:43that you have your one listener.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47And when I have a new presenter, I try to tell them to imagine
0:27:47 > 0:27:49that they're having a cup of tea with a friend.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57And he cried out, "40 days more and Nineveh will be over... #
0:27:57 > 0:28:01# ..burden down... #
0:28:01 > 0:28:03And may the Spirit guide us
0:28:03 > 0:28:06and encourage us to place ourselves at the foot of the cross.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09There to find our eternal home.
0:28:09 > 0:28:10Amen.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Well, our time here in Durham is almost up,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07but it's been fantastic to experience
0:31:07 > 0:31:10such creative uses of light and sound
0:31:10 > 0:31:13to transform this city and this beautiful house of God.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Next week...
0:31:16 > 0:31:17Katherine Jenkins is the host
0:31:17 > 0:31:20as Songs Of Praise joins Her Majesty the Queen
0:31:20 > 0:31:24at the 150th anniversary celebration of Scripture Union.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30Our final hymn celebrates how craftsmen's art and music's measure
0:31:30 > 0:31:32combine in worship of God.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Till next time, goodbye.