0:00:02 > 0:00:05For everything, there is a season.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08That's what the Bible says and certainly from a very early age,
0:00:08 > 0:00:11our lives are governed by the seasons
0:00:11 > 0:00:13and I don't just mean the weather.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18I'm here at Forty Hill School,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22where in common with many colleges and schools, their term times
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and holidays can trace their origins back to the Christian calendar.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35You only have to take a look through any calendar or diary to see
0:00:35 > 0:00:39that throughout the year, there are countless days of celebration
0:00:39 > 0:00:43and tradition and of course, plenty of hymns for every one of them.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51This week - hymnologist and author Gordon Giles,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54the children of Forty Hill School in Enfield,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and congregations from all over the country
0:00:57 > 0:01:01with a selection of hymns that take us right through the Christian year.
0:01:12 > 0:01:18In many ways, the Christian story starts towards the end of each year
0:01:18 > 0:01:21because the season of Advent looks forward to Christmas
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and to the birth of Christ and even beyond that
0:01:23 > 0:01:26to the day when Christ will come again.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Well, once Christmas Day is over the commercial world is inclined
0:04:51 > 0:04:55to think that the season of Christ's birth is over too.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59But you've heard the song. Christmas is a feast that lasts for 12 days
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and that is just the start, as the children here know.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05The Christian year is full of stories.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09The three wise men came to visit.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15We call that season Epiphany.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Epiphany.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Epiphany.- Yes. Can you say that too?- Epiphany.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Epiphany.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Epiphany.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28- And then who came on Epiphany? - The three Kings.- Yes. Lovely.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33I've drawn the three wise men in big cloaks and a camel.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38They saw a star and because they studied the stars
0:05:38 > 0:05:42they followed the star to Jesus and they gave him gifts.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46They gave him myrrh, frankincense and gold.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Gordon Giles is vicar of St Mary Magdalene in Enfield.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57He is the author of several books on hymnody.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The Magi, the Kings, whatever you want to call them,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02they bring gold, frankincense and myrrh
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and show Jesus' kingship
0:06:04 > 0:06:09and the revelation of his life and ministry and purpose,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11not only to the Jews, of whom he was the Messiah,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14but to the gentiles, to the whole world.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17And that's what we celebrate at Epiphany.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21And then on February 2nd, because it is 40 days after Christmas,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24we have what some people call Candlemas
0:06:24 > 0:06:28or what we might call the presentation of Christ in the temple.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32That's when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem,
0:06:32 > 0:06:36as the law requires, and offer a sacrifice of two turtle doves.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39That is where the turtle doves in the carol come from.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Then, they immediately meet Anna and Simeon, these two old people
0:06:43 > 0:06:48who have waited for the redemption of Israel and the seeing of Jesus.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And we have that lovely Canticle of Simeon,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00And that is the departing in peace, if you like, of the Christmas season.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Some people keep their Christmas decorations up that long,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06although many take them down on 12th night, around Epiphany.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01The six weeks of Lent leading up to Easter time remind us
0:09:01 > 0:09:05that Christ was tested beyond human endurance
0:09:05 > 0:09:07during his 40 days in the wilderness
0:09:07 > 0:09:11but that our faith too is constantly challenged and put to the test.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Lent begins on Ash Wednesday,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17when many people will have the sign of the cross
0:09:17 > 0:09:20made on their foreheads in ash to remind them
0:09:20 > 0:09:25and us, all of us, that we are mortal and that we must turn away from sin.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29From dust we were made and to dust we shall return.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32We then enter the season of Lent, a season of penitence,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35a season of saying sorry to God,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and for many people,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41that also involves giving something up or maybe taking something on.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Some people don't like to say the word "hallelujah" during Lent.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47They feel it should be more austere
0:09:47 > 0:09:51and they save that word up for the great Easter celebrations.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Lent is when we're getting ready for Easter.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Do either of you two know what Lent is?
0:09:58 > 0:10:03When Jesus is in the desert and he thinks about stuff.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Jesus went into the desert
0:10:05 > 0:10:11and he was thinking about whether he should turn his back on God.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13The Devil came and said,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16"If you are hungry, turn these rocks into bread."
0:10:16 > 0:10:19And Jesus said, "You can't live on bread alone."
0:10:21 > 0:10:26I think he would have been feeling confused and worried
0:10:26 > 0:10:29and I'll be thinking the same too.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34The Devil said that he could have all of the cities and be the king.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And he is saying here, "I'm so tempted to say yes to the Devil
0:10:38 > 0:10:42"but I can't because God would be furious."
0:10:42 > 0:10:46- What sort of things do you give up? - Playing my PlayStation a lot.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Sometimes I give up chocolate but I find it quite hard
0:10:49 > 0:10:50because I really like chocolate.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Erm... Chocolate.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I try to argue less with my brother but it's pretty hard
0:10:57 > 0:10:59because he gets on my nerves a lot.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47The culmination of our Christian year is Holy Week,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51when each day marks Christ's journey to the cross.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54His pain, his obedience, his sacrifice for us
0:12:54 > 0:12:59are all poured out in heartfelt hymns of sorrow and gratitude.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08It begins on a great high as Jesus enters Jerusalem,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12coming down the Mount of Olives, palm crosses are waved now,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17they were palm branches in those days of course, hailing the Messiah King.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20"Hosanna to the son of David", the crowd shouted.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22But it wasn't to last, of course.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Soon, they were changing their tune, as it were,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and calling for Jesus to be crucified.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32But before that happened, we have the Last Supper.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35He took bread and wine and likened himself to the Passover lamb
0:13:35 > 0:13:39in what we now call the Eucharist, the communion, the mass.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43He also gave the disciples a new commandment,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47the great commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51That is a commandment that is very important to the Christian faith.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54The other thing he did, of course, was to wash the disciples' feet
0:13:54 > 0:14:00to reveal a servant nature that we should all learn from and follow.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03# This is our God
0:14:03 > 0:14:06# The servant King
0:14:06 > 0:14:10# He calls us now to follow him
0:14:10 > 0:14:13# To bring our lives
0:14:13 > 0:14:16# As a daily offering. #
0:14:16 > 0:14:24And then Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and all his disciples fell asleep.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Judas Iscariot kissed him on the cheek as a sign,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35to come and... that's the one they need to take.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Servant girls were asking Peter about if they knew that guy
0:14:40 > 0:14:44and he kept denying and denying and denying.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Then follows the crucifixion, the saddest day of the year.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Known, perhaps ironically, as Good Friday.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56It was a very sad day, out of which create good comes.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I feel happy and sad.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02I feel sad because Jesus had to die
0:15:02 > 0:15:07and I feel happy because Jesus gave his life for all of us.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Jesus didn't have to do that,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15but he went through all the hardship just for us, to save our sins.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21Well, you need to understand that Jesus died for us and he saved us.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26And God was happy about that because he was forgiving us
0:15:26 > 0:15:28for all that we have done bad.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The hymn by William Walsham How, 'It Is A Thing Most Wonderful',
0:15:34 > 0:15:36was written for children.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41The crucifixion, the story of Jesus' death is a very difficult story
0:15:41 > 0:15:43for all of us to come to terms with.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46The pain of crucifixion was just unbearable.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51What Walsham How did was to write the hymn as if from the perspective
0:15:51 > 0:15:56of a child standing at the foot of the cross and seeing it happen.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58We might say in our day and age
0:15:58 > 0:16:00that no child should have to see anything like that,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03a terrible crucifixion scene.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09But the spirituality of any of us coming to the cross as children
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and trying to just get to grips with the pain, the terror,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16the significance of what is going on
0:16:16 > 0:16:20when Christ died for me on the cross and bled for me.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23This is what this hymn is about.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42And after the sorrow of Christ's crucifixion
0:18:42 > 0:18:45comes the joy of his resurrection.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Easter is, of course,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51the most important feast in the Christian year
0:18:51 > 0:18:55and it's marked by celebration and tradition and pageantry,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57not just in words and music,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00but in the decoration of both the building...
0:19:01 > 0:19:03..and the clergy too.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Clerical vestments aren't just for show.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14They are decorated with Christian symbols and often with images
0:19:14 > 0:19:18of significance in the life and faith of the priest who wears them.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21But the colours robing the clergy or the altar
0:19:21 > 0:19:24at different times of year also have meaning.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29The seasons of the Church year,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32to some extent reflect the seasons of the year.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34And they are marked,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37as are the seasons of the natural year, by colour.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41So in the Church we would celebrate Lent
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and Advent maybe with the colour purple or blue, perhaps.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47When there is no season, we think of green,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51which might remind us of the green fields of the summer.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54We use white for Easter and Christmas.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57We use red for Pentecost, the flames of the spirit,
0:19:57 > 0:20:03and also for Passiontide for the red on Palm Sunday and in Passion Week.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07So for the Easter Day processional,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09the vestments are predominantly white
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and once again the triumphant "Alleluya" can ring out.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Christ's final ascension into heaven is another cause for great
0:22:46 > 0:22:50celebration in the Christian year, followed by Pentecost,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53when the flames of the Holy Spirit ignite in all of us
0:22:53 > 0:22:56the possibility to become disciples of Christ.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit came
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and there were flames on people's heads
0:23:05 > 0:23:08and they began to speak lots of different languages.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12It's when the wind came in Pentecost.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17There was like... Was it fire on top of their heads?
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Their heads started going on fire and then they started speaking
0:23:21 > 0:23:26different languages and that was the start of the Christian Church.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30We do celebrate Pentecost, to some extent, as the Church's birthday.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32It's when the Church began
0:23:32 > 0:23:34as the outworking of God's spirit in the world.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38But we can pray for the Holy spirit any day.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41The Holy Spirit prays within us. It expresses our needs.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45She, he, whatever you want to call the Holy Spirit in that way.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50We can sing 'Come Down O Love Divine' any day
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and ask God and his spirit to fill our lives,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57that we may continue to serve him
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and be a witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Sometimes, the message of the Bible
0:26:33 > 0:26:38and our experience of everyday life come together in glorious harmony,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40like harvest, when we give joyful thanks
0:26:40 > 0:26:42for God's blessing in the fields
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and for the gifts of his creation around us.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52There are many famous harvest thanksgiving hymns.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54'We Plough The Fields And Scatter'
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and 'Now Thank We All Our God' can be used.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00'Come Ye Thankful People Come'. But there are some new ones too.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04This one is relatively new. 'For The Fruits Of His Creation'.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09It was written by Fred Pratt Green and a tune used by Francis Jackson.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Francis Jackson was organist at York Minster for many years
0:27:13 > 0:27:16and this tune really has taken off, East Acklam.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19It's a lovely tune and it works really well for these words.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36May the God who provides us with all the fruits of creation
0:29:36 > 0:29:40give us grace to care for the hungry and the despairing,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44that at our lives' end, we may rest eternal in the divine
0:29:44 > 0:29:46fellowship of the saints.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Amen.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02The school's war memorial serves to remind the children of both
0:30:02 > 0:30:07military and civilian casualties from wars past and present.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Although remembrance isn't actually part of the Church's year,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17coming so soon after All Souls' Day, it is a time to remember
0:30:17 > 0:30:20not just the faithful who have lost their lives,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23but all the saints in heaven whose festival days
0:30:23 > 0:30:25punctuate the Christian year
0:30:25 > 0:30:29and whose hymns of praise to God will live for ever more.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11Later this year, we'll be revealing the UK's top 10 hymns.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16But to find out what they are, we need you to cast your vote.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19You've only got a week left to vote but it couldn't be simpler.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Just go to the Songs of Praise website
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and choose your favourite from the list of 100 hymns.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27The 10 most popular will be sung at The Big Sing
0:33:27 > 0:33:29in the Royal Albert Hall.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31And next week,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Diane will be introducing more music with worship and praise
0:33:35 > 0:33:39in the great outdoors as the summer festival season gets under way.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd