0:00:02 > 0:00:07The season of Lent starts in three days' time, on Ash Wednesday.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09That's when, in some churches,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14palm crosses from last year will be burnt to ash which will then
0:00:14 > 0:00:17be used to make a sign of repentance and mortality.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Nowadays, relatively few people choose to have their foreheads
0:00:28 > 0:00:31marked with the shape of the cross, but it does seem that this
0:00:31 > 0:00:36period of Lent leading up to Easter still resonates with many of us.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37In a survey last year,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41a quarter of people asked said they would give up something for Lent.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Chocolate being top of the list!
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Well, I have come to Bradford to meet people for whom this
0:00:46 > 0:00:50season has deeper significance.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Lent, to me, is about patience. It is about working towards an end goal.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Having something that may be a hard journey
0:00:57 > 0:01:00but that there is light at the end and you will get there.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06Lent is waiting through the temptation by trusting the Lord
0:01:06 > 0:01:08because God is always faithful.
0:01:09 > 0:01:15Lent, for me, is a time when people give things up, or it is a time
0:01:15 > 0:01:18when people take on challenges.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23And, for me, my Lent was the challenge of doing the calendar.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It's a time of preparation and a time of prayer.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28A time of abstinence and fasting.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30I think it's a useful way of stepping
0:01:30 > 0:01:34back from the pressures of life and being able to focus on my faith.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Our singing comes from Bradford Cathedral, where we
0:01:38 > 0:01:42start with the best known of all Lenten hymns.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44But it doesn't only speak of the challenges that we
0:01:44 > 0:01:49think about during Lent but of the joy of Easter that lies ahead.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49That hymn reminds us of how we hear in the Bible that Jesus
0:03:49 > 0:03:54spent 40 days in the desert, where he was both tempted and tested.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01The way in which Jesus responded to the challenge of those 40 days
0:04:01 > 0:04:05provides inspiration for Christians during these weeks of Lent.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08So let's hear now from Tom Courtenay as he reminds us
0:04:08 > 0:04:10of the story from Luke's Gospel.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
0:04:16 > 0:04:21returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24where, for 40 days, he was tempted by the devil.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29He ate nothing at all during those days,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31and when they were over, he was famished.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37The devil said to him, "If you are the son of God,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40"command this stone to become a loaf of bread."
0:04:42 > 0:04:49Jesus answered him, "It is written, man does not live by bread alone."
0:07:26 > 0:07:27Here at Bradford Cathedral,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Polly Meynell has been commissioned to design a new fabric scheme
0:07:31 > 0:07:35to reflect the themes of the liturgical year.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38One of the first pieces to be completed is the altar frontal,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40which will be used during Lent.
0:07:43 > 0:07:44Gosh, this is going to take a while.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46What is this piece we're actually working on?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49This is going to be the kneeler cushion for the altar rail
0:07:49 > 0:07:51at the High Altar.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55It's produced by members of the community and there are people,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59I hope, from all ages and all backgrounds who will be engaged
0:07:59 > 0:08:01with creating this.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- Lovely colours.- Yes.
0:08:03 > 0:08:09The gold, if we have a look at that end, is the celebration season.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13That's all to do with the joy of Easter and Christmas.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Then we move into Passiontide, which is this red area.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20And then we're moving here into Lent and Advent with the purple.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23It's interesting, the designs you've got. They remind me of Bradford.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25- Do they?- They do.- Well, I'm...
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- This looks like a factory. - I am so glad you've said that.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Because, in fact, my original design idea was to have something
0:08:33 > 0:08:34that was abstract,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38but that really had a resonance with people who lived in Bradford.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Bradford is built on the history of the wool trade
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and has an enormous amount of mills still in existence,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48some of them derelict, some of them having been remade into flats,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51some of them still working as mills.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55That history is so evident walking around the city.
0:08:57 > 0:09:03The textile industry has played a major part in Bradford's history.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04Back in the 19th century,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08the city was nicknamed the wool capital of the world
0:09:08 > 0:09:11as immigrants were drawn from far and wide
0:09:11 > 0:09:16to work in the mills, including many Germans who settled in an area
0:09:16 > 0:09:20next to the cathedral, which became known as Little Germany.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24It was here that German merchants built imposing warehouses
0:09:24 > 0:09:27to store and sell their goods.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31The community also established their own church.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34And, although this building is now mostly used as an art centre,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37a German congregation continues to meet here once a month.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42One of the most famous preachers here was the pastor
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47In November 1933, he was the leader in instigating
0:09:47 > 0:09:49the Bradford Declaration,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53which called upon German Christians to stand against
0:09:53 > 0:09:55the infamous events in Berlin.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Bonhoeffer returned to Germany to take his stand,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and that cost him his life.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03He was executed just a few weeks
0:10:03 > 0:10:06before the end of the Second World War.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16# Drop, drop, slow tears
0:10:16 > 0:10:23# And bathe those beauteous feet
0:10:23 > 0:10:28# Which brought from Heaven
0:10:28 > 0:10:33# The news and Prince of Peace
0:10:37 > 0:10:44# Cease not wet tears
0:10:44 > 0:10:51# His mercies to entreat
0:10:51 > 0:10:56# To cry for vengeance
0:10:56 > 0:11:04# Sin doth never cease
0:11:06 > 0:11:12# In your deep floods
0:11:12 > 0:11:19# Drown all my faults and fears
0:11:19 > 0:11:26# Nor let his eye see
0:11:26 > 0:11:34# Sin, but through my tears. #
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Jesus's 40 days in the desert is sometimes
0:11:42 > 0:11:45remembered as his wilderness experience. That's something
0:11:45 > 0:11:49that Daniel Habtey has quite literally lived through.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I came from Eritrea, East Africa.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00There is no freedom of politics, freedom of religion.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Many Christians have been persecuted
0:12:02 > 0:12:09and about 2,000 people are currently arrested because of their religion.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15In 2002, the church was closed officially,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20so, I decided, you know, in order to exercise my faith, in order to
0:12:20 > 0:12:25live a good life, I have to leave my country and I decided to go to Sudan.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28On foot for three days and then,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32from Sudan to Libya through the Sahara desert for 15 days more.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Did you travel alone?
0:12:35 > 0:12:39No, my wife and my child, she was six months old,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41and we were about 30, 34 people
0:12:41 > 0:12:45as well, you know, in a very small Toyota Hilux pick-up.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47What was the worst time?
0:12:47 > 0:12:52The experience of the desert was very, very tough.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I remember one time we ran out
0:12:56 > 0:13:00of water and we had to walk in search for water
0:13:00 > 0:13:02and I was worried, you know,
0:13:02 > 0:13:04for my wife and for my child.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06But, finally, we went to...
0:13:06 > 0:13:09We pushed and then we found some reservoir
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and it's very dirty, it's not clean,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15but there is no choice.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19And that was the toughest time for me.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22It reminds me when Jesus was, you know, tempted in the wilderness
0:13:22 > 0:13:27and God was, you know, sending a son, even though passing through
0:13:27 > 0:13:29such a difficult situation.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32And when you finally emerged from the desert,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34were you in a safe situation at last?
0:13:34 > 0:13:35Not really.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38As soon as we have arrived, you know, we were caught up
0:13:38 > 0:13:40by the Libyan government and the military,
0:13:40 > 0:13:45they just caught us and they just put us in a prison.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48After four days, you know, they just released me because of my baby.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Sometimes, looking the situation, it doesn't help you,
0:13:53 > 0:13:59but trusting the Lord and believe in the promises can give you a life.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13One of the most popular British films in recent years
0:16:13 > 0:16:15has been Calendar Girls.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18It was based on the true story of some members
0:16:18 > 0:16:21of the Women's Institute in the Yorkshire Dales.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24The story began in February 1998,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28when Angela Baker's husband, John, was diagnosed with cancer.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32John had been such a healthy person
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and then, suddenly, it was just...bang, and...
0:16:35 > 0:16:38he was in hospital and, really,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41stayed there for five months until he died.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43A lot of people going through
0:16:43 > 0:16:46what you'd been through would want to withdraw,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48but you not only took a lot on,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51you took quite a lot off, too, didn't you?
0:16:51 > 0:16:55We did, Pam, yeah, but John knew about the calendar
0:16:55 > 0:16:57and he was going to come along
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and watch us have our photographs taken,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03but he wasn't well enough to do that.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05We told him what month we were going to be
0:17:05 > 0:17:07and what craft we were going to be doing
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and he just laughed and said, "You'll never do it!"
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Was it a surprise, then, that it really took on a life of its own?
0:17:14 > 0:17:18It was a big surprise, we had no idea what was going to happen,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20we were so naive.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And we thought, "Who's going to buy them?
0:17:22 > 0:17:26"Who on Earth would want a calendar of middle-aged women
0:17:26 > 0:17:30"with no clothes on?" But, you see, they did.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33So, obviously, it was becoming more and more of a success,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35but you would have been still dealing with your grief?
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I was, it was really, really hard.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43At the end of doing something really good and we'd had a lovely day,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47of course, when we got off the train or, you know, the bus or anything,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51all the other husbands were waiting for their wives
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and mine wasn't there.
0:17:55 > 0:17:56My world had ended.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03I would have been lost if I hadn't had done the calendar.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07You just felt as though you were doing something for somebody else.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12Our aim was to raise money for Leukaemia And Lymphoma Research
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and we have. We've raised £4 million.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23Do you see any parallel with Lent in what you've been through?
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Lent, everyone thinks that
0:18:25 > 0:18:28it's a time that you give something up, isn't it?
0:18:28 > 0:18:29Something that you really like.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33I mean, for years and years and years, I gave crisps up
0:18:33 > 0:18:38and on Easter Sunday, I used to sit up in bed and eat a packet of crisps.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41But it's also a challenging time, isn't it?
0:18:41 > 0:18:43And I think that, sometimes,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47instead of giving something up, you should take something on.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52Doing the calendar, for me, was my Lent, really, was my challenge.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57How important has your own faith been to you through all of this?
0:18:57 > 0:18:59My faith is very strong.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04But when John was ill, and...the local church that we went to,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08they had prayer meetings every morning for John
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and I felt sure, you know, that he would get better.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16And then, when he died, I felt so angry and I thought,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20"Well, what was the use of all these prayers?"
0:19:20 > 0:19:23But then, of course, down the line,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I realised that the prayers were there for us all.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31And...I couldn't have done without them.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21The lyrics for one of the most heartfelt songs
0:22:21 > 0:22:24on the soundtrack of the film Calendar Girls were written
0:22:24 > 0:22:29by the American singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32I Find Your Love is one of those songs that, you know,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I open up my emails
0:22:34 > 0:22:37or I get a call, or a letter from somebody
0:22:37 > 0:22:38almost every week saying,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41"It helped me through feeling
0:22:41 > 0:22:45"so disconnected from this person that I lost that I loved."
0:22:45 > 0:22:49And the way that the memory of someone can come through,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52little instances that are completely unexpected.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56My husband died of cancer in 1994 and I had a line in a song
0:22:56 > 0:23:00that I wrote for him that said something like,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03you know, "Every once in a while, when my son smiles,
0:23:03 > 0:23:04"I see you smiling at me,"
0:23:04 > 0:23:07you know, it's this way that things just sort of...like a wisp
0:23:07 > 0:23:09of something coming through,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12the essence of this person that you love.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16So there's a lot of lines in this song that feel like that,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20you know, that talk about I see your smile on someone's face,
0:23:20 > 0:23:25you know, I hear you, I see you, you're just around me, even though
0:23:25 > 0:23:28I can't know you the way I did before, I still feel you there.
0:23:36 > 0:23:43# I'll catch your smile on someone's face
0:23:43 > 0:23:50# Your whisper in the wind's embrace
0:23:50 > 0:23:57# Through diamond stars and songs and dreams
0:23:57 > 0:24:04# I find your love in everything
0:24:04 > 0:24:11# The sun, the sky, the rolling sea
0:24:11 > 0:24:18# All conspire to comfort me
0:24:18 > 0:24:25# From sorrow's edge Life's beauty seems
0:24:25 > 0:24:35# To find your love in everything
0:24:56 > 0:25:02# I've come to trust the hope it brings
0:25:02 > 0:25:10# To find your love in everything
0:25:10 > 0:25:17# Even as I fall apart
0:25:17 > 0:25:29# Even through my shattered heart
0:25:29 > 0:25:37# I'll catch your smile on someone's face
0:25:37 > 0:25:48# Amazing grace. #
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Bradford's skyline tells you
0:25:59 > 0:26:03that this is a city of different faiths.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Bradford Cathedral's Interfaith Worker is Liz Firth.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Interfaith relations are really important in a place like Bradford.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13We're a town that's been built on migration,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16people have come to Bradford from loads of different places,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19all over the world for a long time now,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and we're still welcoming new communities here, every year.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27'We have communities from different faith traditions in Bradford
0:26:27 > 0:26:30'and from none, and it's really important that, as much as possible,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33'we're providing opportunities for people to come together,
0:26:33 > 0:26:34'to get to know each other.'
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Here we are, by the statue of Mary...
0:26:36 > 0:26:38'We visit different faith communities,'
0:26:38 > 0:26:39see places of worship,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42get to meet people from different faith communities.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45'We're deepening relationships, building trust,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47'and it just helps move Bradford forward.'
0:26:49 > 0:26:52When we're visiting different places of worship,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54we'll often have people from different faith backgrounds.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57And it is originally in black stone, so...
0:26:57 > 0:27:00'Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian backgrounds,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03'sometimes of no particular faith background,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05'and we'll do a tour of the building,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08'we might look at the particular statues, if there are statues there,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10'understand the meanings behind them.'
0:27:10 > 0:27:12..Probably have a fire at the centre here.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16It's often useful to perhaps focus on things that we do share in common.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19So, for us, as Christians, we're coming up to the season of Lent,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22which is a time that traditionally people would have fasted,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25would have prepared themselves through prayer
0:27:25 > 0:27:26for the feast of Easter.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29It's great to have Muslim friends in Bradford who are happy
0:27:29 > 0:27:32to share with us their experiences of Ramadan,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'a similar time for the Muslim community where they are preparing
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'through fasting, through abstinence, through prayer,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40'for the celebration of Eid.'
0:30:57 > 0:30:59God of our pilgrimage,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03expand our horizons, we pray
0:31:03 > 0:31:06that this Lent we may explore
0:31:06 > 0:31:08both the depth of your mercy
0:31:08 > 0:31:12and the breadth of your generous grace.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15And the blessing of God Almighty,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit
0:31:18 > 0:31:22be upon you and remain with you always.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24ALL: Amen.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Well, as Lent approaches,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31perhaps the question we should be asking is not
0:31:31 > 0:31:34what can we give up for Lent, but what can we take on,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39because our faith can be passive or it can be active,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41as our last hymn reminds us.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44This is our prayer for strength and courage to cope
0:31:44 > 0:31:46with whatever life brings our way.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Next week, it's a Songs Of Praise Sport Relief special,
0:33:31 > 0:33:36as Dan Walker commentates on our own mini Olympics with a difference.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40And Paralympian Stef Reid explains how her faith drives her on,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44plus inspirational hymns on a sporting theme.