0:00:03 > 0:00:05This week, I'm in Pembrokeshire,
0:00:05 > 0:00:10taking up a special invitation into a world few get to see.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13I'm going behind the scenes to witness life in a convent -
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Holy Cross Abbey - where,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18as part of their surprisingly busy lives here,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22the nuns tend the local land and run a bit of a food factory.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It's the first time TV cameras have been allowed here to see those
0:00:26 > 0:00:30who've made a decision to devote their life to God in this way.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34I don't think we choose it, I think we're actually invited.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38It's called a vocation and we don't do the calling.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42And I'll hear how one sister responded to the call.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47I thought, "No, no, no, no, I can't be a nun. No! Absolutely not."
0:00:59 > 0:01:02We've songs old and new coming up,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04but we begin with a traditional favourite,
0:01:04 > 0:01:06which, given where we are,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10reflects the theme of Christian devotion and commitment.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I've been given an exclusive welcome
0:03:17 > 0:03:19to Holy Cross Abbey in Pembrokeshire,
0:03:19 > 0:03:24an enclosed community of nuns who follow the Cistercian tradition,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26which began in medieval France.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32And to see the variety of work going on here,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I'm being given a guided tour of the estate
0:03:35 > 0:03:38by the leader of the community, Mother Christine.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42- Well, these are our chickens.- A-huh. - And we sell their eggs.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44- And you have bees, too, don't you? - We do. We do.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- And a lot of vegetables grow here, I imagine, as well.- Yes, yes.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52We've got potatoes, leeks, a variety of greens.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54I must show you our elderflower.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- You've an abundance of it. - Yes. We use it to make our bubbly.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- Ooo, maybe we can try some of that later.- Yes, yes.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It's very environmental. It's very modern in some ways.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09We have an estate, we have gardens.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Are people surprised to find out how hands-on you all are?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I think, certainly when I first entered,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18I had friends who were very surprised.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20They thought I'd be kneeling in front of an altar every day
0:04:20 > 0:04:22and doing nothing else.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29What's day-to-day life like here?
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Well, we're a monastic community
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and there is a monastic rhythm to the day.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39We get up for the first prayers of the day at 3:30
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and then we have times of prayer all through the day.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Am I right in thinking that you don't normally let cameras inside?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51We haven't done before. We're an enclosed community.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- But you've made an exception for Songs Of Praise.- Yes, we have.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58- Thank you.- Yes.- Why do you choose to live in a closed community?
0:04:58 > 0:05:02I don't think we choose it, I think we're actually invited.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It's called a vocation and we don't do the calling.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11When you hear some of the terrible things going on in the world,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14what can you do about it here?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I think our life is one of intercession.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- Our Father... - ALL: Who art in heaven.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Intercession is a prayer for other people.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Whether they're ill or whether someone had died
0:05:27 > 0:05:30or where there's a violent situation somewhere.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33ALL: And forgive us our trespasses.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And when we use the word "us", we're not just talking about
0:05:36 > 0:05:40our small community, we're talking about us, the world.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43You take onboard what other people are suffering.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45We just believe that prayer is a very powerful force.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51People often ask, "Oh, it must be so boring,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54"it must be the same every day". No day is the same.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56They're always different.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59And, um...you don't know what's going to happen the next day,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03especially when you're growing things and you've got animals.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06So, in the summer at least, you're self-sufficient here?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Yes, but in many ways, being in the monastery makes you realise
0:06:10 > 0:06:13that you're not self-sufficient at all.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17There's a great reliance, um...on the Lord.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59While Holy Cross is an enclosed community,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02the nuns here do come into contact with others.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07There are two male members of staff employed for the heavy-duty farming.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14And the sisters often take a trip into the local community.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Of course, we go out, we do our own shopping.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Can I collect my prescription, please?- Yes. What's the name?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And we have to go out for various things, so we're known locally.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Thanks very much. Thank you. You're welcome.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28- Thank you. Bye-bye.- OK. Bye-bye. Bye.- Bye.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31They know where we come from and they know who we are.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34We work in teams with most of what we do.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Yes, there is a sort of ease with each other.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39- Lovely to meet you. - And you, too. Sister Jean?
0:09:39 > 0:09:42And although we are an enclosed community,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46there is a welcome and an openness for people who come.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58BIRDSONG
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Although they live in a modern building,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05the nuns at Holy Cross Abbey practise age-old traditions.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09One of which is singing plainchant in Latin.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16We don't have the skills that a lot of people have,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18so we have to do what we can with what we've got.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22We're all mixed abilities.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24You'd be surprised the number of women that come
0:12:24 > 0:12:26who've been told to shut up or not to sing.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31But somehow, we have to encourage them to sing. We need their support.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33And I've never had anyone that can't sing in the end.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35They come up and they come down.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39If we come down gently, like we do on the Alleluias...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41But it doesn't matter that we're not professionals
0:12:41 > 0:12:45because the heart goes into it. You have to put your heart into it.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47You couldn't do it any other way.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49And because you're singing it for God and to God,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52it is a dialogue, it's a prayer,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55but it's great fun and we really enjoy it.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59These are chants that have been sung for centuries.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01These are centuries old.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03In that way, they're certainly timeless.
0:13:05 > 0:13:11# O Sanctissima
0:13:11 > 0:13:17# O Piissima
0:13:17 > 0:13:27# Dulcis Virgo Maria
0:13:28 > 0:13:34# O Sanctissima
0:13:34 > 0:13:40# O Piissima
0:13:40 > 0:13:50# Dulcis Virgo Maria
0:13:52 > 0:14:03# Mater amta intemerata
0:14:03 > 0:14:14# Ora ora pro nobis
0:14:14 > 0:14:25# Mater amta intemerata
0:14:25 > 0:14:38# Ora ora pro nobis
0:14:38 > 0:14:51# Mater amta intemerata
0:14:51 > 0:15:04# Ora ora pro nobis
0:15:06 > 0:15:13# Amen
0:15:16 > 0:15:27# Amen
0:15:28 > 0:15:35# Amen. #
0:15:39 > 0:15:42BIRDSONG
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Every church tradition starts somewhere.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47And over the last few weeks,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51we've been looking at the origins of some of them.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54And this week, Richard Taylor is in Gloucestershire,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57looking at the founding of the Baptist church in the UK.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03The Baptist movement nowadays
0:16:03 > 0:16:07numbers more than 40 million people spread all around the world.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11But for me, if you want to understand the origins,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15the energy and the sheer charisma of the Baptists,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19there's no better place to come than Tewkesbury.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Historians trace modern Baptists to the early 17th century
0:16:26 > 0:16:28and the English separatists.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Separatists was the name given to anyone who objected to
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and separated from the Church of England.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38They were regarded as a threat to society,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42to be imprisoned and even executed.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46And so, in 1609, a little group of separatists from Lincolnshire,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48led by a man called John Smyth,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51fled Britain to the religious freedom of Amsterdam.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56There, the group developed certain distinctive beliefs and practises
0:16:56 > 0:16:58which we would now call Baptist,
0:16:58 > 0:17:03before re-importing their ideas to Britain.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Now, this is Tewkesbury Abbey,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11a vast and imposing symbol of the establishment.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Locals on a Sunday would have been expected to come here to worship.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16The great and the good at the front,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20servants and workers firmly at the back.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26And here, hidden away down this little backstreet
0:17:26 > 0:17:31in the shadow of the abbey, is the Old Baptist Chapel.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34One of the earliest Baptist meetinghouses in the world.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42This little chapel is just stunning.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46It's so simple. Just plain walls and clear glass
0:17:46 > 0:17:48and a pulpit for the preaching.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53The people who came here were artisans and servants.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57No wonder they preferred this to worshipping across the road at the abbey,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01behind the lords and ladies that they waited on during the week.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Here, they were with people who loved them,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07who treated them as an equal, who were their friends.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13John Smyth formulated what would become a central belief and ritual
0:18:13 > 0:18:15of the Baptist movement.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19This is the Old Chapel's original baptismal pool.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21An amazing survival!
0:18:21 > 0:18:25On a baptism day, it would have been filled to the brim with water
0:18:25 > 0:18:29from the local well, and freezing cold.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Then the person to be baptised would be dressed in a light robe.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37And the minister would lead them down the steps
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and into the pool, where, saying the words of baptism,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42they would be fully submerged,
0:18:42 > 0:18:47before being brought back up and into the light.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51It's a physical, public, exposing ritual,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54like being buried and brought back to life.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57And when they opened their eyes, they would see around them
0:18:57 > 0:19:02their new family, the people who surrounded them here.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08To learn more about early Baptists, I'm talking to Simon Lawton,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10curator of the chapel.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Baptists were people that thought
0:19:12 > 0:19:14the Reformation hadn't gone far enough.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16They wanted a return to a simpler,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19scripture-based version of religion.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The Baptist ceremony in a private meeting house,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24which is what this would've been, gave them a chance
0:19:24 > 0:19:26to actually debate and understand
0:19:26 > 0:19:29the scripture and understand the Bible.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Some Baptist ceremonies, you hear cases of them smoking, being very relaxed
0:19:32 > 0:19:35and, of course, a lot of Baptists would then troop along to the abbey
0:19:35 > 0:19:40and start to behave in a similar way there, which was a no-go.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43We're really fortunate in that our Baptists kept
0:19:43 > 0:19:48a minute book that goes from 1655 right up until 1808.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52And what we've had done is had it digitised so people can actually
0:19:52 > 0:19:56understand the mind-set of people from the 17th and 18th century.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57What sort of things are they saying?
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Ooo, they're always throwing people out
0:20:00 > 0:20:02for swearing, fornication, drunkenness.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Our Baptists, they very much saw themselves
0:20:05 > 0:20:08as a little island of the godly in the sea of the ungodly.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14It was from tiny seeds like this
0:20:14 > 0:20:17that the worldwide Baptist movement was born.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22But what I find so remarkable is how little has changed.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27The same rituals, the same independence of spirit
0:20:27 > 0:20:29and the same love for one another.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16At Holy Cross Abbey, the nuns produce
0:24:16 > 0:24:18a range of food and drink onsite,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21including their own brew of elderflower bubbly.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Cheers to that!
0:24:26 > 0:24:30But the main production line here is for wafer-thin Communion bread.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34It's a much-needed source of income
0:24:34 > 0:24:36which helps keep the convent in business.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39- Yes!- Yay! Success!
0:24:40 > 0:24:42After being cut into shape,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46the wafers are sold to over 400 churches around the UK.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49And, in charge of the operation is Sister Jo,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52who's been a nun for 12 years.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54It's a far cry from her old life
0:24:54 > 0:24:57as a senior nurse in accident and emergency.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00It was a great job, it really was.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04I had a good bunch of friends, I had a nice social life.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06So, you know, life was good.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10But just this horrible inside thing of, you know,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12- that there was something missing. - Mm-hm.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16And I was involved in a trip to France to a monastery
0:25:16 > 0:25:20and for the first time in my life, I heard silence.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Not as an ear thing or a head thing, but as a heart thing.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31I can only say it was, you know, God's, er...kick up the...
0:25:31 > 0:25:34proverbial to get me moving, basically.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38And I thought, "No, no, no, no, I can't be a nun. No!"
0:25:38 > 0:25:40THEY CHANT
0:25:42 > 0:25:46As you go through the process of formation, it takes six years.
0:25:46 > 0:25:52And at the end of the six years, then you take your solemn vows.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Jo, in the 12 years that you've been here,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57what are the biggest changes that you've experienced?
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- If can imagine your workmates... - Mm-hm.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02..and then living with them.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04At 9:30, I'll be back.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08It requires a lot of charity on everybody's part. Ha-ha!
0:26:08 > 0:26:11The prologue continued.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15The things I used to get picked up most on was my mouth.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19- There are words here that normally, I didn't think were that bad.- Mm-hm.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21But they are swearwords.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Going to church seven times a day to praise God
0:26:27 > 0:26:31means that when you're just stuck in with your work,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34or the meal just needs another five minutes,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36- but I can't, I've got to go.- Yeah.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42Then those are the disciplines that you have to say, "No".
0:26:42 > 0:26:44- It drives you bonkers!- Yes.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- You know, just two minutes and I could finish this!- Yep.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51But I'd be late and you don't want to be late.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Because we pray together.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57And if one person's late, then it upsets the togetherness of it.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01And the fire and the smoke and the sulphur...
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Obviously, you know, there are times when,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07at the end of a day that hasn't gone your way
0:27:07 > 0:27:09and you want to just go off to the pub somewhere
0:27:09 > 0:27:11and have a chat and have a moan.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13And of course, we don't do that.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Um...and we sit there and we go, "God, what happened?
0:27:17 > 0:27:20"Why did it go so horribly wrong?"
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Um... Or, you know, "Oh, help".
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And you find that help is there?
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- And it is.- Yeah.- Yeah. Yeah.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30God wants us to be happy
0:27:30 > 0:27:35- and we should have some joy in how we live, really.- Mm-hm.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39And are you happier here than you were 12 years ago,
0:27:39 > 0:27:40working in a busy A&E?
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Um...yes. Yes.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48Yeah. Um...I can say that, you know, I wouldn't go back.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Well, that's it from Holy Cross Abbey.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12It's been fascinating to meet the nuns
0:30:12 > 0:30:17and to have a look behind what are usually closed doors.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21Before our final song,
0:30:21 > 0:30:26we join the sisters ending the day as they always do, in prayer.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30God of mercy and reconciliation,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33mercifully come to our aid.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35That as we receive your message of peace,
0:30:35 > 0:30:40so we may work with you to restore all things in Christ.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44ALL: Amen.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33APPLAUSE