0:00:08 > 0:00:09This coming Friday, at midday,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12a shaft of sunshine will shine through this rock here
0:00:12 > 0:00:13and light up this special stone,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17dedicated to Wales' patron saint, Dewi Sant, on his saint's day.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20But as the whole of Wales prepares to honour the great man,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23I've come to St Davids, his birthplace,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25for this week's Songs Of Praise.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32So, this week, some wonderful Welsh hymn singing...
0:00:32 > 0:00:35St David's Cathedral reveals its secrets...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38One man's journey to finding faith...
0:00:38 > 0:00:42and special guest, Welsh tenor, Rhys Meirion.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00On Friday, the cathedral bells will ring out to celebrate St David's Day.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03The bells are named after saints associated with Wales,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07with the biggest one bearing the name of St David himself.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14They're too heavy for the cathedral tower so, unusually,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17they're housed here at the gatehouse - Porth-y-Twr, it's called in Welsh.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20This is where you get the first glimpse of that magnificent building.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23All our music comes from St David's Cathedral
0:01:23 > 0:01:27and we begin with a hymn that pays tribute to all the nations' saints.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10Known in Welsh as Tyddewi, St David's is a picturesque coastal location
0:06:10 > 0:06:13with a population of just over 1,500 people.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Yet it's a city with one of the UK's most beautiful cathedrals,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20so I'm off for a look around.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22- How nice to see you.- You too, Aled.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29When you come to this rural part of Wales,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- you don't really expect this cathedral to be waiting for you. - Not at all.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Here it is, nestled in the valley, this huge building,
0:06:37 > 0:06:41and it's a remarkable building because it's built on a sloping site.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44- I was about to say. - It's amazing, isn't it?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47It's really quite a pull up the nave.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51If you notice, the arcades are just slightly leaning out, as well.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I wish you hadn't told me that - they are, aren't they?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Well, they are but it's stood for 800 years
0:06:57 > 0:06:59so I think we're quite safe.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00Phew!
0:07:07 > 0:07:10- I've spent hours in choir stalls. - Yes, so have I.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Fair point, probably longer than me!
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Why have you brought me to yours, what is so special about these?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- Well, we have a stall for the Queen. - Goodness me.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24The Queen is a canon of the Cathedral and that is absolutely unique.
0:07:24 > 0:07:25Has she ever been?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28She has visited St Davids four times and she sat in that seat.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31I half expect there to be padding on the Queen's seat.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34These seats are quite unusual because they are seats,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39but then if you lift them up, they've got this little ledge.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40These are misericords,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44and the word "misericord" is actually Latin for mercy seat.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48If you're in the choir for a long time,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50reciting the Office or Psalms or whatever,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53you have the opportunity to just rest
0:07:53 > 0:07:57and give the appearance that you're actually standing.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59I quite often sing with the choir, actually,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03but when I have occasion to sit in my own stall
0:08:03 > 0:08:08and allow all of it to wash over me, it is the most amazing experience.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12You just feel that there is a sense of God
0:08:12 > 0:08:16when you are in the middle of a glorious act of worship.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Can I let you into a little secret?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21- It feels like that when you're a choir boy, as well!- Good.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35We're heading now into the presbytery,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39and to the newly restored shrine of St David,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42which was only dedicated last St David's Day.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46St David's has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries
0:08:46 > 0:08:48and pilgrims still come,
0:08:48 > 0:08:54but there didn't seem to be a final sort of destination and now this is the destination.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58So here we are, celebrating our patron saint, St David, on Friday.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Is that man relevant in this day and age?
0:09:01 > 0:09:06I think he is, I think part of the reason for installing the shrine
0:09:06 > 0:09:08is because of David's life and witness
0:09:08 > 0:09:12and the cult of St David has remained strong through the centuries,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and I think his final words to his followers,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21"Be joyful, keep the faith, do the little things you've heard and seen me do"
0:09:21 > 0:09:23still resonate with people today.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28This is probably one of your most special places?
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I think so because this has been my vision,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36and part of the vision is turning visitors into pilgrims,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and I think now that we have this focus in the building,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44I hope that people will go away with something special
0:09:44 > 0:09:46when they visit this place.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40St David's Day is the perfect opportunity for us Welsh to celebrate.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44As a nation, we love our emblems, this being one of them, the leek.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Legend has it that it was St David himself
0:12:46 > 0:12:50that suggested to soldiers that they should wear a leek on their helmet
0:12:50 > 0:12:53to distinguish between friend and foe during battle.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58Even to this day, some Welsh love to wear their leek with pride on St David's Day.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05But many of us prefer wearing Cenhinen Bedr, or Peter's Leek,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09another of our national emblems, also known of course as the daffodil.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Here's some I picked earlier!
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The daffodil is special because it is the sunshine,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25it is the first real flower that comes out with this gold,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28warm colour after the dark, dreary winter.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31So it is the first sign of spring.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34You have snowdrops, but snowdrops are still cold and small.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37You have this big blaze of colour with the daff
0:13:37 > 0:13:40and that shows that summer is just around the corner.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48I think the special thing about daffodils
0:13:48 > 0:13:51is that there's always some activity in the bulb,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54right from the time that we plant the bulb in September.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57The bulb itself is developing the flower inside.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01You can dissect a bulb in September
0:14:01 > 0:14:05and find inside your earliest first daffodil, completely formed.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12That's a miracle, that really is, it's absolutely wonderful.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17As part of the St David's Day celebrations in St Davids,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20local school children take part in a dragon parade through the city.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The pupils of Ysgol Bro Dewi are getting ready
0:16:28 > 0:16:29for this year's parade.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34I'm making a mask for the St David's Day parade.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38I'm making the eyes, the nostrils and the fire that it breathes out.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44It's a girly dragon. It's like, really cool.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49This year, the children are all going to be individual dragons
0:16:49 > 0:16:52as part of a big dragon procession.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57The parade is an opportunity for the children to learn more
0:16:57 > 0:17:00about their patron saint.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04It's about celebrating St David and the people around him.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10We celebrate St David for the good things that he's done.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13He did a miracle.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16He put a handkerchief on the ground because nobody could hear him
0:17:16 > 0:17:19when he was preaching and then the ground rose and he stood on it
0:17:19 > 0:17:22so that everyone could hear him and see him.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26St David's Day in St Davids is very special.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31Obviously, we've got the cathedral here and the birthplace of St David.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36It's a very, very good connection to have with Welsh history
0:17:36 > 0:17:40and Welsh culture, and just the feeling that we have
0:17:40 > 0:17:44of being in a very special place in this part of Wales.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55# For Wales our land
0:17:55 > 0:18:02# Oh Father hear our prayer
0:18:03 > 0:18:09# This blessed vinyard
0:18:09 > 0:18:16# Granted to our care
0:18:17 > 0:18:21# May you protect
0:18:21 > 0:18:28# Her always faithfully
0:18:30 > 0:18:35# And prosper in
0:18:35 > 0:18:42# All truth and purity
0:18:44 > 0:18:48# For your son seek
0:18:48 > 0:18:56# Who bought us with his blood
0:18:57 > 0:19:01# And make our Wales
0:19:01 > 0:19:08# In your own image, Lord
0:19:17 > 0:19:22# Oh come the day
0:19:22 > 0:19:29# When over our barren land
0:19:31 > 0:19:35# Reviving winds
0:19:35 > 0:19:43# Blow sent from God's own hand
0:19:43 > 0:19:49# As grace pours down
0:19:49 > 0:19:56# On parched and arid land
0:19:56 > 0:20:01# We will bear fruit
0:20:01 > 0:20:09# For Christ by his command
0:20:09 > 0:20:14# Come with one voice
0:20:14 > 0:20:21# And gently see
0:20:22 > 0:20:27# The virtues of
0:20:27 > 0:20:35# A gentle land and he. #
0:20:53 > 0:20:57I was brought up as an Anglican,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01but as a teenager drifted away from the church.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04I think I would have described myself as certainly agnostic,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06if not an atheist.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11I regarded religion and Christianity, in particular,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and the church as a sort of anachronism.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19As a historical leftover of some kind.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27But a holiday to St Davids at the age of 18
0:21:27 > 0:21:30was to challenge Patrick's personal beliefs.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37One day, when I was wandering along the cliff path,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I had an extraordinary experience of what I can only describe
0:21:41 > 0:21:46as the reality of God in the world around me.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Perhaps it was the atmosphere around about,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55the butterflies rising up,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59the fact that the place itself was connected
0:21:59 > 0:22:03with so many centuries of prayer,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07that somehow it began to have an effect on me.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13But I wasn't quite sure what to make of that at the time.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17I was left feeling slightly confused.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23A year later, Patrick, with a growing faith,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25was beginning to see things more clearly.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30I began to realise that I seemed to have this calling.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36I decided to work out whether I had a vocation to the priesthood or not.
0:22:36 > 0:22:43So I walked and hitchhiked all the way from Shrewsbury to St Davids
0:22:43 > 0:22:47and ended up in the St Thomas Chapel here,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52and realised as I was kneeling in front of the altar
0:22:52 > 0:22:56that I had to dedicate my life in that way.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59And I was ordained here in St Davids Cathedral,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02which was something that was completely unexpected.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08So I think it was a rather peculiar pilgrimage.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14St Davids has a special place in my life
0:23:14 > 0:23:20because it was the place where I discovered my vocation,
0:23:20 > 0:23:28and it's also a place where I find it perhaps easy to pray, as well.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34A place where there is this very special atmosphere.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39It is a place, to use TS Eliot's phrase,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43a place where prayer has been valid and where prayer still is valid.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45And that, to me, is quite wonderful.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14May God, who kindled the fire of his love in the heart of St David
0:26:14 > 0:26:19and all the saints, pour upon you the riches of his grace.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21ALL: Amen.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26May the God of truth give you grace to follow St David
0:26:26 > 0:26:29who brought the light of Christ to this nation
0:26:29 > 0:26:34and taught his followers to be joyful, keeping the faith
0:26:34 > 0:26:37and doing the little things that he did.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39ALL: Amen.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41And the blessing of God Almighty, the father,
0:26:41 > 0:26:46the son and the holy spirit be with you and remain with you always.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49ALL: Amen.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08# Bring me my harp
0:27:08 > 0:27:16# Was David's sad sigh
0:27:16 > 0:27:21# I would play one more tune
0:27:21 > 0:27:28# Before I die
0:27:30 > 0:27:36# Help me, dear wife
0:27:36 > 0:27:42# Put he hands to the strings
0:27:43 > 0:27:50# I wish my loved ones
0:27:50 > 0:27:58# The blessing God brings
0:28:51 > 0:28:57# Last night an angel
0:28:57 > 0:29:03# Called with heaven's breath
0:29:03 > 0:29:07# David, play
0:29:07 > 0:29:15# And come through the gates of death
0:29:17 > 0:29:22# Farewell faithful harp
0:29:22 > 0:29:30# Farewell to your strings
0:29:31 > 0:29:41# I wish my loved ones
0:29:42 > 0:29:56# The blessing God brings. #
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Our final hymn is a personal favourite,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13and I guarantee it will be sung throughout Wales on Friday.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Happy St David's Day to you when it comes.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus iawn i chi gyd.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20And in the words of my patron saints,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23may you be joyful and keep the faith.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Next week, to mark the 25th anniversary
0:33:29 > 0:33:32of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day, I'll meet comedian Tim Vine
0:33:32 > 0:33:36to help launch our very own hymn-singing fund-raiser,
0:33:36 > 0:33:38as well as the queen of baking, Mary Berry,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41who faces a cooking challenge for those without a kitchen.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45And there'll be some great hymns to get you singing from around the UK.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd