0:00:03 > 0:00:07Lindisfarne, a little sanctuary off the north-east coast of England,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10cut off from the mainland twice a day at high tide.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Thousands of visitors come here every year,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18attracted by its sandy beaches and wildlife but also
0:00:18 > 0:00:21because of its reputation as one of the holiest places in Britain.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Today, this tiny tidal island is a centre of Christian pilgrimage,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32a haven for reflection and prayer.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35But back in the 7th century, when the first monastery was built here,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39far from being a place of retreat or isolation,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42this was the centre of a vibrant missionary network,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46spreading the Christian message so successfully that Lindisfarne
0:00:46 > 0:00:49became known as northern Britain's cradle of Christianity.
0:00:49 > 0:00:541,300 years on, it continues to inspire those who come here.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00With my feet firmly on dry land,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I meet Christian artists influenced by the Celtic
0:01:02 > 0:01:04saints of Lindisfarne
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and discover the poignant story behind a new piece of stained glass
0:01:07 > 0:01:09for the ancient parish church,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12while Christian band Iona perform in the priory ruins.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Lindisfarne's Christian story began with an Irish monk called Aidan,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32who came to the island in the year 635 to build a monastery.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38He travelled nearly 250 miles from the monastery of St Columba
0:01:38 > 0:01:40on the Scottish island of Iona.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42He wasn't the first to bring Christianity to this
0:01:42 > 0:01:45part of the world - the Romans had done that before him.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49But, by then, many people had gone back to their pagan roots.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Aidan walked tirelessly from village to village talking to
0:01:52 > 0:01:55people he met about the Christian faith.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00It's believed St Mary's Parish Church here
0:02:00 > 0:02:03stands on the site of that first monastery
0:02:03 > 0:02:06established by Aidan 1,300 years ago,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and it's where we begin our Songs Of Praise, with a hymn based on
0:02:09 > 0:02:14the words of Psalm 23, and set to a tune named after St Columba of Iona.
0:02:19 > 0:02:28# The King of Love my shepherd is
0:02:28 > 0:02:35# Whose goodness faileth never
0:02:35 > 0:02:43# I nothing lack if I am His
0:02:43 > 0:02:51# And He is mine forever... #
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Paul Collins moved here from Sussex 18 months ago to become
0:05:07 > 0:05:09vicar of St Mary's Parish Church.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14This is a very different sort of parish, though, isn't it?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Was it what you expected when you got here?
0:05:17 > 0:05:20I'm not sure I quite knew what to expect.
0:05:20 > 0:05:26It's certainly very much more complex, I think, than I originally had anticipated
0:05:26 > 0:05:30which is wonderful, because it always keeps you on your toes.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34You've got a parish, you've got ministry to the people who come
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and stay here, you've got ministry to the day visitors
0:05:37 > 0:05:43and then you've got ministry such as organising pilgrimages,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46so there's all sorts of things happening all the time.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48And I suppose you never know really who's going to
0:05:48 > 0:05:51be in your congregation or how many people there are. No.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It all depends on the tides and we can have sometimes just two of us,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59then 20 or 30, or hundreds, sometimes. From all over the world?
0:05:59 > 0:06:00All over the world, yes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05But often, of course, it's just a single meeting
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and that's a great challenge.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11How do you speak to people of Christ and welcome people
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and they're just here for an hour or just in the church
0:06:14 > 0:06:16for one act of worship?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22You'll know that it's often referred to here as a thin place,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26where the space between heaven and earth is quite narrow.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Is there a particular feel, a particular spirituality to it?
0:06:29 > 0:06:34I think that's a conjunction of the history,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38the sense of the spiritual history of the place
0:06:38 > 0:06:42and the sort of spirituality of the Northern saints going back to Aidan.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So that was when they went to Norham, which is just across the way. There?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48That's a very large bee, isn't it?
0:06:52 > 0:06:56We know that God is everywhere and God is always all around us
0:06:56 > 0:07:00but we need moments and places that remind us of that
0:07:00 > 0:07:02and really bring that home to us.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08I think what people are really trying to get at is, in a sense,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10something akin to the sacraments.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14So, just like the bread
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and wine of communion, where we can say God comes to us
0:07:17 > 0:07:21and touches us, I think Holy Island is a bit like that for many people.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25It's a place where they find the reality of God
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and the reality and sense of God is refreshed for them.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35The island of Lindisfarne and its early saints
0:09:35 > 0:09:37have been a source of inspiration for many,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40including a group of Christian musicians who came
0:09:40 > 0:09:45together in the late 1980s to form the band Iona.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Tell me about the first time that you came to Lindisfarne
0:09:47 > 0:09:50together, because that had quite an impact on you, didn't it?
0:09:50 > 0:09:54We were doing some gigs up north, and, heading down south again, Dave
0:09:54 > 0:09:59suggested that we would, you know, do a little stopover in Lindisfarne.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02And we went for a walk around the rocks
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and we just sat down, it was a beautiful evening
0:10:05 > 0:10:08and we were looking at where the monks used to sit and pray.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14And I was just listening to the birds and looking at the seaweed
0:10:14 > 0:10:17and I just thought, oh, you know, there are song lyrics here
0:10:17 > 0:10:24and I didn't have a pen or paper, so between us we had a pen
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and we had a paper napkin that thankfully hadn't been
0:10:28 > 0:10:32used from the pub where we had lunch.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36So I started to write the lyrics on this paper napkin
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and that became the song, Lindisfarne.
0:10:40 > 0:10:41You are here to perform again.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45What's it like for you when you come back here together as a band?
0:10:45 > 0:10:47What does the island mean to you now?
0:10:47 > 0:10:50In some ways, it's like coming home.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55It's really just the connection with St Aidan and St Cuthbert and the
0:10:55 > 0:10:59incredible lives of faith they lived that still resonate in this area.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01So whenever we come up here,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05it's not just experiencing the beautiful landscapes but it's
0:11:05 > 0:11:09really that connection to hundreds of years of the faith and prayer
0:11:09 > 0:11:13that have been said on this island, so it's quite a magical place to be.
0:11:16 > 0:11:23# Slow rising mist enfolding the land
0:11:23 > 0:11:30# Seawater shifts on a bed of sand
0:11:30 > 0:11:37# A forest of kelp dances beneath its motion
0:11:37 > 0:11:45# The water moves with the tides of the ocean
0:11:45 > 0:11:52# And here we are
0:11:52 > 0:11:59# We have come this far
0:11:59 > 0:12:07# To say a prayer
0:12:07 > 0:12:13# On Lindisfarne
0:12:15 > 0:12:22# Here in the rock bathed in a gentle glow
0:12:22 > 0:12:29# The golden half-light of the setting sun
0:12:29 > 0:12:37# A shadow of wings flying fast and low
0:12:37 > 0:12:44# Out of my sight into the distance gone
0:12:44 > 0:12:51# And here we are
0:12:51 > 0:12:59# We have come this far
0:12:59 > 0:13:06# To say a prayer
0:13:06 > 0:13:12# On Lindisfarne
0:13:43 > 0:13:50# And here we are
0:13:50 > 0:13:58# We have come this far
0:13:58 > 0:14:05# To say a prayer
0:14:05 > 0:14:13# On Lindisfarne. #
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Marygate House is one of several Christian retreat houses here
0:14:30 > 0:14:34on Holy Island for those seeking time and space for quiet reflection.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36But for the past 40 years,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Marygate has also played host to a retreat of a rather different kind.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Every July, a group of people come here from across the UK to
0:14:44 > 0:14:46spend a week together singing.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50As I said earlier, I don't have a bonny lad. Has anyone got one?
0:14:50 > 0:14:54We come together once a year to sing and enjoy ourselves,
0:14:54 > 0:14:59enjoy the peace and quiet that is available here in Lindisfarne.
0:15:00 > 0:15:07And to relax and have some fun. This is my second year.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13I've come back because I so enjoyed the camaraderie of singing.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21Singing every day with somebody encouraging you
0:15:21 > 0:15:27and conducting, means you grow a great deal.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30DEVOTIONAL SINGING
0:15:34 > 0:15:37As anything, if you practice making Victoria sponge every day,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41you get better at making Victoria sponge and this is the same,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and there's a great sense of community within the choir,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49so you learn to rely on each other and to listen to
0:15:49 > 0:15:54the voice behind you, the voice next to you, so you grow as a group.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02Coming here is also a spiritual experience for me.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09It's a place where my soul feels safe.
0:16:10 > 0:16:17It's peaceful, it's calm and gentle.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Another saint closely associated with Lindisfarne was Cuthbert.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25It's said he decided to become a monk after seeing
0:19:25 > 0:19:27a vision on the night that St Aidan died.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32He became Bishop of Lindisfarne and such was his fame that he
0:19:32 > 0:19:36drew pilgrims to the island while he was still alive.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38There are many strange myths associated with St Cuthbert,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41such as his fight with devils on the island of Farne,
0:19:41 > 0:19:46and the story of the sea otters who warmed his feet with their fur.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It might all seem strange and improbable to us today
0:19:50 > 0:19:53but writer William Bedford believes that such stories can hold
0:19:53 > 0:19:56a deeper truth than the plain facts.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04As a child, we never went to church, which seems extraordinary to me now,
0:20:04 > 0:20:05but we never went.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07So arriving at university
0:20:07 > 0:20:11and reading these stories was a little bit like, well,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14I don't know, somebody who's never encountered Christianity
0:20:14 > 0:20:16and thinking, oh, they're great stories.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22But then I encountered Tolkien, who was a Catholic,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and CS Lewis, an Anglican,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29both of them major scholars in old English and medieval literature.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36And with Lewis, what was exciting there was the way he wrote
0:20:36 > 0:20:41about the medieval mind, the way that people would see their world in those
0:20:41 > 0:20:46days, so that he talks about the way we would go in a garden at night and
0:20:46 > 0:20:50look up, and we would see infinity, so the stars are beyond reach.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And beyond them, there are more stars that have died.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01But the medieval mind would look up
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and see a roof with glittering shapes in.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Even further back than that is, if you think about cave people
0:21:08 > 0:21:15and in Greek myth and so on, they looked at the stars and they saw gods.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Well, that's how they would understand them
0:21:17 > 0:21:24and that led me on to the whole issue of what stories are,
0:21:24 > 0:21:30that they were actually telling you a deeper truth than facts can.
0:21:31 > 0:21:37And I realised that a lot of the stories to do with Cuthbert
0:21:37 > 0:21:40were actually like that, telling you a truth
0:21:40 > 0:21:42which may not have happened.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47And I became a Roman Catholic.
0:21:49 > 0:21:55I had spent most of my academic life, in a sense, looking for answers.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02But you don't need to do philosophy, you don't need to
0:22:02 > 0:22:05do deep biblical criticism or theology.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Just read the stories.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And whether that's about Cuthbert or Jesus, the stories
0:22:10 > 0:22:14actually say more than shelves full of theories.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21# Let us climb this hill in the footsteps of Patrick
0:22:21 > 0:22:26# Let us fall to our knees and worship with Your angels
0:22:26 > 0:22:30# Let us call out to You and declare Your holy word
0:22:30 > 0:22:36# Let us prophesy in every direction
0:22:36 > 0:22:41# That the ancient wells will be opened again
0:22:41 > 0:22:46# That Your river will flow and this land will be cleansed
0:22:46 > 0:22:50# Your kingdom will come, we'll have heaven on Earth
0:22:50 > 0:22:56# And revival will fall, and we'll witness Your glory in this land
0:23:04 > 0:23:09# Let us drive out the snakes that have crossed our borders
0:23:09 > 0:23:14# They have hidden in the shadows but the darkness is retreating
0:23:14 > 0:23:19# Let us climb the high places declaring Your kingdom
0:23:19 > 0:23:25# Close the gates to the devil in every direction
0:23:25 > 0:23:29# That the ancient wells will be opened again
0:23:29 > 0:23:34# That Your river will flow and this land will be cleansed
0:23:34 > 0:23:38# Your kingdom will come, we'll have heaven on Earth
0:23:38 > 0:23:43# And revival will fall
0:23:43 > 0:23:47# That the ancient wells will be opened again
0:23:47 > 0:23:52# That Your river will flow and this land will be cleansed
0:23:52 > 0:23:56# Your kingdom will come, we'll have heaven on Earth
0:23:56 > 0:24:04# And revival will fall, and we'll witness Your glory in this land. #
0:24:11 > 0:24:13St Mary's Parish Church is the oldest building on the
0:24:13 > 0:24:17island still in use, with some parts said to date back to Saxon times.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Over the years, like so many of our churches, it's been added to
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and changed, and this year, St Mary's architectural heritage has
0:24:27 > 0:24:31been further enriched with a new stained-glass window.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35It was commissioned in memory of three generations of a local
0:24:35 > 0:24:38family who have an unusual connection with the island.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44In about 1870, I think it was,
0:24:44 > 0:24:52my husband's ancestor bought the island and I think with it,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56he bought the thing called Lord of the Manor, which really doesn't...
0:24:58 > 0:25:00It doesn't really mean anything.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06And the window commemorates three generations of the family. Indeed.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10It commemorates my late father-in-law and late husband
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and late son.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17I was approached last year by Lady Crossman about the possibility
0:25:17 > 0:25:21of designing a memorial window to some members of the family who
0:25:21 > 0:25:24recently passed away.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27So they wanted references to St Cuthbert and St Aidan.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33St Aidan is represented by the traditional heraldic
0:25:33 > 0:25:35symbol of St Aidan, which is the stag.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41There's other references to the island like these.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44We've got St Mary's Church represented.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54In some ways, the window represents commemoration
0:25:54 > 0:25:56but also some sadness in your life, because it remembers
0:25:56 > 0:25:59your father-in-law, and your husband,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01who you nursed for many years
0:26:01 > 0:26:06after he had a stroke, and your son, of course, who died in an accident.
0:26:06 > 0:26:14Yes, he sadly died in an air crash, leaving two little girls.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18When tragedy strikes a family, or individuals,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23as happened in your case, it can really test your faith sometimes.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Did that happen to you?
0:26:25 > 0:26:25Yes. I think one's first reaction, if there is a God,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57You get over it and then you do find that faith can help.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04You can't really define it, but one had a peace.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07But as these things happen in life, it's just rather sad.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11Holy Island has been inspiring Christians for over 1,300 years
0:29:11 > 0:29:13now and there's no sign of that changing, really.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Much of its enduring spiritual appeal lies in the constant
0:29:16 > 0:29:20ebb and flow of the tide and the island's rhythm
0:29:20 > 0:29:23of separation from the rest of the world, and reconnection.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32"Leave me alone with God as much as may be as the tide draws
0:29:32 > 0:29:35"the waters close in upon the shore
0:29:35 > 0:29:40"make me an island set apart, alone with you, God, holy to You.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43"Then with the turning of the tide, prepare me
0:29:43 > 0:29:47"to carry Your presence to the busy world beyond, to the world that
0:29:47 > 0:29:53"rushes in on me, till the waters come again and fold me back to You."
0:29:57 > 0:30:00And the blessing of God Almighty, the father,
0:30:00 > 0:30:07the son and the holy spirit be among you and remain with you always.
0:30:07 > 0:30:08Amen.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Next week, Diane will be joining the night shift
0:33:32 > 0:33:34and staying up all through the hours of darkness.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38We'll have a selection of hymns with a night-time theme, and Diane
0:33:38 > 0:33:40will be meeting people who are out and about
0:33:40 > 0:33:42after the sun has gone down.