0:00:05 > 0:00:09Eadfrith is not a particularly famous name in the history books
0:00:09 > 0:00:13but more than 1,200 years ago the skill and devotion of this godly man
0:00:13 > 0:00:18led to the creation of one of the most beautiful books in the world.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24The Lindisfarne Gospels combine a work of art with the word of God,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27intricate design interwoven with
0:00:27 > 0:00:30the Latin text of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34The book is named after the tiny island on which it was created,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumbria,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39a place so imbued with spirituality
0:00:39 > 0:00:41that it's become known as Holy Island.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47These days you can still take the old pilgrims' route to the island,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51so long as you time it right because twice a day
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Lindisfarne is cut off from the mainland
0:00:54 > 0:00:57by the rising tide of the North Sea.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03This week, how one of the most magnificent copies
0:01:03 > 0:01:06of the New Testament Gospels continues to inspire.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09And the Durham University Chamber Choir
0:01:09 > 0:01:14evoke the music of our medieval past in the Lindisfarne Priory ruins.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Well, the tide is going out
0:01:24 > 0:01:26and I can see from my trusty timetable
0:01:26 > 0:01:29that I've got a few hours before the sea rushes back in
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and cuts the island off from the rest of the world again,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35enough time to take in the atmosphere
0:01:35 > 0:01:39and explore the place where Eadfrith worked on his masterpiece.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Eadfrith's book is held for the nation in the British Library.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58But this summer you can get a glimpse of its magnificence
0:01:58 > 0:02:03at a special exhibition in Durham University's Palace Green Library.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09This is St Mary's Church,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12built on the site of Lindisfarne's first monastery,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15where Eadfrith painstakingly created
0:02:15 > 0:02:18his offering to God in words and pictures.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And it is where tonight we offer our songs of praise.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12I have an emotional reaction to all medieval manuscripts
0:05:12 > 0:05:14that I have the good fortune to touch.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16These were made by our predecessors,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18they were made by humans like ourselves.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20And as one looks at their writing,
0:05:20 > 0:05:21at their illumination,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24one can see something of the personality of the scribe,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26of the people who used it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31What is remarkable about the Lindisfarne Gospels
0:05:31 > 0:05:34is that it is a masterpiece of calligraphy
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and of spirituality and art,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and it is the alliance of remarkable preservation of a remarkable book
0:05:41 > 0:05:45with an amazing record of its history across the centuries
0:05:45 > 0:05:49which we have every reason to believe that makes it unique.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54It's all a masterpiece,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58but at the opening to Luke's Gospel, Quoniam quidem,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02in the margins, Eadfrith the scribe artist
0:06:02 > 0:06:06drew a very smug-looking cat
0:06:06 > 0:06:10and in his stomach, as it were, we see a progression of birds
0:06:10 > 0:06:14that are based on the cormorants that teem on Holy Island,
0:06:14 > 0:06:20and we know that monks from the Irish tradition loved their cats
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and it shows us that they are attuned to their natural environment
0:06:24 > 0:06:27as well as to the spirituality within it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35We shouldn't forget that although one man is writing,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38the whole community is involved in the project as a whole.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Other people are making the parchment.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Other people are preparing it, procuring the inks.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47And it is a community effort, and equally
0:06:47 > 0:06:50everybody who prays while one scribe writes
0:06:50 > 0:06:52is involved in the whole project.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58We can be confident that two years
0:06:58 > 0:07:01will be the absolute minimum it would take.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05But given the regular interruptions owing to inclement weather,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08waiting for supplies, the pressure of other duties,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12probably the best part of a decade is a better estimate.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16But we have to put this in the context of an eternal time frame,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18we tend to think in commercial terms -
0:07:18 > 0:07:21something has to be done by next year.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22If you are doing this
0:07:22 > 0:07:26for all of the saints on Lindisfarne past, present and future,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29it doesn't matter if you finish it today or tomorrow,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31you are doing it for eternity
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and what matters is the quality, not the time.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'Holy Island is often referred to as a thin place
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'where the veil separating Heaven and earth is lifted
0:07:46 > 0:07:48'to reveal a glimpse of the Divine,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50'a place where people say they sense
0:07:50 > 0:07:54'the endless cycle of prayer and praise echoing down the centuries.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58'It's a feeling enhanced perhaps by the words of our next hymn,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'which in Eadfrith's day would have been sung in Latin.'
0:08:06 > 0:08:15- SOLO:- # O Trinity of blessed light
0:08:15 > 0:08:23ALL: # O Unity of primal might
0:08:23 > 0:08:32# The fiery sun now goes his way
0:08:32 > 0:08:40# Shed thou within our hearts thy ray
0:08:40 > 0:08:49- WOMEN:- # To thee our morning song of praise
0:08:49 > 0:08:58# To thee our evening prayer we raise
0:08:59 > 0:09:07- MEN:- # Thy glory, suppliant, we adore
0:09:07 > 0:09:15# For ever and for evermore
0:09:19 > 0:09:27ALL: # O Trinity, O Unity
0:09:27 > 0:09:35# Thou help of man's infirmity
0:09:35 > 0:09:44# Protect us through the hours of night
0:09:44 > 0:09:53# Who art our everlasting light
0:09:53 > 0:10:01# To God the Father, God the Son
0:10:02 > 0:10:10# And God the Spirit, Three in One
0:10:11 > 0:10:18# Let glory, praise and worship be
0:10:19 > 0:10:27# From age to age eternally
0:10:28 > 0:10:32# Amen. #
0:10:39 > 0:10:42At the heart of the Lindisfarne Gospel decoration
0:10:42 > 0:10:44is the intricacy of Celtic knots.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49They are a particular inspiration for local artist Mary Fleeson.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56There's a part in Ecclesiastes where it says,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00"A strand of three cords is not easily broken."
0:11:00 > 0:11:05And it's the weaving of those cords that makes it strong.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10It can be symbolic of the trinity, so father, son and spirit again -
0:11:10 > 0:11:13together they are stronger.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Here we are then on the same island
0:11:19 > 0:11:22where Eadfrith created the Lindisfarne Gospels.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27Do you feel a connection with him somehow when you're working?
0:11:27 > 0:11:31I think Eadfrith was probably inspired by similar things to me -
0:11:31 > 0:11:36the beauty of Holy Island, it's a gorgeous place to be.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39The extremes on Holy Island -
0:11:39 > 0:11:42the extreme weather that we get sometimes,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46the sense of extreme isolation that we get when the tide's in.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I think that Eadfrith was a marvellous artist.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58The attention to detail in the Lindisfarne Gospels
0:11:58 > 0:12:00is second to none.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06When you combine art and faith...
0:12:06 > 0:12:10you produce something very special which blesses other people
0:12:10 > 0:12:12and helps them to...
0:12:12 > 0:12:15see God differently and to know God differently.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21What is it about this place that makes it so special to you?
0:12:21 > 0:12:25You can feel the prayers of those that have been before -
0:12:25 > 0:12:27all the pilgrims that have visited,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29the monks that have lived here.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33It's almost tangible - you can almost touch it at times.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37The first time I came onto the island,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39we came over the causeway in a car...
0:12:40 > 0:12:42..and I just cried.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45Unstoppable tears.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49And I'm not given to emotional outbursts particularly,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54but something about the place touched me somehow.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I felt like I was coming home.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I've never felt that anywhere else.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04FLUTE PLAYS
0:15:04 > 0:15:05The most dramatic chapter
0:15:05 > 0:15:07in the history of the Lindisfarne Gospels
0:15:07 > 0:15:10came a century and a half after Eadfrith's death.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Viking raids forced the monks to flee their island home.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21They took with them their most precious possessions -
0:15:21 > 0:15:24the Lindisfarne Gospels of course,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28but also the body of their most revered bishop - Saint Cuthbert.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33The modern centrepiece of St Mary's Church
0:15:33 > 0:15:36is this sculpture called The Journey.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39And it's a dramatic representation of the moment that the monks
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and the Gospels left Lindisfarne.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45It's really quite powerful and sombre in this setting,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47and you can't help but feel sympathy for these men
0:15:47 > 0:15:50as they left the island for the last time.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57I could see this epic story,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00so how could I express this journey?
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Durham-born Fenwick Lawson has been an artist
0:16:03 > 0:16:05and sculptor for over 60 years.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08His acclaimed sculpture, The Journey,
0:16:08 > 0:16:09was carved from seven elm trees.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15There was something very interesting happening
0:16:15 > 0:16:17while I was actually doing this.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18Layers of meaning
0:16:18 > 0:16:20that I wasn't actually,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23in a sense, expecting,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25or I didn't preconceive, you know?
0:16:25 > 0:16:28It was like happening after the event.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33And in one sense it was becoming larger than just...
0:16:33 > 0:16:36than just six months carrying Cuthbert's body.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41I'm from a mining community.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46My father always said he depended for his life down the pit
0:16:46 > 0:16:50on his marras, on his other workmen.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53They all had a responsibility for safety,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56their lives depended on it,
0:16:56 > 0:16:57and it formed a bond
0:16:57 > 0:17:01which is very strong and very meaningful.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06These could equally be six miners carrying their brother.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13And the monks were carrying their brother.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Fenwick's life work, which includes Saint Cuthbert at Lindisfarne Priory
0:17:21 > 0:17:23and the Pieta in Durham Cathedral,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26has developed into an exploration of our humanity.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31I wanted to get past,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35you need to be religious to engage with a religious image.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37If you're not, you tend to put up a barrier.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41But I find that that barrier is totally unnecessary.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44For instance, Christ condemned
0:17:44 > 0:17:48is every man condemned.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52He's a prisoner of conscience, he's a political prisoner.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57I hear stories that the Pieta moves people, you know?
0:17:57 > 0:18:01And when that was challenged by some of my colleagues
0:18:01 > 0:18:03as being just religious...
0:18:03 > 0:18:04HE SCOFFS
0:18:04 > 0:18:08it's...it's... it's a mother with a dead son.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14We must become more than we are,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17we need to grow into humanity,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19and that's the message,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21and I think it's an important one.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25I think it's a primary message to be stated.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28And I'm using my voice as a sculptor
0:18:28 > 0:18:31to try and give voice to this.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11The monks of Lindisfarne
0:20:11 > 0:20:13travelled all over the north of England
0:20:13 > 0:20:16before settling in the newly-built Durham Cathedral.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Saint Cuthbert's resting place
0:20:18 > 0:20:20has been a sight of pilgrimage ever since.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24But it was not the end of the journey for the Gospels,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27and this year marks a rare return to the Northeast
0:20:27 > 0:20:29for this jewel of our medieval heritage.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36To mark the occasion, a Lindisfarne Gospels community choir
0:20:36 > 0:20:40has been formed and Martin Ward and his family volunteered to take part.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42- ALL:- # Glory... #
0:20:42 > 0:20:44MARTIN WARD: 'The music that we have to sing,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46'there are some really beautiful pieces.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50'It just becomes an act of worship when you're singing.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Not bad, lovely.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55You feel that you're part of a body
0:20:55 > 0:20:57because you're singing with all these other people
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and all your voices are joining together
0:20:59 > 0:21:03to produce something that's far better than any one person's voice
0:21:03 > 0:21:05on its own can produce.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08- ALL:- # Hosanna hosanna... #
0:21:08 > 0:21:11'Singing shouldn't be left to just that
0:21:11 > 0:21:14'tiny percentage of the population who can sing fantastically well,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16'it's actually something everybody can do.'
0:21:16 > 0:21:21- ALL:- # Glory be to God. #
0:21:21 > 0:21:24'One thing I like about this choir is that there's no competition'
0:21:24 > 0:21:28involved, there's no auditions,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31that anybody is welcome to join it and be part of it.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34- One, two, three... - ALL:- # Hosanna...- #
0:21:34 > 0:21:39'In our society there's a huge emphasis on competition,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42'and the thing with competition is that if you and I are competing
0:21:42 > 0:21:43'then if I win,'
0:21:43 > 0:21:45you lose,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47if you win, I lose.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50But if you and I are cooperating on something, then if you win, I win,
0:21:50 > 0:21:55and the choir is very much about cooperation, about working together.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00# Hosanna, glory to... #
0:22:00 > 0:22:02'The Lindisfarne Gospels were produced
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'not as a result of any competition,'
0:22:05 > 0:22:06they didn't have a...
0:22:06 > 0:22:08The way we do it nowadays, we'd say,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12"Oh, it would be good to have some Gospels that are really beautiful,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15"so let's hold a Lindisfarne Gospels competition.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17"And let's get a load of Gospel writers to compete
0:22:17 > 0:22:19"and then we'll judge them.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22"And one of them we'll pick out and that will be the winner
0:22:22 > 0:22:24"and all the others will be the losers."
0:22:24 > 0:22:25But that's not what happened
0:22:25 > 0:22:29because the person who wrote the Gospels just wanted to produce
0:22:29 > 0:22:33the best that he could because the Gospel message was so important
0:22:33 > 0:22:37and so wonderful and fantastic.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42ORCHESTRA PLAYS
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Well, that was a brand-new tune
0:25:19 > 0:25:21written especially for this programme.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Every generation leaves its own mark
0:25:25 > 0:25:27and that's also true for the Lindisfarne Gospels.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31As we can see from this reproduction,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34although Latin was the language in which they were created,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37a couple of centuries after Eadfrith,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40a translation was added by another monk called Aldred,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44making this the first version of the Gospels in English.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Sandy Duff and his crew are artists working in a medium
0:25:49 > 0:25:52usually reserved for secular rather than sacred works.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Having established the largest legal graffiti wall in England
0:25:59 > 0:26:02at the Sage in Gateshead, Sandy's come up with the idea
0:26:02 > 0:26:06of an up-to-date version of the Lindisfarne Gospels with spray cans.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09When we started researching
0:26:09 > 0:26:11the Gospels project,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14I was really struck by the parallels between the graffiti writers
0:26:14 > 0:26:16that I was used to working with
0:26:16 > 0:26:20and actually the programmes of work that these monks undertook.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23What they could see in their mind there wasn't the materials to create,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25so they actually had to go out
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and create the tools to project what was in their heads.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Another interesting parallel between the Gospels
0:26:34 > 0:26:37and the contemporary graffiti work is the fact that
0:26:37 > 0:26:39when a graffiti writer finishes his piece,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41the last thing he will do is to sign it off
0:26:41 > 0:26:44and he will tag somewhere in the piece with his own name.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47But not only that, they do what's called a shout out,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50so you'll get a number of different names that go around the piece
0:26:50 > 0:26:53which are references and thanks to various different crews,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55possibly artists that have inspired them.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58And the Gospels themselves actually mirror this in the last pages -
0:26:58 > 0:27:00not only is the work signed off
0:27:00 > 0:27:02but there's acknowledgements to the various people
0:27:02 > 0:27:04that have supported and helped it.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I really wanted to do something that was not only a one-off
0:27:09 > 0:27:14sort of exhibition or art show, but really it brought young people
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and other members from the community and engaged them, got them involved,
0:27:17 > 0:27:21got them thinking about what the history was behind the Gospels,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24what the faith aspects were behind the Gospels,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and what the creative angles were in the Gospels.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35I think the interesting thing about having skills
0:27:35 > 0:27:36is to remember that these are gifts.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And, actually, my feeling is that, you know, praise
0:27:39 > 0:27:42and worship can come in the use of the gift that you have
0:27:42 > 0:27:44and actually by sharing those gifts,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46not just in producing your own work,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48but actually working alongside others -
0:27:48 > 0:27:50and in my case working alongside young people -
0:27:50 > 0:27:52and sharing those skills
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and sharing those gifts is as valid a form of worship as any.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03CHOIR SINGS IN LATIN
0:28:03 > 0:28:07- MEN:- # Christus
0:28:08 > 0:28:16# Est Stella Matutina
0:28:17 > 0:28:21ALL: # Christus
0:28:21 > 0:28:31ALL: # Est Stella Matutina
0:28:32 > 0:28:40# Christus
0:28:44 > 0:28:53WOMEN: # Qui nocte saecum
0:28:54 > 0:29:04# Transacta lucem vitae
0:29:06 > 0:29:18ALL: # Sanctis promitit
0:29:18 > 0:29:28# Et pandit
0:29:28 > 0:29:45# Aeternum
0:29:47 > 0:30:06# Aeternum. #
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Holy God, you inspired Eadfrith
0:30:12 > 0:30:15to glorify your name
0:30:15 > 0:30:17and proclaim the holiness of Cuthbert
0:30:17 > 0:30:21in the creation of these marvellous Gospels.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Fill our hearts with your spirit
0:30:24 > 0:30:28and change us from glory to glory.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33May the holy three, the father, son and spirit,
0:30:33 > 0:30:38who call us into life and summon us to holiness,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41encircle us in love
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and hold us in blessing.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45- ALL:- Amen.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49ORCHESTRA PLAYS
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Well, Lindisfarne really does deserve the name Holy,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21but although it's a place almost as timeless as the story told
0:33:21 > 0:33:22by the Gospel itself,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25I better be off because as they say,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27"Time and tide wait for no man."
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Next week, a musical celebration led by the Ulster Orchestra
0:33:32 > 0:33:35from the Waterfront Hall in Belfast
0:33:35 > 0:33:37as Eamonn introduces hymns old and new
0:33:37 > 0:33:39written by people from across Ireland.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Plus special guest Anuna,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Robin Mark and The Celtic Tenors.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd