A moving glimpse inside the monastery

I could probably fill the whole paper with reviews of all the religious programmes on over the Easter season – the media tend to put in an extra effort at Easter.

RTÉ’s coverage of the ceremonies was impressive. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper (RTÉ One) on Holy Thursday was a memorable event. Fr Martin Smith was graceful and reverential and also seemed quite bowled over by the quality of the music provided by RTÉ’s youth group Cór Linn. That was a studio-based Mass, but for Good Friday and Holy Saturday the ceremonies came from the basilica in Knock, with rector Fr Richard Gibbons as celebrant – again it was reverential, but it was painfully obvious that the huge basilica was so relatively empty.

Enhanced

Again the music, by the socially-distanced singers, enhanced the event so well, giving a sense of grace, depth and solemnity as befitted the occasion. On the Holy Saturday night the symbolism of the hundreds of candles lighting for those not present made quite an impact. By contrast with the basilica, the Eurovision Mass on Easter Sunday morning took place in a small oratory in a Covid-19 hospital in Locarno, Switzerland, with a masked music group out in the nearby gardens enhancing the ritual remotely.

BBC has done some marvellous programmes set in monasteries, and Nick Hamer’s film Brotherhood – The Inner Life of Monks (BBC Four, Wednesday) was one of the best. Set in Mount St Bernard’s in Leicestershire, it started in a most striking way, briefly hearing from a monk who was dying. He talked of not saying ‘prayers’ but of having a strong sense of just being in the presence of God at all times. Not long after we saw his dignified burial – it was both a shock and the most natural thing. It wasn’t the only funeral – another monk in his 90s, who seemed very well, and who spoke in a very animated way about the mystery of God, said he might die soon. The next sequence was his funeral – open coffin with simple burial in a shroud. Another monk spoke rather touchingly of finding it hard to remember things. But while many in the community were elderly, there were younger monks too – e.g. the abbot, who spoke of his role as ‘father’ – of assuming responsibility for those he served, enabling them to mature, of being in the ongoing process of ‘becoming’ a monk.

Generous

The monks, so generous with their lives, were changing from dairy farming to brewing to help keep the community alive and I was tickled by the ceremony for the launch of the new brewery, complete with blessings, including this one: ‘May the beer delight all those who savour it’!

There were some really interesting radio items over Easter. On Sunday (BBC Radio 4) there was an interview with singer Harry Connick Jnr, a Catholic (didn’t know that), whose experience of lockdown led him to record an album of faith songs – Alone with My Faith. I wasn’t too keen on his version of ‘Amazing Grace’ but Benevolent Man was worth a listen. Spotify here I come.

On a different musical note, and also well worth listening back to, on The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio One, Good Friday) Michael Comyn explored the different musical settings of The Passion with Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, Prof. Deborah Kelleher, Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and choral director Mark Duley. The insights were thoroughly engaging and of course they all had a nod towards J.S. Bach as indeed did Paul Simon when he borrowed from Bach for his American Tune, the song that opened the programme. But then Bach had borrowed from much earlier songs for his catchy melody.

Conversation

On Sunday Sequence (BBC Radio Ulster) Audrey Carville had a fascinating conversation with astronomer Karin Öberg of Harvard. She had converted to Catholicism and found surprise rather than hostility in the scientific community. Her enthusiasm for scientific discovery was infectious, though the discussion on extra-terrestrial life was an odd one for Easter Sunday.

Easter tends to be a time of repeats when it comes to religious programming, but one repeat I’m happy to see at any stage is Give Up Yer Aul Sins (RTÉ One, Good Friday). This episode featured the usual children’s take on the death of Jesus, accompanied by the marvellous animation of Brown Bag Films. Catch the full series on YouTube.

Pick of the week

Being…Christian

BBC 2 Saturday April 10, 8.50 am

How British Christians from across the Faith celebrate life’s big milestones, from birth and coming of age to marriage and the end of life.

Mass

RTÉ One Sunday April 11, 11 am

The Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin Denis Nulty, celebrates Mass in the RTÉ studios in Donnybrook. Music is by RTÉ Cor na nÓg, directed by Mary Amond O’Brien.