The Pearl of Great Price
A short daily trip down the lane of Christian History. Looking at the fascinating people and events that have shaped a universal civilisation.
Episodes
361 episodes
Dec 29 Thomas Becket
Thomas Beckets murder in Canterbury Cathedral made him one of the most popular saints of the medieval period and Canterbury became a pilgrimage destination for many from around Europe
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Season 12
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Episode 29
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9:13
Dec 28 John Wycliffe and the Lollards
John Wycliffe was a reforming priest from the 14th Century. However he grew more critical and distant from the Pope and Church and inspired a group called the Lollards. Sometimes he is called the evening star of scholasticism and th...
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Season 12
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Episode 28
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6:32
Dec 27 Hagia Sophia - The Holy Wisdom
The building that has become iconic in Istanbul, today was consecrated as a church 'The Holy Wisdom', Under the Ottomans it became a mosque, Attaturk turned into a museum and Erdogan has turned it back into a mosque
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Season 12
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Episode 27
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5:56
Dec 26 Nuns on a hospital ship
The first nurses on a US Navy hospital ship where 3 sisters from the Order of the Holy Cross - this is their story during the US Civil war
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Season 12
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Episode 26
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5:45
Dec 25 First record of Christmas as a holiday
The Philocalus Calendar is the first time we have Christmas Day recorded as an annual feast
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Season 12
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Episode 25
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5:27
Dec 24 The First Christmas Crib at Greccio
Francis of Assisi is credited of inventing the Live Crib at his hermitage at Greccio in Italy, this is the story of it
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Season 12
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Episode 24
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4:54
Dec 23 The Columbus of the Catacombs
Antonio Bosio was a remarkable man who discovered many of the catacombs in Rome. He often risked his life exploring them, risking getting lost for ever
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Season 12
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Episode 23
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5:54
Dec 22 The Father and Son who were Popes
Today we look at the papacy of Saint Innocent I who according to St Jerome was the son of the previous pope, which was not a cause for scandal
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Season 12
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Episode 22
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5:11
Dec 21 The Wartime radio drama - The man born to be King
Dorothy Sayers wrote a cycle of radio plays about the life of Jesus Christ that has been repeated and reproduced on multiple occasions
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Season 12
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Episode 21
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4:47
Dec 20 Rev Adam Buddle and the Buddleia
The Buddleia or butterfly bush has become prolific, whilst many countries consider it an invasive species. It was named by Carl Linneaus after a mild mannered Anglican cleric - Adam Buddle
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Season 12
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Episode 20
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4:57
Dec 19 Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey has become one of the most iconic and important churches in England, the site of many coronations, weddings and burials of Kings and Queens. Recently the site of the Unknown Warrior - the only grave that you can't walk o...
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Season 12
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Episode 19
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6:21
Dec 18 Hans Kung stripped of the right to teach
The Swiss theologian Hans Kung was very influential as the youngest 'periti' or expert of Vatican 2. As he his theology became more liberal he was banned from teaching by the Vatican
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Season 12
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Episode 18
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5:14
Dec 17 The Nun who helped invent BASIC
Today we look at the life of Sister Mary Keller - the first person to be awarded a PHD in computer science in America alongside Irving Tang. Her legacy includes being part of the group that delivered the pioneering computer language of BASIC
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Season 12
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Episode 17
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4:24
Dec 16 The Ten Booms - Righteous amongst nations
Today we remember the death of Elizabeth Ten Boom in a concentration camp. Just before she died she told her sister Corrie "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still."
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Season 12
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Episode 16
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5:27
Dec 15 Freeman Dyson and the two windows of faith and science
One of the most creative minds of recent times was the mathematical physicist Freeman Dyson, who was given the nickname the cosmic genius. He called himself a non-denominational Christian and had strong views on faith and science
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Season 12
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Episode 15
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6:15
Dec 14 John of the Cross - a suffering reformer
St John of the Cross is now famous for his Dark Night. He believed that God was nothing and everything, this is the story of the Carmelite reformer and how he suffered
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Season 12
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Episode 14
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7:08
Dec 13 Saint Lucy
Saint Lucy was one of the most popular saints in the early church and devotion to her still lasts in many parts of the world
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Season 12
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Episode 13
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4:23
Dec 12 Examining the Image of Guadalupe
Today was the day when an image was left miraculously on the Tilma of Juan Diego during Our Lady's second apparition to him on the hill of Guadalupe. We look at the image and the recent tests done on it
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Season 12
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Episode 12
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4:47
Dec 11 The man who invented the laser
Charles H Townes won the Nobel Prize and the Templeton Prize combining his scientific genius with a deep faith. He believed science and religion were converging, and he invented the laser and discovered the black hole at the centre of our...
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Season 12
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Episode 11
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4:52
Dec 10 Ulster Revival
We look at a revival in the Protestant Church in Northern Ireland in 1859 which has made Northern Ireland a lot more socially conservative than the rest of Britain
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Season 12
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Episode 10
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4:34
Dec 9 Our Lady of Guadalupe
The appearance of a women to an Aztec Convert on a hilltop outside of Mexico City has had a huge impact on Mexico as a country. Today we look at the story and the miraculous image which is still venerated widely
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Season 12
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Episode 9
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5:55
Dec 8 Archaeology of Jericho and Capernaum
Today we remember the death of Carl Watzinger - the German archaeologist who made historic discoveries in the important biblical sites of Jericho and Capernaum
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Season 12
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Episode 8
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6:19
Dec 7 Gaudium et Spes
The final document promulgated at Vatican 2 - Gaudium et Spes was the Church's document about engaging with the world - with the joys and hopes of humanity .
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Season 12
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Episode 7
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4:21