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BellsJump to: When Christians were still being persecuted by the Romans and overtly by Jews, the only bells that could be used were small handbells; but when Constantine put a stop to the persecutions, larger bells came into general use. Tradition (small "T") attributes Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, Campania, Italy, with introducing them around the year 400, and St. Patrick (A.D. 389-446) is said to have taken metalworkers to Ireland so they could make bells for the churches he built there. These earlier bells weren't the great cast bells we generally think of, but were hammered-iron bells, the technology and/or materials for the former not being readily available out in missionary lands. It wasn't until the 8th c. that the gorgeous cast bells came to outnumber the less sonorous iron ones -- bells of great enough size that bell towers began to be constructed just to house them. Over time, founders experimented with their bells' shapes and
features to control for pitch and tone, and eventually devising
various methods of ringing them. Where there were different types
of bell in one church, each was used, alone or with others, for
a different purpose -- one bell or stroke pattern to announce death,
another to call the faithful to prayer, another to announce the
grade of the Feast being celebrated, etc. They were used daily
to announce the canonical hours and the Angelus. Descriptions of
these various functions made their way onto the bells themselves,
which were often inscribed with their name (see below) and/or a
line of poetry signifying their use. Just one example: One of the most stunning uses of church bells is their ringing at the elevation of the Host and the elevation of the Chalice in the Mass, an act that announces to the entire world that a miracle is taking place. Later this typically came, in most places, to be done only by a small handbell (the "Altar bell" or "Sanctus bell") inside the Church, but I am blessed to belong to a parish in which the large church bells are still rung in that manner. It's an exquisite moment (there are no words, really) -- one that would compel one to kneel if one weren't already kneeling! Note that each of the bell functions listed are either a call to the faithful to pray (for the one dying or recently dead, for the storm to pass, in humility and gratitude to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, etc.) or, at the least, a reminder to them of God's presence in the world. This is the essence of their powerful sacramental nature, their sheer beauty being another aspect of it. So important and beloved are these bells that, since at least the 800s, they have been consecrated in a ceremony that grew to involve the bell's being given a name, the reciting of psalms, an exorcism against evil spirits of the air, a washing in holy water followed by drying it, an annointing with oils (Oil of the Sick on the inside of the bell in 7 places, Chrism on the outside of the bell in 4 places), an incensing of the bell, and a reading of the Gospel account of Mary and Martha. Though not, of course, a true "Baptism," this blessing came to be called "baptism of the bells." Bring back the bells! Bring back Christ to every facet of our lives! For an interesting, almost point-by-point contrast to Mr. Paine's
view on bells, read a passage about bells from J. K. Huysmans' "La-Bas." |
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