Bells have long been employed in worship. In contemporary use, one can find large bells used for calling to worship, carillons or chimes, small Sanctus bells used during the liturgy, and handbells, which are covered in this next article.
Bells appear in the instructions for the furnishing of the priest, Aaron, in the tabernacle:
Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out so that he will not die. (Exod. 28:33–35)
Unauthorized entry into the holiest portions of the tabernacle carried the promise of death to the intruder. The bells, then, were a sign to the Lord that it was the consecrated priest who was entering the Holy Place. In the only other mention of bells in Scripture, Zechariah prophesied that at the day of the Lord, even the bells on the horses would bear the inscription holy to the lord. This was the same inscription that God commanded to be put on a gold plate bound to the priest’s turban (Exod. 28:36). Thus to the Israelites bells betokened the sacred in formal worship and, in the vision of the perfected Israel communicated by the prophets, the sacredness of ordinary life.
Church Bells
The earliest church bells were hand-held, crafted of brass or bronze sheet metal, and struck with a mallet. St. Patrick’s bell, which is of this sort, is enshrined in Dublin. Cast bells mounted in church buildings are first attested by Gregory of Tours around 585, although legend attributes their first use to Paulinus of Nola in Campania around 400. From Campania we get the word campanile, which usually refers to a detached bell tower common in Italy from the sixth century on, of which the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one. The first bells in England came from Italy in 680 according to the ecclesiastical historian Bede.
The earliest church bells were rung by striking them manually. The invention of the clapper, however, made it possible to ring bells by ropes suspended to a floor below the bells. The further development of the wheel and slide enabled the bells to be parked upside down between peals. In England, this technology led to the development of one of the most characteristic of English arts, change-ringing. Change-ringing is a rigorously mathematical art that has achieved the status of folk art, now preserved by societies and devoted groups wherever a set of bells is still to be found. Most of us have heard the changes rung on occasions of great festivity, such as the end of war or royal weddings when all the bells of London sound together in a jubilant cacophony.
In Europe, particularly Germany and the Low Countries, the development of bells went in the direction of chimes and carillons, which feature stationary bells rung by levers controlled from a keyboard or by hand. These arrangements had the advantage of being able to play tunes. The great clock-builders devised mechanical means to encode and playback these tunes on chimes. The popularity of chimes and carillons has spawned electronic imitations that are found in many small towns and cities in the U.S. Often inferior equipment, especially speakers, renders these chimes more offensive than pleasing, a fact which should be considered by any church planning to install them.
It is traditional to name bells, not only in Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches but also in Reformed churches. In high liturgical churches, bells are “christened” or “baptized” in a rite of consecration that involves sprinkling with holy water and censing, with dedicatory prayers. In Reformed churches, they are simply dedicated. It is also the custom to add a name or names when an old bell is acquired by a new church. Some bells are inscribed with a line of verse suggesting their purpose. Church bells range in size from the relatively small treble to the large tenor. The largest bell is reputed to be one in the cathedral at Cologne, made from French cannon and weighing 27 tons.
The primary use of church bells today is as a call to worship. Even where a church has only one bell, rhythmic peals may be used, such as three triplets plus nine as a call to worship, or a double pattern repeated for solemn assemblies such as Good Friday. Other occasions likewise have distinct peals: in earlier days, the “passing bell” was rung as a parishioner was dying, and the death knell when they died. In England, the death knell was a single bell tolling or a muffled peal. Baptisms and weddings were also times for celebratory bells. In Roman Catholicism, the Angelus, a prayer in memorial of the Incarnation consisting of three Ave Marias with a versicle and a collect, was rung three times a day, with three rings for each Ave and nine for the collect. In a more civic function, bells have often been used as alarms, usually with special patterns such as the backward peal. Church bells are sometimes used in place of sacring or Sanctus bells during the Eucharist. Some old English and colonial churches have special bells for this purpose housed in Sanctus bell turrets.
Contemporary churches need not have a bell tower to house bells. Even a single bell, such as those found in many early American churches, can add a vigorous public dimension to the call to worship and to great celebrations. In earlier days church bells stirred the whole community, and those still lying in bed when the church bell rang on Sunday morning at least knew that they were choosing not to be a part of the assembly. We no longer live under the power of Christendom as a social force; but if, as Alexander Schmemann insists, the liturgy begins when one rises from bed with the intention of going to church, then the church bell can still be powerful evidence of the act of assembly.
The greatest occasion for the ringing of bells is the moment in the Great Vigil of Easter when the Alleluia, which has not been said throughout Lent, returns to the lips and hearts of the congregation. As the minister proclaims, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” and the people shout in response, “The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!” the bells burst forth in jubilation at the great news. In this case the adage “the more the merrier” rings particularly true; many churches encourage the people to bring small bells to the vigil so they can join in the festivities.
Sanctus or Sacring Bells
Sanctus or sacring bells are usually a handheld set of bells mounted on a handle. Their sound is characterized by high clear tones and long persistence of ringing. Some churches use gongs or orchestral chimes as Sanctus bells. Sanctus bells have long been used in Eastern churches, and in Western churches since the Middle Ages, to call attention to certain points in the liturgy. As the name implies, they have been rung traditionally at the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy) and also at the elevation of the host in a celebrant. The ringing at the elevation was an innovation in twelfth-century France, where it signaled the assembly to look to the altar. The presumption, evidently, was that, for the common folk, seeing the sacrament was as good as partaking of it. In any case that is as close as some parishioners got to the bread. Because of this taint of superstition, Sanctus bells have largely fallen out of favor in Catholic parishes since Vatican II. The practice is retained, however, along with the use of incense, in high Catholic and Anglican churches (hence the phrase “smells and bells” to describe such worship). Eastern Orthodox churches also sometimes attach small bells to the chains of the thurible (censer), which jingle every time an object or person is censed.
The use of Sanctus bells is a matter of the individual parish’s conscience. There is little danger today that the superstition of the past will live on in the minds of the people. Where that problem persists, it may be best to dispense with them. It is advisable, however, to limit their use to accompanying the Sanctus, signaling the completion of the consecration of the elements (not the moment of consecration), and perhaps at the invitation to Communion.