Bells at the Elevation of the Eucharist

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My parish (and others) ring bells at the Elevation (though, my parish does a solid ring rather than three small rings) while the chapel at my college does not. A while ago I asked one of the priests why. He said it was an old practice that was allowed to continue but was optional. I then asked if we could do it at the chapel if we had bells (I serve at the chapel so I would be more than willing to). His abruptly said no. Why would he have been so defensive? Does your parish use bells?
 
May be the way you asked and he didn’t want to go into it having just told you an answer?
He might well have thought you would try and persuade him otherwise.

It don’t matter wheher the bells are rung or not and its wise just to let the priest be 😉
 
Over the years our parish has had bells and not had them depending on the desire of the pastor. At the present time, we have bells. Two other parishes I attend also have bells. It has been my experience that the more modernistic the priest the less he will use the bells. It is their choice and needs to be respected. However, I believe that the priest should consider the parish which most don’t.

One pastor said he felt that the bells should only be used at Church’s that had mass at side altars. He felt they were a distraction because the servers would accidently hit them at wrong places in the mass.

Another pastor didn’t like them because he felt the reason they were in use in the first place was out of date. That reason was to call attention to the concecration when people generally did not pay attention by being engrossed in their own personnal prayer. He felt that people should be paying attention and didn’t need the bells.
 
At all masses in our case, even daily mass. It is indeed optional though. If he has a dislike for it, then as the presider he has the option of not doing it. Just let him do it the way he is comfortable with, after all he has to be at every mass.
 
Yes, except during Lent. Although I wish our deacon would train the altar boys better, because they don’t shake the set hard enough.
 
We have a new pastor, for about a year, and he has reinstituted the bells. I like that. We also now sing the Sanctus and Agnus Dei in latin from time to time. I like that also. He has also returned our original baptismal font to the baptistry in the foyer of the church where it originally was. I like that also. And in cleaning out a room to make way for the original font, they found the cornerstone of the first church, dated 1854. It now stands in the vestibule. Love it.
 
We had a priest who was a tad on the “progressive” side who hid the bells. When he was reassigned he took the box containing the bells down from his secret hiding place and gave them to the new priest. He told the new priest that the bells were a joke but it was up to him to use them or not.
Hey, at least he gave them back.🤷
 
Have you ever asked yourself when bells were first used (give or take 50 years, just give a guess) and why?
That would be a more interesting discussion.
The celebrant should be able to make that decision, though. And perhaps he didn’t want to discuss it with you. So, if he said no, take the no for an answer.
Sure, the priest should try to consider the sensitivity of the people in these matters, but there’s no way he can make everyone happy at the same time.
 
nagyszakall said:
Have you ever asked yourself when bells were first used (give or take 50 years, just give a guess) and why?
That would be a more interesting discussion.
The celebrant should be able to make that decision, though. And perhaps he didn’t want to discuss it with you. So, if he said no, take the no for an answer.
Sure, the priest should try to consider the sensitivity of the people in these matters, but there’s no way he can make everyone happy at the same time.
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They were originally used to bring people to attention in order to let them know that the liturgy of the Eucharist was being performed, that consecration was happening. Many people didn’t understand the liturgy because it was in a foreign language they did not know, and they simply prayed a rosary or sat in silence thinking about other things while waiting for the big event, the elevation of the Eucharist. After all the priest had his back to them, the bread and wine was concealed by his body… it was only revealed to the people when elevated. The bells were there to tell them Hey, finally the part you are part of is here.

Now that the liturgy is more open to the participation of the parish, the host is visible, the ceremony visible… the words in their language… the bells aren’t necessary, but they still remind us powerfully that transubstantiation is occurring… they still bring our minds back to the present to the moment, jarring us out of ‘rote’ and into participation! They can be a very good thing.
 
👍 yes, we’ve got the bells and I’m so glad they’re back.
 
Our parish has been using them during the elevation for a few years now. The only time we never use them is during Lent.
 
The answer I checked was yes most of the time but in actuality my parish uses the bells every Mass.
 
My parish uses them at every mass. Bells remind everyone who loses their attention quickly, like me (ADHD) to FOCUS!!! They are important. They apparently started using bells in the middle ages when everybody couldn’t fit into the church to see what was going on.
 
Imperial_Guard said:
Why would he have been so defensive?
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Not knowing him we can only guess. I’ve known many priests who view bells, Roman Chasubles (aka Fiddlebacks), incense, Latin, the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, altar rails, Mass ad orientem, chant (excepting Taize), classical polyphony, birettas and cassocks, and a host of other such things as a throwback to Pre-VII times and they are therefore a political statement whether used or opposed - use 'em and you’re on the right; oppose using them and you’re on the left. Naturally, they are sometimes political statements…though not always.

If this priest is say 50+, then my guess would be that’s what’s driving an abrupt response of that sort. I could well be completely wrong, however. If he’s under 50 I’d be more likely he just didn’t want to deal with it, so he was curt. Again, I could well be wrong. It’s a guess from what you’ve posted.

As an aside - I note that the congregational Sign of Peace is optional - though many seem to regard it as the central act of the Mass. The fact that bells are optional, just isn’t part of the answer in my opinion.
 
Imperial_Guard said:
My parish (and others) ring bells at the Elevation (though, my parish does a solid ring rather than three small rings) while the chapel at my college does not. A while ago I asked one of the priests why. He said it was an old practice that was allowed to continue but was optional. I then asked if we could do it at the chapel if we had bells (I serve at the chapel so I would be more than willing to). His abruptly said no. Why would he have been so defensive? Does your parish use bells?
Click to expand...
The ringing of sanctus bells can trigger some very strong negative emotions from some people. I suspect such people view the ringing of sanctus bells as highly symbolic of the past. Thankfully their use triggers positive emotions from a great many more people.

I routinely ring sanctus bells (that I had to buy) when I serve Mass. I’m the only English-speaking server that does this. One time I was asked to serve a Mass I never attend. I did and used the bells as I normally do. A couple of women were very upset while perhaps a dozen people went out of their way to say how much they enjoyed the bells.

There is some good information on sanctus bells at www.SmellsBells.com
 
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