I miss the bells

[saellis]

We have the bells at our OF masses here in Colorado

 

[Duesenberg]

I recently read a treatise on sanctus bells I found on EWTN: www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/sanctusbells.pdf

Apparently the original sanctus bells were the largest bells in the belfry. They were rung for two reasons. To let people outside of the church building know that something miraculous was taking part inside of the church so they could pay reverence.

Second, to produce a joyous sound in celebration of what is taking place.

Both of these functions still exist. To suggest they are “no longer necessary” due to changes in the Mass or church interiors would suggest an incomplete understanding of the use of sanctus bells in my opinion.

 

[Duesenberg]

I’ll sound a cautionary note about the use of sanctus bells. Their use is highly symbolic in many parishes. Many view them as a stamp of retrograde traditionalism and do everything they can to ensure the bells are not rung. Others view them as a stamp of maintaining history and correctly celebrating the miracles taking place a top the altar. Parish fights to ring/not ring sanctus bells can become ridiculous.

The ringing is 100% up to the priestly celebrant of the individual Mass. It’s not up the the parish pastor or the bishop. At least as written by the Catholic Church.

 

[Duesenberg]

Ringing sanctus bells is allowed but not mandated. It’s up to the individual priestly celebrant of the Mass and not the pastor.

It makes no difference how large the church buildings are. Sanctus bells were not rung to catch the attention of people inside of the church. They were rung to let people outside of the church know what was going on inside. More importantly they were rung to create a joyous sound in thanksgiving for the miracle taking place atop the altar.

While the absence of sanctus bells should never be a reason for not attending Mass, discounting their importance as some do is extremely unhelpful.

 

[Bluebright]

Oh I am sure you are right. They don’t use the clapper throughout. Thank you for the enlightenment, I am one who hadn’t realised this. I only noticed the different noise I don’t actually see the ‘device’ . I struggled with the tone of the noise and was unable to take in anything more at the time. Thanks

 

[Usige]

Oh I am sure you are right. They don’t use the clapper throughout. Thank you for the enlightenment, I am one who hadn’t realised this. I only noticed the different noise I don’t actually see the ‘device’ . I struggled with the tone of the noise and was unable to take in anything more at the time. Thanks

I was serving at our Cathedral this past Good Friday and even though I knew one of my brother candidates was about to use the crotalus behind me, I still almost dropped the torch I was carrying when it started. As the rector had told use before hand, if the sound startles and leaves people a bit uneasy then you are doing it right.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I also miss the bells. They are used at the
Newman Center, but not at my parish.
I wonder why a decision would be made NOT to use them?

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Strange, I’ve never been to Mass without bells. My current church uses them as much as possible wich is 4 or 5 times during Mass rather than simply after the Bread and the Wine are consecrated.

As for incense…quite a few of the area churches use it at regular Sunday Masses. However, it has become very divisive and forced quite a few people–including myself–to leave that parish. My health does permit me to attend that parish, but many are very defensive of incense and their responses to me are less than merciful. Everything from “too bad, so sad” to “take medicine and stop complaining” to “you are being driven from the ‘real’ church because you are sinful”

I drive an extra 15 minutes and go to a parish that welcomes me.

 

[OldCAFMember]

The decision is made because the rubrics say that it is optional. The feeling behind making it optional back in 1970 was that with the Mass being said in the vernacular, rather than Latin, and the Canon being said aloud, rather than silently, bells were no longer necessary. I disagree completely with this, and love the bells.

 

[Duesenberg]

The decision is made because the rubrics say that it is optional. The feeling behind making it optional back in 1970 was that with the Mass being said in the vernacular, rather than Latin, and the Canon being said aloud, rather than silently, bells were no longer necessary. I disagree completely with this, and love the bells.

That’s not true.

Language, size of church, etc. was/is never a reason for the use of sanctus bells. Alerting people outside of the church building and making a celebratory sound is why they were rung.

Sadly, people often use language/size of church as excuses not to ring the bells.

 

[Duesenberg]

I also miss the bells. They are used at the

Newman Center, but not at my parish.

I wonder why a decision would be made NOT to use them?

Largely because they have become such a symbol of the old/new divide. “Now that the Mass is in the vernacular, there is no need for the bells”, etc.

 

[Charybdis]

All depends upon the priest, mostly. I have never been at a church that did not use the bells until we got a new priest at one church I was attending and the bells suddenly stopped. Why? He said he did not like them and that was that!

I like them and the church I am now at uses them all the time. For a while, I even got to ring them!!

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Any chance he had a hearing aid? I’ve heard from a few parishioners that the jangly bells at communion are truly painful. My priest uses them frequently but makes sure they are far away from the mic to prevent reverb.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any chance he had a hearing aid? I’ve heard from a few parishioners that the jangly bells at communion are truly painful. My priest uses them frequently but makes sure they are far away from the mic to prevent reverb.

This is interesting. For a good part of my life there were no microphones and one could hear the priest perfectly well. I think in some cases, the mikes are there just because people think they should be. In some newer churches, sound doesn’t carry well, and the same is true in a lot of “updated” churches. I think the architects of today don’t know how to make sound carry throughout a church, or know how and just can’t do it because of the more “closed in” kind of structure so many churches have now.

 

[Indyann]

In most of parishes, I have visited, it is usually printed in the bulletin which Masses will have incense. If I am not going to my home parish, I usually have to lookup Mass times in the previous weeks bulletin (especially around Holy Days) and I have noticed that it is nearly always mentioned if incense is going to be used.

 

[Anesis]

I would miss them too. I’m a convert (2014) and have been to Masses all around the country (N/S/E/W) and they’ve always had bells at the consecration. Maybe it’s just in your area/parish?

 

[Hope1960]

Thankfully, our parish uses the bells during the consecration. Also, we have the bells outside the church that I can hear from my house when I’m outside.
They ring after Mass, sometimes playing a song, and they also ring a quarter after the hour, half on the hour, 3/4 on the hour and on the hour. Then after they ring on the hour they ring the hour it is. (Once for 1:00, twice for 2:00 etc.)

 

[TheLittleLady]

Parishes around here use bells. Maybe you could ask if they still have bells. Might be something that Father would use if they were available.

Incense is another story. For some reason modern people are deathly afraid of it. They are gonna FREAK in heaven with all of the incense there

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Incense is another story. For some reason modern people are deathly afraid of it. They are gonna FREAK in heaven with all of the incense there

Or are deadly allergic to it. I’m a bit of anomaly with my age, but many of the old Vets I knew had COPD from their days in the war and couldn’t handle it either.

Given that one is provided with an improved body in heaven, I won’t really care then.

 

[Duesenberg]

Parishes around here use bells. Maybe you could ask if they still have bells. Might be something that Father would use if they were available.

Incense is another story. For some reason modern people are deathly afraid of it. They are gonna FREAK in heaven with all of the incense there

I think it’s largely about trying to exert power and controlling others. Some don’t like it so they make a huge fuss – some pull this with sanctus bells as well. It’s nice to see that incense is still widely used at least at big Masses. It’s wrong to completely discount the value of using incense at Mass and these people do exactly that for the reasons I mentioned. Others (a tiny percentage of the group I just mentioned) are truly allergic to incense, but rather than take personal responsibility for their situation (employing respirators (masks), medication, sitting away from the incense near a door, etc.) they seem to feel that everyone else can go without and they’re willing to do battle to get their way. They cast a pall over the entire Mass when they do that.

Incense is really one of those things that if it’s used at a parish and the pastor stands up to the complainers, after awhile the complaining ends – yet the complainers are still in the pews.