Sanctus bells

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I read in a book called Proclaiming God’s Word - a handbook for Readers that the sanctus bell is rung after the communion antiphon to call the faithful to communion. However I can find no source reference to confirm this.

On some websites it says the bell is rung as the priest drinks from the chalice. There is no mention of this in the GIRM.

Is there a definitive statement on this anywhere?
 
Frankk said:
I read in a book called Proclaiming God’s Word - a handbook for Readers that the sanctus bell is rung after the communion antiphon to call the faithful to communion. However I can find no source reference to confirm this.

On some websites it says the bell is rung as the priest drinks from the chalice. There is no mention of this in the GIRM.

Is there a definitive statement on this anywhere?
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That is what used to be done before the liturgical revisions of VII. Therefore, it would be done at an EF Mass.
 
on EWTN’s daily mass the Sanctus bells are rung after the celebrant drinks the wine. then he recites the communion anthipon.
 
From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :

“150. A little before the consecration, when appropriate, a server rings a bell as a signal to the faithful. According to local custom, the server also rings the bell as the priest shows the host and then the chalice.”

This is the only place the word “bell” appears in the GIRM.
 
John_Lilburne said:
From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) approved for the USA, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html :

“150. A little before the consecration, when appropriate, a server rings a bell as a signal to the faithful. According to local custom, the server also rings the bell as the priest shows the host and then the chalice.”

This is the only place the word “bell” appears in the GIRM.
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My wife and I have been looking for a new parish after our previous one went seriously awry and all avenues of relief were exhausted. After visiting most every church within a reasonable distance we were overjoyed yesterday to find the only one in our area which has dozens of Catholic churches that rings the bells exactly as described above. 3 rings when the Host and Chalice were raised. I got goosebumps! Everything else about the Mass seemed so perfect and exactly what we’ve been searching for. Altar boys, priests offering Communion, no talking in the church before Mass, mostly sacred music (a couple “modern” tunes tho), etc. We have found a new home!

Praise be to God!!!

Trob
 
Hi I’m new here so be gentle 🙂

I joined this site to learn about liturgy and the sacraments.

In my local parishes, there a half dozen or so around me, all them ring the Sanctus bells. twice during the Mass. I though I read somewhere that when rung they are supposed to be rung three short times. Does anyone know if that is correct?

Thanks,
CC73
 
I found this at adoremus.org/0305SantusBells.html. Your answer is at the end but the rest gives a great explanation of when the bells can be rung. It’s short. 🙂

Nearly 350 years after the introduction of the Sanctus bells rung during the Liturgy, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) formally mandated their use during the celebration of the Mass. Thus for the first time the use of the bells became a required part of the official rubrics of the Mass. Ringing the bells is still required for the “Tridentine” Mass; though the practice was made optional when the post-Conciliar Missal was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969.

Ringing the Sanctus Bells
Sanctus bells are traditionally kept on the epistle (left) side of the credence table during the Mass, and ringing them has long been the responsibility of the instituted acolyte or altar server.

The bells are rung at three or four points during the celebration of the Mass:
  1. Sanctus bells are first rung prior to the consecration at the epiclesis when the priest prays to the Holy Spirit to change the gifts of bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
  2. The bells are rung a second time as the priest elevates and presents the Body of Christ.
  3. The bells are rung a third time as the celebrant elevates and presents the chalice filled with the Precious Blood.
  4. The bells may be rung a fourth time as the priest-celebrant consumes the Precious Blood. This custom, which originated from the rubrics of the Tridentine Mass, may be continued since it is not forbidden nor suppressed in the latest version of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
In some cases the bells are rung for three short bursts at both of the elevations/presentations as defined by the rubrics in the 1962 Missale Romanum. These three short bursts are said to represent the three persons of the Holy Trinity. If executed well this triple ringing can sound quite solemn, but a single ringing of the bells at each specified point in the Mass is adequate.
 
CaptCrunch73 said:
Hi I’m new here so be gentle 🙂

I joined this site to learn about liturgy and the sacraments.

In my local parishes, there a half dozen or so around me, all them ring the Sanctus bells. twice during the Mass. I though I read somewhere that when rung they are supposed to be rung three short times. Does anyone know if that is correct?

Thanks,
CC73
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There’s no strict requirement, but that is the reccemended way, and the best way.
 
Our parish uses a gong, so just one strike is used at each point.
 
Frankk said:
I read in a book called Proclaiming God’s Word - a handbook for Readers that the sanctus bell is rung after the communion antiphon to call the faithful to communion. However I can find no source reference to confirm this.

On some websites it says the bell is rung as the priest drinks from the chalice. There is no mention of this in the GIRM.

Is there a definitive statement on this anywhere?
Click to expand...
The reason they had bells was in the olden time the churches were so large and when they heard the bells they knew consecration was taking place–it was to let them know about the Consecration

JESUS I TRUST IN YOU
 
Frankk said:
I read in a book called Proclaiming God’s Word - a handbook for Readers that the sanctus bell is rung after the communion antiphon to call the faithful to communion. However I can find no source reference to confirm this.

On some websites it says the bell is rung as the priest drinks from the chalice. There is no mention of this in the GIRM.

Is there a definitive statement on this anywhere?
Click to expand...
You might refer to the sanctus bells booklet available for free at www.SmellsBells.com
 
paperwight66 said:
Our parish uses a gong, so just one strike is used at each point.
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Our cathedral has a huge triple gong about three feet tall. At the epiclesis, one gong is struck. At each elevation all three gongs are struck, one by one, from large to small, creating three slow, ascending tones that take a long time to die out.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
Our cathedral has a huge triple gong about three feet tall. At the epiclesis, one gong is struck. At each elevation all three gongs are struck, one by one, from large to small, creating three slow, ascending tones that take a long time to die out.
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I don’t know exactly where to find this, and someone correct me if this was changed, but I recall reading in some Church document that gongs are strictly prohibited.
 
YoungTradCath said:
I don’t know exactly where to find this, and someone correct me if this was changed, but I recall reading in some Church document that gongs are strictly prohibited.
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Yes, I’ve read it somewhere, too, but I think it probably means the ‘J Arthur Rank’ type gongs (sorry if this reference goes back too far for some posters). You know, a huge thing struck with a hammer by a strong chap. Or else a gong that everyone would associate with dinner in a hotel.

In other words, the regs are for encouraging reverence by only using special church-type things. Why else do we have special purificators and lavabo towels, when kitchen paper would do the job just as well?

So a gong that is obviously not an ordinary gong and would immediately be associated with church is acceptable.

Another comparison. We use multiple tinkly bells for the Gloria at Easter, like many churches. We don’t use tambourines even though they sound just the same.
 
Ringing bells during Mass is a tradition that has grown up over hundreds of years. Churches would have an external bell that was rung shortly before the consecration and during the elevations so that agricultural workers could pause to pray.

In the Tridentine Rite, a hand-bell was rung three times at the Sanctus to tell the congregation to kneel. That’s why it’s called the Sanctus bell. It was rung once just before consecration and three times during each elevation. And it was also rung immediately after the priest’s Communion to let the congregation know that it was time to come forward to receive the Host.

With the modern rite, there is a greater involvement of the congregation and so less requirement to ring bells to tell them what to do. Ringing the bell at the Sanctus seems to have largely died out (so what do we call the bell?). It is common, but not universal, to ring a bell just before the consecration and during the elevations. Ringing the bell after the priest’s Communion is less common. There appears to be no direction in the GIRM requiring, encouraging or prohibiting the use of bells in church, so it’s largely a case of local custom. The only mention in the Missal is that bells should be rung during the Gloria on Maundy Thursday and then remain silent until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil.
 
YoungTradCath said:
I don’t know exactly where to find this, and someone correct me if this was changed, but I recall reading in some Church document that gongs are strictly prohibited.
Click to expand...
I also believe that the prohibition referred to Oriental-style “Gong Show” gongs. This type of liturgical gong has been used for over a hundred years by many churches in Europe and North America. They are widely available in European church supply catalogs and have reappeared in American catalogs also. Our cathedral’s gong is like this but has three domes, one above the other, and was made in the 1880’s.

youtube.com/user/mslabbinck?blend=22&ob=5#p/u/6/L7igSNbaouU
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
I also believe that the prohibition referred to Oriental-style “Gong Show” gongs. This type of liturgical gong has been used for over a hundred years by many churches in Europe and North America. They are widely available in European church supply catalogs and have reappeared in American catalogs also. Our cathedral’s gong is like this but has three domes, one above the other, and was made in the 1880’s.

youtube.com/user/mslabbinck?blend=22&ob=5#p/u/6/L7igSNbaouU
Click to expand...
Oh, well that’s more elegant and much more acceptable than what I imagined. I was seeing the big dinner-gong-type things.
 
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