Use of Bells in mass?

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As title says, what are the uses/means of bells in a mass?

I was thought it was simply to draw people’s attention to the altar, as the bread/wine are being turned into the Body and Blood of Christ. Especially back then when masses were celebrated in latin and some might not understand when consecration is happening.

Additianol question, does your parish add anything else than bells? My parish and most church in my country uses a gong while the priest is lifting up the Eucharist/Chalice
 
We have the gong, but also the church bell rings once at the same time.
 
We have the bells only. Which I love even though I am paying attention to the Mass most of the time.
 
AAT said:
I was thought it was simply to draw people’s attention to the altar, as the bread/wine are being turned into the Body and Blood of Christ. Especially back then when masses were celebrated in latin and some might not understand when consecration is happening.
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This is exacty what the bells are for, at the Epicesis and at the Elevation, to bring the assembly’s attention back to the altar.
 
Really? I always assumed it had a more signficant meaning. Oh well.
 
Yes me too! When I became an altar boy I thought it brought more significance since they stressed out how important the timing is for the bells.

This may be my scrupulous self, but I always thought God would be a little angry if I messed that up 😁 and I did for a couple of times.
 
I thought it was also because on the old days, not only could people not understand the Latin but also were too far away in the church,if it was large and busy , to be sure of when these moments were occurring. So the bell was rung so that everyone knew.
 
We have a gong but do not use it. Fr. B says it’s not needed anymore. Whatever—he’s the boss :crazy_face: One fewer item for me to polish…
 
Interesting. It assumed there was a Trinitarian element to it because the bells are rung three times at the elevation particularly at my church.
 
There is that pious element of the threes, but the bells came about when huge Cathedrals had many side altars. A Monastery associated with it might have dozens of priests there. SInce all priests must celebrate Mass every single day, there were times when more than one Mass be being celebrated at the same time (albeit a private one with just the priest). The bells announced to everyone present that the Consecration was happening…over there. Everyone present would bow their head, stop speaking or whispering prayers or whatever for those few moments out of respect.
The tradition continued. TOday, many people are of the opinion that it is no longer necessary as there is ONE Mass and everyone knows what happens when. But I feel, as an educator, that it’s helpful for children especially to underscore the solemnity of the moment.
That’s why they call it a “small T” tradition. It’s not an essential element of the Mass. The Mass can occur without bells. In my previous parish the bells are silenced during Lent, just as the Alleluia is suppressed and for the same reason.
 
AAT said:
as thought it was simply to draw people’s attention to the altar, as the bread/wine are being turned into the Body and Blood of Christ. Especially back then when masses were celebrated in latin and some might not understand when consecration is happening.

Additianol question, does your parish add anything else than bells? My parish and most church in my country uses a gong while the priest is lifting up the Eucharist/Chalice
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They could understand the Latin fine. They simply couldn’t hear because there were no microphones.

If you go to a Latin Mass today in a large Church, you will understand. I’ve attended a number of Latin Masses in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter & Paul in Philadelphia and you quickly understand why the bells are there. Not only can you not hear the priest when he’s praying the words of concentration but sometimes its hard to actually see the elevation because depending on where you are sitting, you can be very far away from the priest. Or you could also be sitting in pews with obstructed views of the Altar.

A lot of the mass is prayed with the priest using a normal voice. Very few parts of the mass required the priest to raise his voice loud enough to be heard. This was mostly limited to the Liturgy of the Word, Sermon and the few other times he was addressing everyone.

Without microphones, the only people who can typically hear him are the deacon, subdeacon, servers, and maybe some priests/clerics/religious sitting in choir. Unless the mass was being prayed in a small church or side chapel, many of laity most likely could not hear him. And if the altar was white, they may not even notice the elevation

So that’s why we have the bells.

HOWEVER, today, the bells still let us know that something important is happening at that very moment. For a person who is not Catholic or is not catechized, the ringing of the bells lets them know that something very important is happening. So even in today’s world of microphones, the bells still have a purpose.

God bless!
 
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on_the_hill said:
Really? I always assumed it had a more signficant meaning. Oh well.
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What could possibly be more significant than God appearing on the alter? 🙂

In the words of St. Francis: “Let the entire man be seized with fear; let the whole world tremble; let heaven exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God, is on the altar in the hands of the priest. O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread.”
 
Even more so when he appears on the Altar. 😄😉

Where His appearance is really altered.
 
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AAT said:
As title says, what are the uses/means of bells in a mass?

I was thought it was simply to draw people’s attention to the altar, as the bread/wine are being turned into the Body and Blood of Christ. Especially back then when masses were celebrated in latin and some might not understand when consecration is happening.

Additianol question, does your parish add anything else than bells? My parish and most church in my country uses a gong while the priest is lifting up the Eucharist/Chalice
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The use of Sanctus Bells has NEVER been to draw peoples’ eyes to the altar! That belief is pushed by those intent on justifying the disuse of the bells and by those ignorant of bell-use history. The bells (originally large tower bells) were originally rung to let people outside of the church know that something miraculous was taking part inside of the church and to create a joyous sound to celebrate the miracle atop the altar.

Actual “gongs” (and not stacks of bells rung by striking with a mallet) are prohibited for use during the Mass, at least in the USA.

I found this great little reference on the use of sanctus bells on EWTN: www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/sanctusbells.pdf
 
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Mary_Ellen said:
This is exacty what the bells are for, at the Epicesis and at the Elevation, to bring the assembly’s attention back to the altar.
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That is 100% incorrect. www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/sanctusbells.pdf

That belief is pushed today by people who want to completely eradicate the use of bells in the celebration of the Mass, and by those who simply don’t understand the history of sanctus bell use during the celebration of the Mass.
 
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I could careless if bells, gongs, cymbals, or an airhorn were used. Actually correction, I would prefer an airhorn.
 
That’s actually the same answer. :roll_eyes:

Gongs are used regularly in Ireland.
 
Duesenberg said:
Actual “gongs” (and not stacks of bells rung by striking with a mallet) are prohibited for use during the Mass, at least in the USA.
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I’m not in the USA and it’s very common to use it here. I guess each country had a different set of rules but I think the whole point of bells, gongs, or whatever noise made is to celebrate the joyous and miracalous transformation of the Eucharist and the Blood of Christ.
pianistclare said:
That’s actually the same answer. :roll_eyes:
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😁😁
 
This is an example of handheld sanctus bells. Perfectly acceptable for use during the Mass.


This is an example of a Mass gong. Also perfectly acceptable for use during the Mass.


Here is an Oriental gong and what most equate to a “gong.” Prohibited for use at the Mass.
 
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