STORY - Are bells ringing for you?

Maureen Grealy of Carrington wrote:

“I have recently holidayed in Morocco and Bahrain – both Muslim countries. Five times a day, every day, I heard the ‘call to prayer’ ring out, and I found this a great reminder to bring to mind those near and dear to me, as well as those around the world in poverty or in war torn areas.

“I was also reminded of the Angelus bell which was once heard at noon in every Catholic church and school. I strongly suggest that we again ring the bells at noon. This would be an opportunity for everyone, when they heard the bell, to reflect on the need for world peace, respect and tolerance…”

Maureen has issued a challenge to schools and parishes, and perhaps the practice continues in some areas. Meanwhile, her letter led me to ponder and to discuss with others the significance of bells, in church circles and beyond.

The ringing of bells at Mass, to signal the holy moment of consecration, originated when the presider had his back to the assembly and the people were often engaged in private prayer. While they are no longer needed, many parishes retain the practice of ringing the bells during the Eucharistic Prayer.

Chancellor Sr Beverly Zimmerman rsj recalls “the Presence”: “Each of our convents had a gong on the table in the community room. Every fifteen minutes someone would ring the gong to remind us of the presence of God. We would stop what we were doing and say a prayer.”

Recently I visited a monastery where major renovations are in progress. A bell hanging from a two storey building is to be replaced by a carillon which will operate mechanically. One visitor expressed regret that the role of the bell ringer will disappear, but in these days of rationalisation, that’s probably unavoidable. There’s something heartening, I think, in the fact that the monastic tradition of dividing the day by bells is being reclaimed by the community.

At sea, the ship’s bell marks the passage of time. Before the advent of the chronometer, time at sea was measured by the trickle of sand through a half-hour glass. One of the ship's boys had the duty of watching the glass and turning it when the sand had run out. When he turned the glass, he struck the bell as a signal that he had performed this vital function. From this ringing of the bell as the glass was turned evolved the tradition of striking the bell once at the end of the first half hour of a four hour watch, twice after the first hour, etc., until eight bells marked the end of the four hour watch. The process was repeated for succeeding watches.

Some years ago Australian poet Kenneth Slessor’s evocative poem “Five Bells”, was voted Australians’ favourite poem in an ABC poll.

Between the double and the single bell
Of a ship's hour, between a round of bells
From the dark warship riding there below,
I have lived many lives, and this one life
Of Joe, long dead, who lives between five bells.

Slessor’s elegy for Joe Lynch, his friend who has died ignominiously, rails against the futility of death and the refrain “Five bells” punctuates his musing. At the same time, there is a sense of calm wrought by the sonorous “Five bells coldly ringing out”.

Bells are versatile. We ring them at times of joy – think of weddings and the bells that accompany the Gloria at the Easter vigil – and at times of sorrow. John Donne wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, a meditation on the connectedness of mortality, in the seventeenth century, but its premise remains:

…send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

One colleague remembers vividly the gong that sounded at intervals during the Bushfire Memorial Service held in Melbourne in February. Another recalled a time travelling in France where lost glasses on a rainy day led to a general despondency. As the conversation about what to do proceeded, “The town clock chimed, a minor, dissonant sound, just two slow notes,” she said, “We can’t stay here. Even the bells are depressing.”

A visitor recently asked me why I didn’t have an electric buzzer at my home. I replied that I like to have a real bell that’s not subject to battery failure and heralds – most of the time! – good news! As Bishop Michael urged in his Easter message (echoing a lyric by songwriter Leonard Cohen), Ring the bells that still can ring.

If you have been challenged by Maureen’s suggestion, or have your own ‘bell to ring’, please contact the Editor.

Tracey Edstein

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