Why the bells are ringing (if it’s customary) during Mass at your parish
In 1979, disco singer Anita Ward made all of America aware that she told the man she loved, “You can ring my bell.” This gruesome little bit of 1970s disco gruel should be a forgettable number-one hit. But that song still occasionally haunts my brain, as I can hear the chorus sung with the clanging of bells in the backdrop.
Those bells are memorable. Likewise Paul McCartney opened one of his most successful songs “Let ’Em In” with a memorable invocation of bells. I guess you could say both songs, “Ring My Bell” and “Let ’Em In,” had some a-peal. (ouch)
Bells announce things. They let us know what time it is; they tell us our three-minute egg is ready; they announce a phone call; they announce that you have reached your floor on the elevator; they announce a person is at your door to visit with you. Bells do a lot – and they have a special place in the heart of the church in terms of announcements and other purposes.
Smells and bells
In Catholicism, we use what is commonly called “the smells and bells” of the church to bring the faithful into a deeper sense of worship. We don’t just stimulate the mind and soul with words and music. No, the church is kinesthetic in its approach to bringing the faithful into the worship of God.
There is touch: You bless yourself with holy water as you enter the church. There is the olfactory allure of smell: Incense is used often to bless and sanctify. There is speech: We pray and sing. There is sight: The church uses colors, images, and symbols throughout the year to express seasons and liturgical happenings.
And there is sound: We hear the priest, the music, the prayers and, of course, the bells. And when it comes to the celebration of the Mass, the church sings along with Anita Ward, and says, “You can ring my bell.”
Bells have been used at religious worship from time immemorial. The use of bells at Mass, as we would recognize it today, began in the Eastern Church in the early centuries of Christianity and spread to the West a few centuries later. For centuries, bells were used to highlight key moments of the Mass for the people who were present, but standing at a distance from the altar.
People today, certainly, with rare exception, do not face that distance problem, but bells are still rung at Mass and at other times to denote special moments of importance. Here are some moments in the church when bells provide a ringing endorsement:
- The bell at the epiclesis. The current General Instruction on the Roman Missal (which provides proper protocols and guidance for the celebration of the Mass) states, “A little before the consecration, when appropriate, a server rings a bell as a signal to the faithful.”
This is, and had traditionally been done at a point in the Mass called the “epiclesis.” This is when the priest, holding both hands over the bread and wine, calls down the Holy Spirit upon the offerings to make them “spiritual and acceptable” (as per Eucharistic Prayer I) for confection as the sacrament of the Eucharist. A single bell is rung to alert the people gathered in prayerful active worship that something of great joy is about to happen. Just as trumpets blare when royalty enters a room, so too, at the entry of the Holy Spirit at this moment of worship, a bell is rung.
- Bells at the elevation. The current General Instruction on the Roman Missal states: “According to local custom, the server also rings the bell as the priest shows the host and then the chalice.” This point of the Mass is commonly called the elevation – after the priest says the words of consecration, he elevates the host (formerly bread, but now, the Body of Christ). To denote Christ’s eucharistic presence, the altar bells are rung (commonly, rung three times, bringing to mind the work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). The same is done again with the elevation of the chalice.
Interestingly, that rule says that bells should be rung where it is “local custom.” What does that mean? Let’s start with the word “local” – local does not mean your local parish, it means the local church, a.k.a. the diocese. As for “custom,” well just like you and Merriam Webster would assume: A custom is a regular or common practice. Kind of like Aunt Estelle drinking too much wine during Christmas dinner, and having to take a nap afterward. If she only did it once, it’s not a custom. If it happens multiple Christmases in a row, you get that bed ready for her, because that has become a custom to which you have become accustomed.
In this regard, canon law tells us that a custom “obtains the force of law only if it has been legitimately observed for 30 continuous and complete years” and is not contrary to the Code of Canon Law. It also states that a “centenary or immemorial custom… can prevail against a canonical law.” The ringing of bells at Mass meets both of those criteria, just ask any 12th century altar servers; the bells have been around for a long time. They are custom in almost every corner church in the world.
- Bells during the Gloria on Holy Thursday and at the Easter Vigil. The rubrics of the Mass for Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the Easter Vigil commend that bells are to be rung during the singing or saying of the Gloria. On Holy Thursday, the bells are rung for the last time until the Easter Vigil. Hence, at the elevation of the host and chalice on Holy Thursday, there is no bell rung, a stark reminder of the Lord’s Passion to come. (Of course, if you find yourself in a parish that doesn’t use bells, that symbolism gets lost; you cannot note the absence of bells that are commonly absent.) Fast forward: On the Easter Vigil, the bells get dusted off and brought out and are rung throughout the Gloria. Christ is risen! Alleluia! Ding-dong, death is dead.
Of note, during the elevation of the host and chalice on Holy Thursday, because there is no bell, churches have used a device call a “clacker” to denote the elevation. A clacker is a wooden board with a swinging-mallet that pounds the wood when the device is shaken. It makes a stark, harsh sound, appropriate for the Passion of our Lord.
- Bells after a funeral. It is long-standing custom that when a funeral is celebrated, at the end of the Mass of Christian Burial, a parish may rightly sound the death toll (a slow, sequenced, ringing of the bells of the church).
- Wedding bells. You have seen the tacky paper-mache fold-out stuck-to-wall bell decoration at many a wedding reception. Yep, bells and weddings go together. An example of that is when Marilyn McCoo of the Fifth Dimension, asked in 1969, “am I ever gonna hear my wedding bells” in a song called “The Wedding Bell Blues (Marry Me Bill).” When a couple got married “back in the day,” the church bells would clang in joyful acclaim announcing the new couple to the world; that practice is still done in many places.
- Angelus bells. It is customary that bells are rung during the time of the praying of the Angelus. The Angelus is a devotion that reminds the faithful of the Mary’s “yes” to God. Since the praying of the Angelus is a private devotion (even though frequently prayed publicly), there is no mandated rubric involved. However, the following use of bells is common: A bell is rung thrice at the end of each Hail Mary of the Angelus (there is one following each of three strophes), at the completion of the Angelus, the bells are commonly peeled nine or 18 times, joyfully. By tradition, the Angelus is prayed at 6 a.m., noontime, and 6 p.m., and the bells rung at this time are called “the Angelus bells.”
- Extraordinary rite: In the Extraordinary form of the Mass (a.k.a. the old Latin Mass), bells will also be rung thrice at both the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy), and at the Domine Non Sum Dignus (Lord, I am not worthy…).
- For the pope. A “death toll” marks the end of a papal reign, and joyfully rings in the election of a new pope. For these key moments in the church, bells are rung worldwide.
- For a bishop. The bells are rung in a Cathedral parish to announce the appointment of a new bishop and his installation.
The church promotes natural sound; hence we rarely, if ever, hear canned music in church (certainly not during Mass). The same principle applies to bells. In 1958, the Vatican’s Congregation of Rites in the document “De musica sacra et sacra liturgia,” in one of the few documents that addresses bell usage directly, presses emphatically that actual bells, not recorded bells should be used. That, dare I say, bellwether document, also states that, “The ancient and highly approved tradition of ringing bells in the Latin Church should be devotedly carried on by all who have this responsibility.”
And so, there you have it, a brief foray into the use of bells at Mass and outside of Mass. While bells are not mandated, they are part of the landscape and tradition of Catholicism. They signify announcement (at the elevation, at the epiclesis, Papal election, etc.), loss (death), new life (marriage), and joy (at the Gloria, in the Angelus). So, whether at a Mass, a funeral, a papal election or a marriage – fear not, the Catholic Church will be there, with bells on.
Father Lentini is pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Dover and Immaculate Conception Church in Marydel, Md.
