Church Bells - Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences

THE ROSEAU CATHEDRAL and it’s 5 church bells.By Bernard LauwyckPsalm 98:4: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forthinto joyous song and sing praises!”The must-read book of Irving W. Andre and Gabriel J. Christian “For King &Country , the service and sacrifice of the British West Indian Military” quotesfrom the Dominica Chronicle, May 12, 1945 about the defeat of the Germans inWorld War II : “ No sooner had the last word fallen from his (Churchill’s) lipsthan the four Cathedral bells, as well as the bell of the Anglican and Wesleyanchurches, announced the victory to the town of Roseau.”Pealing of two or more swinging bells indicates very special occasions, civic orreligious.In this article we look at the Cathedral bells, their history, their significance.Bells are sacramentals. They are not to be confused with the seven Sacraments :Baptism , Confirmation, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Holy Orders, Matrimony andthe Sacrament for the sick.“Sacramentals are distinguished from sacraments in that they have been institutedby the Church and do not find their origin in Christ. They exist in order to makeholy almost every event in the lives of believers and, like the sacraments, drawtheir power from the Paschal Mystery”. In speaking about sacramentals, the

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy affirms the goodness of the material worldand plainly states that "there is hardly any proper use of material things that cannotbe directed toward human sanctification and the praise of God." These are "sacredsigns instituted by the Church that dispose people to receive the chief effects of thesacraments and they make holy various occasions in human life”.The prinicipal Sacramentals are: The Easter or Paschal Candle The Gospel book Holy Oils Incense Candles Holy Water Liturgical books Church bellsThe largest church bell in the Cathedral, installed in 1985.The use of bells for general and even for religious purposes is of very ancientorigin, although it is likely that in early ages they were of very rude form andimperfect sound, and that they were gradually developed into their presentperfection.The ancient Egyptians used small bells which were rather in the form of a flatgong. Moses, who had been educated in the royal and priestly class of Egypt,introduced them into the ceremonial of the Jewish religion as bells to the glory ofGod.

Bells are only mentioned 5 times in the Old Testament (see BibleGateway.com).Exodus 28:33-35 describes the vestments worn by the high priest Aaron as heapproached the Ark of the Covenant in the Holiest of Holies:“All around its lower hem put pomegranates of blue, purple, and red wool,alternating with gold bells. Aaron is to wear this robe when he serves as priest.When he comes into my presence in the Holy Place or when he leaves it, the soundof the bells will be heard, and he will not be killed.” This is repeated in Exodus39:25-26: “All around its lower hem they put pomegranates of fine linen and ofblue, purple, and red wool, alternating with bells of pure gold, just as the Lord hadcommanded Moses.”Again in Sirach 45:9 “Gold bells were also around its hem, so that when hewalked, their ringing would be heard in the Temple, and the Lord would rememberhis people. “ Here the bells do not remind the people to worship God but serve toremind the Lord to remember his people.The use of bells in synagogues is confirmed by Steven Fine in his book “Art &Judaism in the Greco-Roman world, toward a New Jewish archaeology”: “Thereading of Scripture in the “holy tongue”, the sounds of bells dangling from richlycoloured textiles in which the “holy writings” were wrapped,..”St. Patrick (c. 389-446) is credited with introducing handbells to Ireland around432. He had brought metalworkers with him to fabricate the bells for his newmonasteries, and it is thought that he supplied the Irish church with no fewer thanfifty. Relics of these early bells can still be seen today in Irish museums.The Irish for a bell is cloc , akin to the Dutch “klok” and French “cloche”. TheLatin word is “signa”, which reminds us of the word SIGN.The most famous “cloc” is the one of St. Patrick, which wasused by him before his death on 17 March, 493 and is now inthe National Museum in Dublin: it is the oldest of all; and itmay be taken as a type of the hammered-iron bells. Its heightis 6 1/2 inches. This is the bell known as the 'Bell of theWill', so called because it was willed by the saint to one ofhis disciples. It was disinterred from the grave of St. Patrickafter having been buried there for sixty years.Tradition tells us that the saint, standing on the hill ofCroagh Patrick, used the sound of this bell to rid the island ofserpents and poisonous animals, a metaphor for pagan beliefsand practices. St. Patrick, the apostle to the Irish, is the national saint of Ireland.Bells (“signa”) are frequently mentioned in the writings of French clerics duringthe sixth century, including an account by St. Gregory, bishop of Tours (573-595),referring to their various liturgical uses. Pope Sabinianus ( 604 AD), is said tohave been the first to order bells rung to indicate the canonical hours -the eightperiods of prayer and devotion- in the monastery. St. Paulinus, the Bishop of anItalian town close to Naples, introduced them as a means to summon monks toworship. In the 7th Century the Pope approved the use of bells to call the faithfulto the Mass. The Venerable Bede, an English saint of the eighth century, iscredited with the introduction of bell ringing at Requiem Masses. By the ninth

century the use of bells had spread to even the small parish churches of the westernRoman Empire. It wasn't until the thirteenth century that outdoor tower bells beganto be rung as "Sanctus bells" during the Mass.So church bells have been a regular feature of Christian worship from early on.The bells told people the time of day as watches were not available in people’sdaily life. Bell-ringing also announces the times of services and calls the faithfulto worship. Celebrations , whether personal, civic or national are marked with apeal of bells. Pealing of two or more swinging bells indicates special celebrations.The sanctus bell is sounded during the Mass, at the Sanctus to signal theconsecration, three times each at the elevation of the Host and the wine in thechalice. Bells are silenced from Holy Thursday until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil,as a commemoration of Christ's Passion.The first time we read about the Roseau Cathedral bells in the Diocesan Archivesis when two church bells had to be repaired. “With regard to the bells, two brokenones were sent to a firm in London to be recast; they arrived in November 1873and were solemnly consecrated on December 21st, in the presence of theGovernor, the Chief Justice and a numerous congregation”.The date of original installation of these two bells is lost in the fog of time. Howand when these bells were broken is another question. One reason could be thatthe hammers or clappers were too heavy for the bells, or that the support structurecollapsed due to lack of maintenance or disaster.The date 1873 in the archives, correspondents with the inscriptions found on twoof the present bells in the cathedral bell tower:Bell # 1 inscription :“ MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDRY. LONDON 1873 SAINT GEORGES”Bell # 2 inscription :“MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDRY. LONDON 1873 SAINT JOSEPH “Research about this company on Wikipedia shows and I quote:“The company now known as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry dates back to at least1570 but a continuous line of master founders in Whitechapel or nearby Aldgateexists since 1420. The present premises on Whitechapel Road date from 1670 ...The company moved there from smaller premises situated on the north side of theWhitechapel Road. At an earlier date the foundry was located at Aldgate, London.Traditionally, the foundry has been known by the name of the master founder andowner, operating from the 19th Century to 1968 as Mears & Stainbank. It hassince operated under the name of Whitechapel Bell Foundry.”On the next 2 bells of similar size and from the same foundry we found theinscription “ SAINT JAMES LONDON 1934”.These were the 4 cathedral bells which announced the Allied victory in 1945 asdescribed in the above-mentioned book.

A fifth bell, a gift from Colmar in the Diocese of Strasbourg, France was installedin 1985. This is a bigger bell than the other ones. The inscription has the wordsCOLMAR - DAME DE BON PORT - CATHEDRAL - ROSEAU- 1985-QUAL DICTA SUNTA LONDON - SANCTO MATTHAE-APRES BONDIE C’EST LA TER - DOMINICA + ELISA + CAROLTo explain more about these bells, I need to show you some basic terminology:

The MOUTH or THROAT of the 1873 and 1934 church bells is 42” ¾ indiameter. Their height is 33”. The WAIST is 26” in diameter. Their weight isabout 400 lbs each.The COLMAR bell, as shown here, dated 1985, is a bigger bell and has a MOUTHwith a diameter of 49” and a height of 36”. It’s WAIST is 30” in diameter. It’sweight is about 600 Lbs.These bells were cast in bronze, which is a metal alloy consisting of copper with asmall percentage of tin. This gives them a deep rich tone.Complete swinging church bells as these have a yoke, clapper, wheel, woodenframe. They used to be rung with old fashion rope pull.The Cathedral had a more sophisticated system : a mechanical clock whichcontrolled the ringing of the bells with chains and pulleys. Mr. Hubert Josephdevoted his time to keep this system going for a long time and he needs to becommended for this.

As mentioned before, the first time we read about the Roseau Cathedral bells in theDiocesan Archives is when two church bells had to be repaired:“With regard to the bells, two broken ones were sent to a firm in London to berecast; they arrived in November 1873 and were solemnly consecrated onDecember 21st, in the presence of the Governor, the Chief Justice and a numerouscongregation”.It has always been the practice of the Church to bless any object that was used inthe service of God and so there is a longstanding custom of the Latin Church tobless church bells or “ solemnly consecrate” as described in the diocesan archives.The consecration of a bell is a very solemn function, and its origin must be soughtfar back in the eighth century, if not earlier. The role of the bells is a very solemnand imposing one. The blessing of bells has so many features in common with therites of Christian initiation that at an early date men spoke of the "baptism" of abell, rather than of its blessing. The oldest known ritual for the blessing of a bell isof Spanish origin, and is found in the “Liber ordinum”, which takes us back to thetime preceding the Arab conquest (713AD) .One of the prayers, which accompanies the blessing of the water used at the"baptism" of a bell reveals a lot about the religious significance of church bells:This special Holy Water must be blessed by the bishop, even if he do not himselfbless the bell . The prayer reads:"Bless this water, O Lord, with a blessing from heaven, and may the virtue of theHoly Spirit come down upon it, that when this vessel, which is prepared forsummoning the children of Holy Church, hath been moistened with it, whereverthis bell may sound, may the power of those who lie in ambush, the shadow ofapparitions, the attack of whirlwinds, the striking of lightning, the ruin ofthunderbolts, the calamity of tempests, and all spirits of storms be scared away;and when the children of Christians hear its ringing, may devotion grow withinthem, that, hastening to the bosom of Holy Mother Church, they may there singunto Thee in the assembly of the Saints a new canticle, introducing in their musicthe stirring sound of the trumpet, the sweet notes of the psaltery, the harmony ofthe organ, the cheerfulness of the drum and the gladness of the cymbal: so that bytheir prayers and worship they may invite to join them the multitude of the Angelichosts who dwell in the holy temple of Thy glory."The bell is then washed with the water thus blessed. When the bell has beenwashed, the bishop anoints it on the outside with the oil of the sick, after which herecites a prayer in which he once more asks that when "the melody of this bellsounds upon the ears of the people may their devout faith grow ... May the righthand of Thy power subdue the powers of the air, that, when they hear this bell,they may tremble and fly before the standard of the holy cross of Thy Son which ismarked upon it... "Once more the bell is anointed, seven times outside with the oil of the sick, andfour times inside with the chrism.Church bells are indeed used in time of great danger such as a fire, invasion ofhostile armies , approaching hurricane to warn people of a town or village. In myvillage Bellevue Chopin the church bell is tolled for a death of anyone regardlessof creed or religion. A recent tolling was for Dorothy Griffin né Nicholls who was

a member of the prominent Dominican family who donated the land for theBellevue chapel and dedicated years to the Roseau Cathedral with the upkeep ofthe Cathedral’s and Bishop’s yard. We so remember her and her family withaffection and gratitude.So, pastors and Parish Priests, now you know how to increase church attendance:INSTALL AND RING A CHURCH BELL.Bernard Lauwyck .bernardlauw@yahoo.com PO BOX 317 Roseau Dominica