History of Bells and Chimes in Ecclesiastical Worship
from The Catholic Encyclopedia

The first ecclesiastical use of bells was to announce the hour of church services. In the days before watches and clocks some such signal must have been a necessity, more especially in religious communities which assembled many times a day to sing the Divine praises. Among the Egyptian cenobites, a trumpet used for this purpose; among the Greeks a wooden board or sheet of metal was struck with a hammer; in the West the use of bells eventually prevailed. In the Merovingian period there is no evidence for the existence of large bells capable of being heard at a distance, but, as it became needful to call to church the inhabitants of a town or hamlet, bell turrets were built, and bells increased in size, and as early as the eighth century we hear of two or more bells in the same church. Perhaps these were at first intended to reinforce each other and add to the volume of sound. But, in any case it became in time a recognized principle that the classicum, the clash of several bells ringing at once, constituted an element of joy and solemnity befitting great feasts (Rupert of Deutz, De Div. Oofic., I, 16). Medieval consuetudinaries show that where there were many different bells were used for different purposes. Even in ordinary parish churches it was customary to ring not only for Mass but before both Matins and Vespers (Hartzheim, IV, 247; V, 327) while differences in the manner of ringing and the number of bells employed indicated the grade of the feast, the nature of the service, the fact that a sermon would be preached, and many other details. The custom of making such announcement by bell still survives here and there. Thus in Rome on the evening before a fast day, the bells are rung for a quarters of an hour in all the parish churches to remind people of their obligation on the morrow.

Some rude lines quoted in the gloss of the "Corpus Juris", and often found in inscriptions, describe the principal functions of a bell (cf. Longfellow, The Golden Legend):

    Laudo Deum verum plebem voco congrego clerum

    Defunctos ploro, nimbum fugo, festa decoro.

    (I praise the true God, I call the people, I assemble the clergy;

    I bewail the dead, I dispense storm clouds, I do honour to feasts.)

Or otherwise:

    Funera plango fulmina frango sabbata pango

    Excito lentos dissipo ventos paco cruentos

    (At obsequies I mourn, the thunderbolts I scatter, I ring in the sabbaths;

    I hustle the sluggards, I drive away storms, I proclaim peace after bloodshed.)

Under defuntos ploro we may reckon the "passing bell", which in its strict meaning is a usage of very early date. In all the monastic orders when any one of the community seemed to be at the point of death a signal was given by ringing a bell or striking a wooden board (tabula) either to summon the monks to his bedside or to admonish them to pray (see Eddius Vita Wilfridi, 64). This was extended later to parish churches, and a bell was rung to announce that a parishioner was in his agony, which seemingly developed further into a bell tolled after his decease to solicit prayers for his soul. So deeply rooted were these practices in England that it was found impossible at the Reformation to abolish them altogether. Hence, the "Canons" of the Church of England prescribe (Can. lxvii): "When any is passing out of this life a bell shall be tolled and the minister shall not then slack to do his last duty. And after the party's death, if it so fall out, there shall be rung no more than one short peal, and one before the burial, and one after the burial." "Though the tolling of this bell", says Ellacombe, "has been prescribed for four distinct occasions, modern custom has limited it to two: first, after the death of the parishioner, to which the term passing-bell has been incorrectly transferred; and the second time during the procession of the funeral from the house of the deceased to the church-gate or entrance." In many places it was formerly customary by some variation in the manner of ringing to indicate the sex,quality, or age of the deceased. Thus Durandus in the fourteenth century directed that when anyone was in extremis the passing-bell should be tolled twice for a woman, thrice for a man, and for a cleric a greater number of times according to the orders which he had received. Among Celtic peoples the ancient hand-bells which, as already noted, were some immediately connected with God's worship, partly as relics of holy men, were usually carried and rung at funerals. To this day St. Finnian's little bell lies exposed upon the altar of a ruined chapel in one of the Catholic districts of the Highlands of Scotland. It is used at funeral, but is otherwise left unprotected, being regarded with such deep veneration by all that no one dares to interfere with it (see Macdonald, Moldart Oban, 188, 120). In many parts of France there were formerly confraternities of hand-bell-ringers who regularly attended funerals, walking at the head of the procession. They also paraded the streets at night and rang to remind people to pray for the holy souls. This happened especially on the eve of All Saints and on Christmas eve (Morillot, Clochettes, 160 sqq.).

In Rome, the "De Profundis" is rung every evening by the parish churches one hour after the Ave Maria. Clement XII in 1736 granted an indulgence for this practice and endeavoured to extend it. This custom is observed in many other places, particularly in North America.

The Curfew (ignitegium), a warning to extinguish fires and lights, after which all respectable characters went home to bed, was possibly of ecclesiastical origin but seems to have been rung as a rule by the town bell (compana communiae, bancloche). Still in many cases one of the church bells was used for this and similar purposes. In England this was particularly frequent, and in many small towns and parishes the curfew is rung to this day at hours varying from 8 p.m. to 10.

The Angelus or Ave Maria may or may not have developed out of the curfew. There seems good reason to believe that a special bell, often called the Gabriel bell, was devoted to this purpose. In the Middle Ages the Angelus seems commonly to have been rung with three equal peals and this arrangement still obtains in many places. In Rome, where the Ave Maria is sung half an hour after sunset this method obtains: three strokes and a pause, four strokes and a pause, five strokes and a pause, a final stroke.

From the introduction of the Elevation of the Host in the Mass at the beginning of the thirteenth century it seems to have been customary to ring one of the great bells of the church, at any rate during the principal Mass, at the moment when the Sacred Host was raised on high. This was to give warning to the people at work in the fields in order that they might momentarily knell down and make an act of adoration. It seems, however, not improbable that in England the big bell was not commonly rung but that a small hand-bell was used for the purpose. This was taken to a small window (low side window) ordinarily closed by a shutter, thrust through the aperture and rung outside the church. Whether this was distinct from the little bell which the rubrics of the Mass now order to be rung by the server is not quite clear. It may be noted here that in regard to this same tintinnabulum usage varies very much in different countries. In Belgium, France, and some other places, this little bell is rung also at the "little elevation" before the Pater Noster. In Rome it is never rung at the Domino non sum dignus and is not used at all at Masses said by the pope or by cardinals.

In the rite of the blessing of the bells the verse is applied to them vox Domini in virtue, vox Domini in magnificentiâ (The voice of the Lord is in power; the voice of the Lord in magnificence, Psalm 28:4). It is in no doubt in virtue of the solemnity which they lend to worship that the "Ceremoniale Episcoporum" directs that they are to be rung in honour of the bishop when he visits the church. The same mark of respect is observed in the case of secular princes, while such occasions as processions of the Blessed Sacrament, solemn Te Deums, marriages, and days of national rejoicing are similarly distinguished. On the other hand, in token of mourning the bells are silent from the Gloria of the Mass on Maundy Thursday until the Gloria on Holy Saturday. This rule goes back to the eighth century and Amalrius is authority for the statement that then as now a wooden rattle was used in their place. Again the idea of vox Domini in Virtute in remembrance of their special consecration has led to the bells being rung at times of storm and apprehended danger. The inscription Salva Terra often found in the old bells of the South of France seems to bear special reference to this virtue of the bells as sacramentals.