I do not know how many people still remember the sound of morning bells at 6:00am. For me it was a part of the countryside. Every day, sounds of three old bells filled all the space between the three churches in my hometown, Kartuzy . They were calling all of us to say The Angelus. I personally miss the majestic sound of the bells. I can say that they were better than a watch. As kids, we built our entire day around those bells. 6:00am was the time to wake up. 12:00pm was half of the day so everybody was running to finish stuff on time. 6:00pm told us that the homework for school had to be done and after a few more hours it would be time to go to sleep. Sometimes there was an extra sound of a bell. It was a single bell with a high pitch tune. This one told us that somebody had died so the entire town prayed for that person.
In our time, beautiful bells have disappeared. In some places they were replaced by minarets. I could see it when I was in England. It was very sad. All the churches were empty and new mosques had been built because the new community needed them.
Today I am asking myself one question: will I hear bells in towns again? I am looking at new churches and they do not have a tower to put a bell above the roof. It is like we gave up our own signs of faith and tradition just to please modern architecture.
During the Second World War, many bells were used by Germans to make bullets or weapons. Some parishes actually hid their bells and protected them from being destroyed. There are a lot of barns in Europe that were used as a shelter for a bell during the war.
You are probably wondering why I am talking about bells. Well, there is something else that disappeared together with the bells. It is a prayer called The Angelus. I noticed that there are at least two generations that do not know this prayer. It seems that lack of bells goes together with not knowing The Angelus. Maybe it is a coincidence but both of them are slowly gone from our life.
Today I can say that I miss my morning bells. I miss the sound that was different from any other sound of town. It was special, it was calling to something much bigger than I am. It comes to my mind what Hemingway said at the end of his book: "Ask not for whom the bells toll. It tolls for thee".
The Angelus Prayer
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, etc...
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to Your Word.
Hail Mary, etc...
V. And the Word was made flesh,
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc...
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord,
Your Grace into our hearts;
that as we have known the incarnation of Christ,
your Son by the message of an angel,
so by His passion and cross
we may be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.
Through the same Christ, our Lord.
Amen.