Up the street from me, there’s a Catholic church that was purchased by a conservative Catholic sect* a few years back. (It’s not SSPX, but a similar sect–they observe the Latin rites, nuns dress in traditional habits, and so on.)
They seem to ring their bells at the strangest times. For example, tonight–12/24–they just rang the bells at 11:36pm. Seldom do I ever notice their bells rung on the hour, half, or quarter–inevitably it’s some peculiar and (apparently, though surely not actually) random time. I’ve never been able to puzzle out why they ring the bells at these times, and googling “Catholic bells” offers little guidance. (ETA: They did just ring their bells at approximately midnight. On Christmas, this obviously makes sense. 11:36 still doesn’t, though.)
I’m sure some of you either a) remember the pre-Vatican II rituals to which I believe these conservative sects generally adhere, or b) may adhere to one. If you could shed some light on this odd bell-ringing behaviour, I would appreciate it!
I don’t mean to diminish such organizations–the relations between these and the rest of Catholicism are Catholic family politics, so far as I’m concerned, and I don’t have a dog in that fight. Just lack of any better word.
Just a guess (IANAOSC*), but it could be they are ringing the main bells at the moments during the Mass when the Host is consecrated (e.g., when the Priest says “this is my body,” or in this case probably “Hoc est enim Corpus meum”). I’ve heard smaller, indoor bells rung at these points during more conservative Catholic (indult) and Anglican Masses.
Just another WAG, if the bells are rung randomly throughout the day, could they be signaling people to come pray? At my monastery on an average weekday, bells ring at 5:55 AM, 11:55 AM, and 6:25 PM for morning, midday, and evening prayer. The bells are five minutes before prayer starts. We also have bells when breakfast is ready (and morning silence is broken!) around 6:30-6:45 AM and before dinner at 5:25 PM.
I have no idea if people actually live at the church that you’re asking about, but since you mention nuns, I’m guessing it’s a possibility. If so, bells are a great signal for people to stop their ministry and gather for prayer or food. I would guess that the 11:36 ones were really 11:35 by their clocks and signaled people to gather for some sort of pre-midnight mass thing.
They may have been singing the office of Matins before Midnight Mass. If they started Matins at about 9.30pm (which is when we usually start) then they’d have reached the end of Matins, and the Te Deum, at roughly 11.30pm. In some places it’s traditional to ring the church’s bells for the Te Deum.
Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri (translation: the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter). It’s an order whose priests celebrate the liturgical rites according to the 1962 missal and breviary.)
I’m guessing that you’ve more or less got it, Cunctator & MissMossie. I’ve heard of (though movies, literature, etc.) such things as Vespers, Matins, and so on. They’ve been known to ring the bells in the morning as well, though I’m usually either asleep or not here.
It’s the consecration of the Host. If I remember correctly it was done as a set of 3. When I was a 5 (1963) they used the steeple bells. When I switched churches they used hand bells on the alter. By the time I was an alter boy the practice had stopped. I also remember that the vestibule had a bell mounted on the wall and it was rung when the priest first came out.
At 11.36pm? It seems unlikely to me. That would suggest a very quick mass, starting at around 11.00pm - unlikely for a traditional Latin parish, which would almost certainly wait until midnight to commence its mass.
I’ve never been to a mass that was over 60 minutes so 11:36 would be about right for one that starts at 11:00. It’s not like there is any other explanation for the ringing bells unless they’ve started playing bingo during mass.
A traditional Latin mass parish would not commence a mass at 11.00pm on Christmas Eve. The rubrics require that Christmas masses cannot begin before midnight. As for another explanation, the one I gave above is what all the traditional mass parishes in Australia do:
Must have been magic bells then. Otherwise it’s just another Catholic Christmas mass that starts at 11 pm.
If it quakes like a duck, roast it for dinner.
