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Bring Back the Bells!
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For centuries, bells have called the faithful to worship, pealing through towns and across the countryside. Bell towers have the distinct privilege of pointing toward heaven and were often the tallest buildings in towns before the invention of the skyscraper.These bells were not timekeepers in the sense of tolling each hour. When the bells were rung, they signified that either it was time for Mass or for the traditional Angelus prayer, generally said at noon, though sometimes in the morning and evening. Many Catholic churches still ring their bells at noon for this reason, to pause at noon and turn your thoughts to Our Lady, seeking her intercession amidst the chaos of a busy day.Tower bells chime out the celebration of the Mass and prayers to Our Lady. Christmas is associated with bells for a similar reason—these would toll out the call to Midnight Mass.
A double-rainbow over the bell tower, taken the day this survey was announced in our parish bulletin.
Coincidence or God-incidence?
Photo by Maryjean Zwack
Several parishioners have recognized that having a working bell tower at Prince of Peace would be a wonderful enhancement for our parish. It's been over 23 years since the bells in our tower have chimed. Fr. Tim would like to know if you would support bringing them back before he makes a decision whether or not to move forward with this project.The current bell in the tower is not a real bell, it is just decorative. With the exception of the 4 speakers remaining in the bell tower, the original bell system was removed during the church's renovation several years ago. Therefore, to bring back the bells we need to purchase a new system. The system we would install is a state-of-the-art digital system that plays through the bell tower loudspeakers. The volume and frequency of the playing of the bells would be totally under our control, as would the chimes and hymns that are played. While Hillsborough County has no restrictions on church bells, we would be sensitive to our neighbors and not play them too loud or often.
The sound of these "bells" is amazing, able to play various chimes as well as several different hymns. The total cost to install the system will be approximately $15,000, and possibly less if we are able to use the current bell tower speakers.
Listen to these samples of the sound of the bells: -
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Please complete this short survey
Please take a moment to let us know if you'd like to have bells at Prince of Peace and whether or not you'd be willing to make a small donation to help pay for the cost of the system.
We'd like to be clear that at this time no decision has been made as to whether or not we will be installing a bell system at the church. This survey is only intended to gauge the interest of our parishioners.