The comforting sound of Church Bells

There is something about the peal of church bells that I find comforting.

The sound trembling the air especially on the Angelus calling of noon and 6 o clock stirs memories and warms the heart and spirit . I recall lazy summer days standing as a teenager chatting to my Granda James as we leaned over his garden fence , his pipe smoke sweetly scenting the air, and looked over the field and the town. The Catholic Churches in Banbridge then had no bells so we relied on the hourly peal of the “big church” that dominated Church Square across from the ancestral home of polar explorer Captain Francis Crozier. The “big church” was Church of Ireland and I presume it was long called that because it was the established church of the Governing Classes . But maybe it was because it was singular in its faith confession unlike the multitude of Presbyterian and Baptist congregations in the town. Regardless, it was our comforting reminder of time passing , slowly in the mind of my youth , but no doubt all to fast in the aged remembering of Granda James. I learned a lot in those chats and in the silences that regularly broke them. The music of the Church Bells marking the passage of daily time remains forever the backdrop to what seemed an perfect time of inter-generational dialogue and debate between my Granda and me. Like all happy memories it is idealised , and in the memory those days were always sunny and bright .

I learned, some years later, when on "my way" to becoming a Christian Brother about the "art" of ringing the Angelus Bell. I never completed the journey into a teaching vocation as a religious, but I greatly valued those I met on the journey, both as fellow student travellers and as teaching Brothers. I looked forward to my turn ringing the Angelus Bell in the Seniorate in Balheary, Swords . The pull of the bell rope , the dance of my feet and arms , the rhythm of the rings and the echo of the bell music remains as real in my memory today as it was in reality back then.

It was and is a call to pause in the marking of that most precious gift, the gift of time. For some the pause is filled by the repetition of a prayer , learned in childhood or formed in the need of the moment . For others it is filled by silence, or the catching of breath in the joy of memory, or the wish for health , well being and peace . For all it marked a sound that interfered with daily normality , disrupted our thoughts and work , and marked time especially in an era without the smart phone and smart watch .

So I still treasure the peal of the church bells whether in the great outdoors of numerous places , or the busy indoors of the TV Angelus pause. It is one of the joys I find in Spain and especially in my local town of Sucina . In Sucina the “big church “ in the village square is Catholic but "big" because it stands alone, with little Faith community diversity and competition , but holding a long history of place at the centre of the town. As Church it no longer commands the attendance levels of previous decades , nor does it tower over public policy and influence the choices that people face in everyday living . But the sound of the bells at Angelus or on the hour still provides context , still reminds us of the passing of time , and for the some ( or perhaps the many) is comforting to the soul and energising to the spirit . We are blessed in the small things that are constant and call us to pause , think , and resolve in the midst of an increasingly busy , noisy, ever changing and challenging world.

In the midst of complexity the key to sanity lies in retaining simplicity.