As I tour and explore these wonderful historic churches in "The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches, I am always amazed at how something little can turn into something big. How looking up something you think to be a small thing can have such a long and rich history. Such was my surprised when I started coming across and taking note of the bells I found in the churches.
When I did a search on "Bells used in Catholic Mass" I was overwhelmed by the information I found. The text that I used for this post is
Sanctus Bells History and Use in the Catholic Church by Matthew D. Herrera.
The bell pictured here is not a Sanctus bell but the one used to announce the priest. It was this bell that I researched and then discovered the Sanctus bells. I had seen them but did not know they were bells.
According to the article "The ringing of Sanctus bells is still required during the celebration of the Tridentine Mass (or Latin Mass) even today. Conversely the ringing of the Sanctus bells was made optional during the celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae (Latin for New Order Mass) -- also known as the new Mass which was introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1969"
The Sanctus bells (pictured above) are rung at three points during the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass (New Mass):
1. Prior to the consecration at the epiclesis where the priestly celebrant prays to the Holy Spirt to change the gifts of bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
2. A second time as the priest elevates and presents the Body of Christ.
3. A third time as the celebrant elevates and presents the chalice filled with the Precious Blood.
There is a lot more than what I want to go into here, but if your truly interested in more click on the link above which will take you to the PDF article I used. I thought it made for an interesting read.
Door Bell picture taken at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cassella Ohio.
Scanctus Bell picture taken at the Immaculate Conception Church Botkins Ohio.
As I tour and explore these wonderful historic churches in "The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches, I am always amazed at how something little can turn into something big. How looking up something you think to be a small thing can have such a long and rich history. Such was my surprised when I started coming across and taking note of the bells I found in the churches.
The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches gets its name from the cross tipped spires we all see as we drive the country side. The Ohio Byway features eight churches.
This church looks almost plain compared to the others that I've been taking pictures of but its simplicity is what I find so compelling. It was easy for me to capture that Post Card look I was striving for. I am looking forward to coming back and explore further the inside and its history. All in all I made two trips to this church and am glad I did. I completely missed the Cemetery located just west of the church on my first visit.
to take a moment and look for shots I missed or a chance to get a picture with a better sky, or just to admire the cross tipped spire reaching for the heavens. When was the last time you took time to reflect, to savor a moment, to look about and say WOW? Finding God is easy when you look for him.
