In lands conquered by Islam, ringing church bells was forbidden and the church used the wooden board and hammer to call people together. Whenever Orthodox lands were freed of the Moslem yoke, the church bells joyously proclaimed their freedom. In churches which are fortunate enough to have them, bells are rung just before and at the beginning of the Liturgy to call the people together, during the singing of Holy God and It is meet, the hymn to the Theotokos, the Mother of God. In many churches, small hand bells are rung at the most solemn moments of the service inside. There are little jingling bells on the censer which make a lovely tinkling sound as the priest censes the church.
Bells can be solemn, bells can be happy, but they always claim our attention.
Church bells remind us that God is calling us all to Him. This web site is donated and maintained by TheoLogic Systems, which provides software and information tools for Orthodox Christians and parishes world wide.