The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-10-25
An Imposing Ceremony.
Blessing the Bells of ST. Al.
phonsus Church.


were gathered at st. Alphonsus Church
! Yesterday afternoon to witness the cere-
mony of blessing the new bells, just
procured to be placed in the church
tower has not been seen in Wheeling
before for years. Not less than 5000
people were in the yard adjoining the
church, crowding the sidewalks, the
windows and the sheds, and every other
place where good view could be OBJ
tanned. We noticed the windows of the
steeple of the church opposite crowded
with people.
The largest of the bells is named st.
John, and weighs $500 pounds. 1t was
presented by the congregation of st.
Alphensus, and was made, as were the
others, at the Niles Works in Cincin
natl
The next in size is called st. Anna.
1t weighs 1900, and was presented by
the All Souls Society.
The smallest is named st. Agnes,
weighs 500, and was purchased by the
congregation.
The bells are rich, full and musical In
tone, and are creditable alike to the re-
ligious spirit which melted their pur-
chase and to the ability of the makers.
They were all neatly ornamented with
evergreens and flowers, and the smallest
one especially was beautifully decora-
ted.
At half past two o'clock a procession
was formed of the Bishops in full can.
onicals, the clergy in their vestments,
followed by the societies of the Guar
dian Angel; the Blessed Virgin, the
members of which wore white wells,
aud the students of st. Vincent's Col.
lege, Washington Brass Band furnish
ing most appropriate music, and moved
to the enclosure north of the church,
where the bells were placed. Over the
Right Reverend prelate crimson cano-
Ply was borne.
The arrangements for the ceremony
were most admirable, and although
the crowd was immense, there was no
crush, no discomfort, no annoyance.
We do not know to whom the credit of
this complete arrangement is due, or
we would give the proper credit.
After offering the customary prayers,
the Bishop and attending clergy visited
each of the bells, aneinting them with
oil and sprinkling them with holy water.
At the conclusion of the ceremony each
of the bells rang out three separate and
distinct strokes, when the procession
was reformed and escorted the Bishop
and clergy to the church.
From an improvised pulpit, on the
steps on the east side of the church,
Rev. DR.. Brann delivered sermon on
the occasion.
The preacher said that the Old Tesla
ment contained figures of what happen
ed in the new. The trumpets spoken of
the book of Numbers were symbols of
The bells in Churches. The use Of bells
is very ancient Aaron's vestments had
three bells. The preacher then gave
sketch of the uses of the bell. A chime
of bells, said he, is a symbol of the har-
mony which should exist among Christ
ians. The bell is also a symbol of the
preacher; and abiding to Father Hya-
cinthe, the Doctor represented him as a
bell that had fallen to the ground and
been broken.
We regret that we could not obtain a
fuller report of the Rev. Dr.'s remarks,
and also full description of the cere-
mony, giving the meaning and object
and the import of its different stages.
This the vast concOurse of people pres
ent prevented us from doing as COM
Dirtgly as We could have wished.