AS CHRISTIAN church-goers celebrate the birth of Jesus today, most bells calling people to mass will be ringing to a slightly different tune.
As modern technology takes over, the days of the old fashioned bell ringer pulling on a rope are rapidly disappearing. Electronic systems now in place mean that everything is done at the push of a button.
Meant to act as a medium between heaven and earth, church bells represent the communication between humans and god. At Christmas the ring of the bells holds particular significance as they announce the birth of Christ. No wonder then that bells are one of the most ubiquitous Christmas images for cards, wrapping paper and decorations.
Church bells first became common in Europe in the early Middle Ages, particularly in Northern Europe, where they reflected a Celtic influence. When the tradition of ringing church bells first started the sound of the bells was the only form of gathering large crowds together.
But with electronic mechanisms now installed in most churches and programmed to ring at certain times, there is often no human contact involved in the ringing process at all. Father Joseph, an American Orthodox priest who now gives regular services at Ayios Panteleimonas in Nicosia regrets the switch to electronic rings. “Churches used to have grand bells that were so finely tuned, but the modern systems are much simpler with rather monotonous tones to their ring,” he says.
“Imagine a village setting a few hundred years ago where the bells would ring harmoniously fifteen minutes before the service to call all the workers out of the fields,” he says. “Times have changed, and unfortunately this kind of tradition has died with not much significance given to the ringing of bells now in the Orthodox Church.”
Travelling further back in time before the use of bells in Greece and Cyprus, Father Joseph describes how calling the faithful to prayer was a particularly sacred one in which a flat piece of wood or metal called a sematron would be beaten rhythmically with a mallot to create a melody. “Interestingly, these are still in use in some monasteries in Cyprus including Maheras and the Monastery of St John,” says Father Joseph.
The Holy Cross Catholic Church has been using electronic bells for a number of years now, ringing at 6pm every evening. But despite the change in tradition, Father Evencio insists that the meaning behind the ring is the same. “The sound still invites people to pray and come to the church; nothing has really changed,” he points out.
St Paul’s Cathedral Dean, Father John Tyrell is happy that the Anglican Church in Nicosia still does things the old fashioned way with a visit to the bell tower standing as a daily ritual. “We ring it by hand for every single service. The bells are a call to prayer and very significant. At St Paul’s I usually have a server ring the bell for the Sunday service and during the week I usually do it myself.”
Father John is in favour of sticking to tradition. “It’s much nicer this way than it being electronic. There’s a certain knack to it; the steadiness of the ring, the tone you get out of the bell. Every bell is tuned to a certain beautiful note.”
