www.newadvent.org Open in urlscan Pro
2400:52e0:1e00::1079:1  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

../utility/search.htm

<form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">
  <!-- Hidden Inputs -->
  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active">
  <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0">
  <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9">
  <!-- Search Box -->
  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label>
  <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel">
  <!-- Submit Button -->
  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label>
  <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel">
</form>

Text Content

 

Search: Submit Search



 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 

 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 


Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > A > Angelus Bell


ANGELUS BELL

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this
website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church
Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

The triple Hail Mary recited in the evening, which is the origin of our modern
Angelus, was closely associated with the ringing of a bell. This bell seemingly
belonged to Complin, which was theoretically said at sundown, though in practice
it followed closely upon the afternoon office of Vespers. There can be little
doubt that in all save a few exceptional cases, the tolling the Ave bell was
distinct from the ringing of curfew (ignitegium); the former taking place at the
end of Complin and perhaps coinciding with the prayers for peace, said in choir;
the latter being the signal for the close of day and for the general bed-time.
In many places, both in England and France, the curfew bell is still rung, and
we note that not only is it rung at a relatively late hour, varying from 8 to
10, but that the actual peal lasts in most cases for a notable period of time,
being prolonged for a hundred strokes or more. Where the town-bell and the bells
of the principal church or monastery were distinct, the curfew was generally
rung upon the town-bell. Where the church-bell served for both purposes, the Ave
and the curfew were probably rung upon the same bell at different hours. There
is a great lack of records containing any definite note of time regarding the
ringing of the Ave bell, but there is at least one clear example in the case of
Cropredy, Oxfordshire where in 1512 a bequest was made to the churchwardens on
condition that they should "toll dayly the Avees bell at six of the clok in the
mornyng, at xii of the clok at noone and at foure of the clok at afternoone"
(North, Church Bells of Lincolnshire, 169). At the same time it seems clear that
in the case of cathedral churches, etc., where the Office was said in choir, the
interval between Complin and the (anticipated) Matins of the next day was not
very great; at any rate. at some seasons of the year. Under these circumstances
the three interrupted peals of the Ave bell probably served as a sort of
introduction to the continuous tolling of the curfew which preceded Matins. This
would be sufficient to account for certain clear traces of a connection in some
localities between the curfew and the recital of the three evening Ayes. For
instance, the poet Villon (fifteenth century) must. clearly be thinking of the
curfew, when he writes:

> J'oy la cloche de la Sarbonne
> Qui toujours neuf heures sonne
> Le salut que l'ange pr dit.



Again, if there were no such connection, it would be difficult to explain why
some of the Reformation bishops like Hooper did their best to suppress the
tolling of the curfew as a superstitious practice. Still the attempt was not
successful. Long before this, in 1538, a Protestant Grand Jury. in Canterbury
had presented the parson of St. Peter's church for superstitious practices,
complaining of the "tolling of the Ave bell after evening song done"
(Stahlscbmidt, Church Bells of Kent, 358), but this could hardly have been the
curfew.


INSCRIPTIONS ON ANGELUS BELLS

Many circumstances point to the conclusion that the ringing of the Angelus in
the fourteenth and even in the thirteenth century must have been very general
(see The Month, Jan., 1902,69-70, and Jan., 1904, 60-63). The number of bells
belonging to these two centuries which still survive is relatively small, but a
considerable proportion bear inscriptions which suggest that they were
originally intended to serve as Ave bells. In the first place, many bear the
words Ave Maria; or, as in the case of a bell at Helfta, near Eisleben, in
Germany, dated 1234, the whole sentence: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Bells with this Ave Maria inscription are also numerous in England, though in
England the Angelus bells seem in a very large number of instances to have been
dedicated to St. Gabriel. These Gabriel inscriptions take various forms. For
example: Dulcis instar mellis campana vocor Gabrielis (I am sweet as honey, and
am called Gabriel's bell). In which very common inscription the second word is
often sisto, or cisto; the true reading is perhaps dulcissimi mellis. Or again:
Ecce Gabrielis sonat hæc campana fidelis (Behold this bell of faithful Gabriel
sounds); or Missi de coelis nomen habeo Gabrielis (I bear the name of Gabriel
sent from heaven), or Missus vero pie Gabriel fert læta Mariæ (Gabriel the
messenger bears joyous tidings to holy Mary). We can hardly be wrong in
regarding these bells as Angelus bells, for in the Diocese of Lincoln alone we
find nineteen of the surviving medieval bells bearing the name of Gabriel, while
only six bear the name of Michael, a much more popular patron in other respects.
In France, the Ave Maria seems to have been the ordinary label for Angelus
bells; but in Germany-we find as the most common inscription of all, even in the
case of many bells of the thirteenth century, the words O Rex Gloriæ Veni Cum
Pace (O King of Glory, Come with Peace); as for instance, one of the bells of
Freiburg in the Breisgau, dated 1258. To explain the popularity of this
inscription we have to remember that according to medieval tradition the
Annunciation took place at evening. It was then that the Prince of Peace took
flesh and dwelt among us. Moreover in Germany, the Netherlands and in some parts
of France the Angelus bell was regularly known as the "Peace bell", and pro pace
schlagen (to toll for peace) was a phrase popularly used for ringing the
Angelus.


MANNER OF RINGING

With regard to the manner of ringing the Angelus it seems sufficient to note
that the triple stroke repeated three times with a pause between seems to have
been adopted from the very beginning. In the fifteenth-century constitutions of
Syon monastery it is directed that the lay brother "shall toll the Ave bell nine
strokes at three times, keeping the space of one Pater and Ave between each
three tollings". Again a fifteenth century bell at Erfert bears the words Cum
ter reboo, pie Christiferam ter aveto (When I ring thrice, thrice devoutly greet
the Mother of Christ). Still earlier, the statutes of Wells Cathedral, in 1331,
direct that "three strokes should be struck at three several times upon the
great bell in quick succession", and this shortly before curfew. Similarly, at
Lérida in Spain, in 1308, the bishop directs that "after Complin and as the
shades of night are falling" the bell is to be pealed three times with intervals
between (Villanueva, Viage, XVI, 323), while the faithful are directed on
hearing the bell to fall on their knees and recite the Ave Maria.




ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Thurston, H. (1907). Angelus Bell. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01487a.htm

MLA citation. Thurston, Herbert. "Angelus Bell." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01487a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Carl Horst.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address
is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I
greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical
errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT