Bells

his resonant instrument, in the form of a upside down cup, originates most likely from the East where it has been in use for many ages. Another tradition has bells originating from the Italian province renown for its bronze work, Campania, from which bells received their roman name "campana," a term still used in the liturgy.

Bells initially served a secular function such as the announcement of a new consignment of fish or of an impending threat. However the Christian religion began very early on to develop an use for bells in religious ceremonies. Moreover, they would be targets of heretic rage.

This dual heritage no doubt explains the powers and functions that are attributed to bells. Popular belief has long endowed them with the power to control the elements and ward off evil spirits through a kind of "musical exorcism." Bells also perform a social function signalling the everyday as well as moments of great joy or of terrible sadness: curfew, prayer, marriage, baptism, funeral, fire, flood, declaration of war or truce.

New France, one of the greatest consumers of bells in all of Christendom, perpetuated the traditions to which they are connected. Each acquisition of one of these instruments was most certainly marked by a ceremony which usually became an event: the bell had to first receive its baptismal name and be blessed before its installation at the top of the bell tower could proceed. The church bell tower, an integral part of religious architecture for many centuries, is the symbol of the influence of Christian faith on the world and dominates in all its majesty over rural and urban landscapes. It is said that the rich resonance of bells sound best when they burst out in chimes.

Although some have arrived from England, most of our bells, a part of our heritage since the beginning of this century, come from France where famous foundries, like those of the Paccards in Haute-Savoie or the Bollées, have been in operation for several generations. According to ancestral techniques, the bronze is poured into a double mold upon which decorations and inscriptions have been engraved to immortalize the donors.

Text: from a text attached to the file of the Committee of Construction and Sacred Art
English translation: Alice Ming Wai Jim