Did You Know?

The original church bell of St. Andrew’s found a home in the bell tower of Our Lady of the Mountains Church – a very interesting story – and for a number of years we were without church bells. When the ‘new church’ (20 years old next year!) was built, the Knights of Columbus donated the money to build the imposing belltower, called the “Ave Maria Tower” to honor our Blessed Mother. And many contributed to the purchase of the bell carillon that calls us to prayer and announces the “Angelus” and the “Hour of Great Mercy” (3:00 PM) each day! There are merry bells for weddings, and somber bells for funerals, and insistent bells that remind us that Mass will begin in five minutes! When church bells ring across a town, they lay claim to it, like the sprinkling of holy water. Such a claim can be literal: a Cockney, for example, is anyone living within the sound of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow Church in London’s Cheapside. The sound of the bell marks its audience, whoever it might be. Many of our neighbors have told us how much they appreciate living within the sound of our bells! And there is also tension – as a few (very few) have called to complain about the sound of our bells, which is why we’re thoughtful about the times of day that they are rung. Church bells are an expression of faith for some but also an ‘imposition’ of that faith on someone else. The distinction might not matter much to most of us, but to those who think carefully about the matter – particularly those who see religion as a threat – the distinction is glaring. It is why the French Revolutionaries banned the church bells. So did the Mexican Revolutionaries in 1910. And the Spanish Republicans in 1931. The American answer has always been to protect the bell. The First Amendment may prohibit the establishment of religion, but in protecting the free expression of religion, it means that the public square might be awash in the clanging of bells – and along with them – “calls to prayer”. The resulting cacophony might lack the dry order of the laicized French boulevard, but it has a certain energy all its own, some hidden ingredient in America’s success in the protecting of the free expression of religion. Think about that the next time you hear the bells of St. Andrew’s!

Our Father Bob Gonzales leaves this week for his six-week stay in Bavaria, where he will fill in for a Parish Priest and share his gifts with parishioners in Vatersdorf. He hopes to visit Segno in northern Italy, the birthplace of Padre Eusebio Kino, the “Apostle of Arizona” – returning the courtesy of the visit of Lady Mayor of Segno, the Chini Family (Padre Kino’s family), and delegates last year to Sierra Vista and Tucson. We are so pleased that Father Bob will be our ambassador to Segno and a ‘missionary’ in Germany!