Bells
Years ago, we started a tradition at the time of our first daughter’s birth in 1988 of collecting personalized Christmas bells from Helix Pewter & Copper in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Sadly to say, the owners who we had grown quite fond of decided to close their doors to public business in 2002 or 2003.
Etched inside each bell reads Christmas with the year and all of our names. Below, is a sample of these bells we bought over a 15-year period.
Bells, especially Church Bells, have traditionally been associated with Christmas for a long time. In the Anglican and Catholic churches, the church day starts at sunset, so any service after that is the first service of the day. So a service on Christmas Eve after sunset is traditionally the first service of Christmas day!
In churches that have a Bell or Bells, They are often rung to signal the start of this service. In some churches in the UK, it is traditional that the largest bell in the church rings four times in the hour before midnight and then at midnight all the bells ring in celebration.
In the Catholic Church, Midnight Mass at Christmas is the only time allowed. Although there is no proof the early church believed Jesus was born at midnight. A lot of Churches have midnight services on Christmas Eve, although not every church will have a mass or communion as part of the service.
In many Catholic countries such as France, Spain, and Italy, the midnight mass service is very important and everyone tries to go to a service.
In Victorian times, it was very fashionable to go carol singing with small handbells to play the tune of the carol. Sometimes there would only be the bells and no singing! Handbell ringing is still popular today.
There’s nothing like the sound of music at Christmas. Better still is a familiar tune set to handbells by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Listen….
1. Do you use bells to decorate your home for the Christmas season?
2. What DIY projects can use share which uses jingle bells?
FYI: If you would like to make your own jingle bell wreath, then it’s really quite simple. I picked the idea up Martha Stewart’s TV show years ago. Click here to be inspired or watch for my upcoming post featuring my own DIY version of this festive, fun Christmas wreath!
Visit Miss Jenny and the rest of the Alphabe-Thursday classroom for more homework assignments of the letter “B” and while you’re hopping around, be sure to play along with Miss Amanda in her latest edition of Thursday Two Questions.
10 Comments
Jenny
I will excuse you from class last week…
I hope we don’t have aany more absences for the remainder of the semester…
But this is a Beautiful post for the letter B…
Thanks for linking.
A+
Self Sagacity
Hi Cathy, your blog looks so festive and beautiful. I stop buying xmas decorations, I have some bells, but not a lot. The projects I can think of for bells? Bell shaped food for dinner time? Like a big melon cut into a bell for desert, some bell cookies?
Have a great weekend. 🙂
Erin
Bells do make such a beautiful sound. Thanks for posting the Silent Night video – that’s lovely. I’ve never used bells to decorate at Christmas time – maybe this year will be the first! 🙂
Splendid Little Stars
What a fabulous tradition!
This version of Silent Night is beautiful!
a lovely post!
PS: I like your wallpaper and of course your mother’s note to Ms Jenny!
storybeader
bells are so lovely. And it reminded me, that my sister used to play the bells in the orchestra when we were young. They sounded a little different than the bells that are rung, but still, it was a “a-ha” moment. Thank you for that! {:-D
Judy SheldonWalker
I have seen small “wreaths” hanging on door knobs with bells on them. I remember, as a child, we always hung bells on the bottom of the tree because the pets used to ring them.
I have seen so many cute Christmas decorations, like the reindeer made out of clothes pins. I suggest you take a peek at pinterest. I am sure you will find loads of cute things on there. I always do.
Colette S
Wow that was such a special tradition. You can have the memories and even keep it going.
I decorate with what I have. I have some little bells that the kids adore and we use them on the trees.
I’m not crafty so maybe as little DIY as I can 🙂 I go for simple.
Happy Thursday.
Lmkazmierczak
Ordinary Words… a new Catholic church has recently begun ringing their bells♫ I can hear them from my house and they are enjoyable to my ears♪
Sarah~Magnolia Surprise
I’ve always enjoyed handbells — in the church I grew up in there was a handbell choir — so beautiful. In the Methodist Church, we have a midnight service with communion — there’s something even more reverent about communion when served at midnight.
The jingle bell wreath is cute! Now that I know how easy it is, I’ll have to make one! I have silver bells that are clustered in a grape shape that are part of my Christmas decorations.
Paige
As a handbell ringer, I LOVE this post. I love bells of all kind. In fact, I’m trying to get a grant to purchase a set of handbells for my my elementary school.