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.
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.