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Views from the Choir Loft

More on Angelus Bells

Veronica Brandt · April 9, 2016

Angelus Glocke The Angelus Bell from Cologne Cathedral. From Wikimedia Commons. FEW MONTHS AGO I wrote about Angelus Bells and the Raspberry Pi where I set up a tiny computer to play a sound to remind us to say the Angelus at 6am, 12 noon and 6pm.

A month ago the arrangement was damaged in an electrical storm. Fortunately the computer itself was alright but I needed to reformat the memory and set it all up again.

I had another look for recordings of bells and found some very interesting articles on the internet:

The Bells of Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral is home to the relics of the Three Magi. It also hosts an amazing collection of bells from over the centuries.

In 1418 a huge bell was cast in honor of the Magi. It weighed around 3400kg. In 1448 it was joined by an even larger bell weighing around 10 000kg. The Magi Bell sounded a B and the new bell called the Pretiosa, sounded a G. One year later they were joined by a third bell, this one in A, called the Speciosa.

There is an Angelus bell, but much smaller. Bells for every occasion!

You can read more about them and listen to them here.

A recording from a French countryside

When ringing the bell for the Angelus, it is a custom to ring three sets of three then a set of nine. The way I was shown was to ring three clear notes, then silence for the time it takes to say a “Hail Mary”, then three more strikes, another silent “Hail Mary”, last three strikes, last silent “Hail Mary”, then nine rings to finish.

This recording from the Internet Archive seems to miss out the first set of three rings. You might edit the sound file to copy one of the three rings a suitable length before the rest of the recording. It is in the public domain,

Verdin Bells and Clocks

Lastly, there is a company still making bells in Ohio. As well as real cast bells, they have a range of digital bells. You can listen to samples here.

The Angelus sample gives three clear “dongs” and then a peal of three bells.

So, there you have a whole lot more options for your home Angelus bells.

Of course, in the Easter season the Regina Caeli replaces the Angelus. In case you missed it, watch some young children sing Regina Caeli.

Photo credit: SaintOuen via Wikimedia Commons. There are lots of photos of Cologne Cathedral on Wikimedia Commons. Well worth browsing to get an idea of the scale of the place.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Raspberry Pi Last Updated: October 29, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?
    This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) will fall on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Is the USCCB trolling us?
    I realize I’m going to come across as a “Negative Nancy” … but I can’t help myself. This kind of stuff is beyond ridiculous. There are already way too many options in the MISSALE RECENS. Adding more will simply confuse the faithful even more. We seriously need to band together and start creating a “REFORM OF THE REFORM” Missale Romanum so it will be ready when the time comes.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Common” Responsorial Psalm?
    I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal will undoubtedly enrich liturgical life at the parish level by making accessible these ancient, noble, and theologically-rich Catholic hymns, translated into English in quite a beautiful way.”

— Rev. Fr. John Berg (Superior General, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) 30-NOV-2018

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  • Is the USCCB trolling us?
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  • “Common” Responsorial Psalm?

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