“Why do we Orthodox ring bells?”Hello, Father Deacon! That's a good question, and I'm not sure I directly address it anywhere, but thank you for asking because I'll be sure to include a page about that on the new site. Though actually I think you'll get part of an answer from Fr. Roman's article, and other parts from the services in which we bless bells. We could also talk about bells as "singing icons"— yet another of those material items through which Orthodoxy is so good at finding a connection with God. That experience of connectedness has to do not only with the bell itself, but also with the way we ring and the type of tuning we use. You might even say that Orthodox bells have a "eucharistic tuning". The article by by contemporary Greek theologian Christos Yannaras, concerning "The Ethos of Orthodox Liturgical Art", which we've already posted is about other forms of Orthodox art, but it raises the fundamental points that we could make here. Your question actually goes pretty deep, when I think about it. It would be worthwhile to pull all these pieces together into one place, and I hope to do so soon. Regards, BLAGOVEST BELLSJohn Burnett |