Dig into the origins of Carol of the Bells and you'll find that the original lyrics actually didn’t have anything to do with bells at all, or Christmas for that matter. Based on a Ukranian folk tale, they told the story of a swallow flying into a home in order to announce what a glorious new year the family was about to have. It wasn’t until 1936 that lyricist and orchestral arranger Peter J. Wilhousky changed the lyrics to the popular Christmas-centric ones we know today. Since then, there have been at least three other versions released with slightly modified lyrics, though none have caught on as well as Wilhousky’s. Maybe this one will…
Yeah, maybe we should just stick with the one we know.
The funny thing is, although Wilhousky changed the lyrics to match the season, Carol of the Bells still doesn’t explicitly mention anything at all about the religious origins of Christmas. Even so, it’s not much of a stretch to assume that the titular bells which are bringing such good cheer are the same ones which once rang out from steeples to call the faithful to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. They could even be the small bells many parishes still ring throughout the Gloria during that particular liturgy. The old Catholic Encyclopedia actually lends a bit of credence to that latter notion as it purports that the introduction of bells during the liturgy was actually for the benefit of those outside the church and not those within…
“From the introduction of the Elevation of the Host in the Mass at the beginning of the thirteenth century it seems to have been customary to ring one of the great bells of the church, at any rate during the principal Mass, at the moment when the Sacred Host was raised on high. This was to give warning to the people at work in the fields in order that they might momentarily kneel down and make an act of adoration. It seems, however, not improbable that in England the big bell was not commonly rung but that a small hand-bell was used for the purpose. This was taken to a small window (low side window) ordinarily closed by a shutter, thrust through the aperture and rung outside the church.”
You know, maybe it’s time more parishes brought back the ringing of church bells. If the church buildng itself is supposed to be a physical statement on the presence of God in the community, wouldn’t it be a nice thing to provide it with a voice as well?
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