Everything you wanted to know

Why don't they ring bells anymore?

There weren't any at the Last Supper - a good precedent and gauge of what is proper at Eucharist.

Bells were introduced to get people's attention when the prayers of the Mass were said silently, in Latin, by a priest with his back to the people. They were used to get people's attention at the consecration.

Now we are wisely seeing the gathering, the proclamation of the Word, the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer, Communion and the Dismissal as significant parts of the Mass. The words Jesus at the consecration, heard and understood, are so powerful as to make bells a distraction.

Everything you ever wanted to know but thought you should already know, so didn't ask.
By Fr. Ron Luka, CFM

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