Q: We have a priest who joined our staff this month and he is asking for bells to be rung at the beginning of daily Masses (not weekend ones where we have music) during his short procession out of the sacristy and into the sanctuary. Are there any instructions on bells at this time? This is not our current practice.
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A: I treat this in my book Let Us Pray. The USCCB’s Built of Living Stones mentions it in #99. The Book of Blessings includes a blessing of bells and notes that “It is an ancient practice to summon the Christian people to the liturgical assembly” (1305). See also BB 1312, 1319 and 1320 for additional references.
Although the bell’s function is clearer when it rings outside the church some minutes before Mass, some parishes ring a bell inside to signal the start of Mass.