Originally published at Churchpop
There’s a conversation going on about why we ring bells in the Catholic Mass. The answers so far have been incomplete or incorrect.
Here’s the whole thing explained:
In the Middle Ages, churches had many side altars. You can still see the many side chapels when you visit a medieval cathedral in Europe.
Often the side chapels were added to a church or cathedral by a wealthy benefactor who left an endowment (a parcel of land from which there would be a revenue stream).
The endowment paid for a priest’s stipend to say Mass in that chapel every day for the repose of the soul of the donor and his family members.
As a result, Masses were said every day at all the side chapels and altars. In the monasteries, all the monk-priests celebrated their own Mass for designated intentions. The stipends paid by the donors supported the priest or monk.
These priests were called “chantry priests” and in addition to their duty of saying Mass in their chapel, they often had pastoral duties.
The chantry chapel in one of the old Anglican churches where I served, for example, doubled as a school room and the chantry priest was the schoolmaster.
Anyway…if you went into a medieval
