Bells of St. Ann's ring again

   
By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

NORTH OXFORD – The St. Ann Parish community offered “tremendous positive feedback” about their church bell ringing again, after years of silence, Father Michael N. Lavallee, pastor, observed. He said they recognized the spiritual significance this holds for them.
Parishioners and others gathered on the church lawn before the Lord’s Day vigil Mass for a dedication of the restored bell ringer, a hammer-like object that strikes the stationary bell.
“This is going to be glorious,” commented Cheryl Ducharme, one of the parishioners.
“I’ll probably need earplugs,” quipped Marguerite Gaddis, who moved here four years ago. But a few minutes earlier she’d told The Catholic Free Press she likes hearing church bells ring; they are “to remind you, if you’re still at your house, you shouldn’t be.”
That message rang out at the dedication and Mass Saturday.
  Addressing those gathered in front of the church, Father Lavallee proclaimed it a joyous day.
“The bell of St. Ann’s will be silent no longer,” because of a grant from the Janet Malser Humanities Trust and donations, he said.
“In 1906 our church bell first rang out to call our community to worship,” he said in his prepared text. “May Saint Ann watch over our parish family and, through the sound of the church bell, call many souls in our community to join with us to praise and worship our God.”
Father Lavallee asked those gathered to remember deceased members of the parish. During the silence, the bell started ringing. People listened, applauded, then entered the church for Mass.
In his homily, Father Lavallee told how bells were used to call people together and announce times of prayer throughout the day and were rung on special occasions such as weddings. In the Christian tradition, they were also believed to drive out demons, he said.
In a letter in the parish bulletin he said he believes bells can be a reminder of God to those who have lost faith and call them back, combating the faithlessness and evil in the world.
In his homily he noted that the Gospel told about Jesus healing a deaf man. This is important because faith comes from hearing, Father Lavallee said. And sacramentals like bells remind people to have faith.
“I pray with all my heart” that every time St. Ann’s bell rings “a soul will hear … and turn to God in prayer,” he said.
“Father Mike’s homily kind of nailed it,” parishioner Robert Britton said after Mass. “I grew up with a lot of symbols. … It’s a little reminder from God. … It’s very important for me to hear the church bell and see the excitement.”
His wife, Michelle Britton, expressed gladness that the turnout was good and “people are excited to be here.”
“It’s wonderful,” said Ellie Peoples, a parishioner who has been a music director in different churches. “To me a bell is music – a call to worship.”
The parish staff has decided to pray the Angelus together when the bell rings at noon, said Mary Lajoie, administrative assistant. She said it also rings at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., traditional times for praying this prayer.
But ringing at midnight isn’t always received favorably.
Gerry Degnan said he came to the parish in 1959 and remembered when Msgr. Michael L. Carney was pastor, and sent the new curate, Father Paul J. Tougas, up to fix the bell.
“It went off at midnight,” Mr. Degnan said. Msgr. Carney “wasn’t very happy.”
In those days, 50 years ago, curates were expected to do everything, Father Tougas told The Catholic Free Press later.
“It was an electronic bell. … I had to reset it,” he said. “It did go off at midnight and it rang 12 times.”
“Father, what did you do?” the angry pastor wondered.
“At least he knew I fixed it,” reasoned the curate.
A former pastor, Father Patrick F. Hafey, bought the four-foot bell for the new steeple in 1902, according to information from Mrs. Lajoie. An English translation of part of the Latin inscription on it is: “Ring out the praises of God, sing in honor of St. Ann.”
Mrs. Lajoie said it was not clear when the bell stopped working, though there was a bell restoration in 1977.
It cost just under $10,000 to fix it this time, she said. The Janet Malser Trust grant paid for the ringer, installation and training in how to use the bell, which can simulate tolling, peeling, and swinging, but not play songs. Donations from parishioners paid for electrical upgrading and vents in the bell tower to allow the sound to travel.
Mrs. Lajoie said the parish looked for grants and a parishioner found the Janet Malser Trust. Janet Malser, a lifelong resident of Dudley and Webster who loved music and history, established the trust to fund educational, cultural, historical and charitable causes in her towns and in Oxford.
Now Mrs. Lajoie says, “I really believe that God wanted this to happen.”
Father Lavallee said the parish couldn’t afford to fix the bell, so hearing it is hearing the mystery of God’s providence.

Lord, thank you for the gift of our beautiful church bell
which reminds us to pray and calls us to worship.
I ask you that every time it rings
that its sound touch the heart of someone who has lost faith.
We pray that through hearing the bell of St. Ann’s,
that souls may feel again a desire for you
and allow themselves to come home to the Church.
We ask this through the intercession
of our patroness, the good St. Ann.
Amen

Click for other photos