Church bells ring out to offer hope during gloom of pandemic
To help dispel the gloom of the coronavirus, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church has been ringing its bells every day at noon to offer some hope during this unsettling time.
The idea to make a joyful noise with the bells popped into the head of parishioner Janie Fries several weeks ago after all houses of worship were ordered to close. She remembered that the community collectively rang its bells on Nov. 11, 2018, to help commemorate the centennial of the end of the First World War and thought it would be nice to do that again. Being part of the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival, Fries had all the email addresses of the churches and sent them messages about participating in this uplifting initiative. However, she ran into an unforeseen problem.
“There are not many churches with bells in the city,” Fries laughed. “St. Aidan (Anglican Church) and St. Joseph have bells, and I have a feeling those are the only ones, which is unfortunate.” Fellow parishioner Rosalie Boots joined
Fries in her quest to have the Catholic church ring its bells. They originally thought about having the bells rung at 11 a.m. on Sunday, but realized many churches were broadcasting services live online.
So they thought about ringing the bells at noon, before deciding it should be done every day. It has mainly been maintenance manager Martin Rossler who has rung the bells, with the parish priest also participating.
Ringing the bells — even for a short time — offers hope and positivity and reminds people that no one is alone in attempting to cope during this trying time, said Fries. It also provides a message of remembrance and a call to consider that this will eventually end. It might be difficult to see that now, but this too shall pass.
The bells are rung for only a couple of minutes each day, mainly out of consideration for the neighbours around the church, Fries continued. However, both want to hear the gong go on a little longer each time every day.
January 13, 1V14 - May 5, 2010
With Love from the families of Twiy, Benita, Renee, Rolene