Orthodox holiday, which is celebrated on Monday, immediately after. According to folk signs, on this day the earth is a birthday girl, so plowing, digging, harrowing is strictly prohibited. On this day, people hang a symbol of the Holy Spirit - wooden doves - from the goddesses. The Orthodox sincerely believe that on the evening of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit descends to the earth, spilling over the fields, delighting every blade of grass and blade of grass, and on the day of the Spirits it is useful to walk barefoot on the ground. In some regions, on this day, people go around the fields in a religious procession.
In general, the church on this day honors the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, which is consubstantial with the Father and the Son of the Lord. The Holy Spirit enriches and adorns a person, fills his soul with love, joy, goodness, faith and patience. This is the Comforter that Jesus Christ promised his disciples shortly before his ascension to the cross. And on the first day after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit really descended from heaven on the apostles. And Orthodoxy began to spread throughout the earth.
Spirits day - holy great holiday
On this day, the whole earth rejoices.
The Holy Spirit walks over the fields
Each stem is carefully stored.
On this bright holiday I wish you
Light, pure, sincere love
May God protect you from troubles
May the Holy Spirit bless you.
Be honest, love your neighbor
Respect the earth every day.
Save each petal,
May God accompany you everywhere.
There is a folk saying:
Spirits day - the beginning of summer!
The cold recedes.
Hello warm weather.
Evil spirits disappear -
People collect herbs.
The holiday knows its turn -
Followed by the trinity!
On Spirits Day, I sincerely congratulate you and from the bottom of my heart I want to wish light and warmth in the house, joy and happiness in the soul, mercy and love in the heart, kind people and good luck on the way. May thoughts and deeds be righteous, may heaven give grace, strong faith and unquenchable hope.
May the Spirits day come with good,
With sincere and pure love,
With sincere joy, with warmth,
With a sunny, radiant smile!
I want to believe, live, dream,
Appreciating bright moments
And, of course, read
Our Holy Spirit day by day!
Spirits day today is bright,
We hasten to congratulate you.
Wish you good and light
We want you prosperity.
May the Holy Spirit help you
All adversity to conquer.
Happiness will gladly fold you
And help you get it.
To happiness and luck
They certainly went with you.
Be at your best on the building.
Light to you, kindness, love.
Everyone knows that God is triune:
Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son.
He watches over us from heaven
And in all good thoughts with us.
The Holy Spirit will save us from pain and troubles;
Those who truly believe will come to the rescue;
It will bring hope and joy
And heal a severe wound.
May the name of the Lord be glorified forever!
And faith in our lives is forever.
May the Holy Spirit be with us forever
Illuminating everything around.
Birthday girl land
The day meets spirits,
run barefoot
Invites to the field.
Feet bare with dew
Wash clean,
Both a blade of grass and a flower
They speak to you.
Fills the spirits of the day
Souls of pure light
Melting bell ringing
In the blue of dawn.
God's Life-Giving Spirit
hugs the earth,
Happiness, joy I give you
I wish you a day of Spirits.
Let the day bring spirits to everyone
A lot of happiness and prosperity!
May the Lord protect you from troubles,
So that everything is always in order!
Let every minute give
All blessings from heaven!
May the soul always believe in a miracle,
After all, it is so boring for us to live without miracles!
Praise the spirits today,
I wish you happiness
Let your prayer fly
Up to blissful skies.
Let the Spirit be Life-Giving
Always gives you strength
Faith will be unbreakable
Years pass in joy.
Today is the birthday girl - the earth,
It is impossible to dig, plow and harrow,
And it's better for you to walk in the fields on foot,
Run barefoot on the blades of grass!
The Holy Spirit descends to earth,
He pleases our dear people,
Walking along the paths of grass!
So become very happy and you!
On Spirits Day I congratulate you,
Let him not leave you
Inspires to accomplishments
Touches the light with a kind eye.
Holy Spirit Life-Giving
May it bring healing
I wish you strong faith
Understanding and patience.
Congratulations: 43 in verse, 5 in prose.
TO HELP THE RINGERS
Methodological material for educational purposes
Author of the article: Kryuchkov A.E., ringer of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Bolvanovka in Moscow,
musician, artist of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia
The bells, without a certain theological-liturgical and scientific-culturological content, are only sounding bronze statues of an aesthetic and applied nature - a museum exhibit. For the sake of their "revival" the whole complex of historical, liturgical, scientific-theoretical and technical knowledge is needed as a complex and as the basis for the existence and use of bells in the liturgical life of the church with its own history, continuity, sound and development. After all, the bell is a rather complex cultural phenomenon that exists in two worlds - the visible and the invisible. This higher, sacred, invisible meaning is acquired by a set of measures comparable to the growth of a person from the veil to an intelligible action. A complex and long process of production is just beginning this way, because the bells must be delivered to the temple. To realize their presence with the whole parish, feeling their spiritual symbolism. Lift, hang correctly, with all the additional complex of work, then correctly combine into a single cathedral organism with a complex system of connections, then, having gathered courage, begin to comprehend the sound and the technique of its extraction, then understand the whole sacred meaning of the connection with the service in the temple and feel it sacred spirit. And only then do the bells acquire that sacred symbol, the top of which lies beyond the bounds of our sensory perception - in the invisible. And people, participating in the bells or hearing them from outside, involuntarily, intuitively, by faith correlating with this higher meaning, try to find earthly joy and spiritual harmony already here on earth, in the visible, material anticipation of Heaven. For a ringer, as a performer and as a Christian, it is necessary to be present not only at a specific sounding point on the ground, being on the bell tower, but to try to continue this whole chain of related meanings from the past to the present. And from the present - to the acquisition of knowledge and sensations, in order to feel the fullness of the liturgical action and your participation in it as part of the Divine Voice, convening those who are called to the “Vespers Velia”, the image of which is the bells.
PART 1. FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX SERVICE.
A church service is a combination according to a special plan, into one set of prayers, sections of Holy Scripture, hymns and sacred rites to clarify some specific spiritual idea or thought. Find the guiding thought or idea for each service and link everyone to it. constituent parts- is one of the tasks of studying Orthodox church services. Every day is a day of the week, and at the same time a day of the year, so there are three kinds of memories for every day: 1) “daytime” or hourly memories, connected with a certain hour of the day; 2) “weekly” or weekly memories, connected with individual days of the week; 3) memories "annual" or numerical, connected with certain numbers of the year.
Thanks to this threefold kind of sacred remembrance that falls on each day, all church services are divided into three circles: DAILY, WEEKLY, and ANNUAL. The main “circle” is daily, everyday, and the other two are additional.
DAILY CIRCLE OF SERVICES those services are called that are performed by the Holy Orthodox Church throughout the day. The names of the daily services indicate at what hour of the day each of them should be performed.
For example: PM indicates the evening hour. Compline - for the hour following the "supper" (that is, after the evening meal). MIDNIGHT OFFICE - at midnight. MATINS - for the morning hour. LUNCH - for lunch, that is, noon. FIRST HOUR - in our opinion means the 7th hour of the morning. THE THIRD HOUR is our 9th hour in the morning. THE SIXTH HOUR is our 12th hour. THE NINTH HOUR is our third hour in the afternoon.
The tradition of discrepancies in the account (the difference is about 6 hours) is explained by the fact that the eastern account is accepted, and in the East, sunset and sunrise, in comparison with our countries, differ by 6 hours. So the 1st hour of the East corresponds to our 7th hour. Etc.
VESPERS. It is performed at the end of the day, in the evening, therefore it will be the first among the daily services. According to the Church, the day begins with the evening, since the first day of the world and the beginning of human existence was preceded by darkness, evening and twilight. With this service, we thank God for the passing day.
Compline. This service consists of reading a series of prayers in which we ask the Lord God for forgiveness of sins, and that He would give us, for the coming sleep, peace of body and soul and save us from the wiles of the devil during sleep. Sleep also reminds of death. Therefore, in the Orthodox service at Compline, those who pray are reminded of awakening from eternal sleep, that is, of the Resurrection.
MIDNIGHT SERVICE. This service is intended to be performed at midnight, in remembrance of the Savior's nightly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The “midnight” hour is also memorable because “at the midnight hour” in the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord timed His Second Coming. This service calls on believers to be always ready for the Day of Judgment.
MATINS. This service is performed in the morning, before sunrise. The morning hour, bringing with it light, vigor and life, always arouses a grateful feeling towards God, who gives life. With this service, we thank God for the past night and ask Him for mercy for the coming day. In the Orthodox service after Matins, the coming into the world of the Savior, who brought new life with Himself, is glorified.
FIRST HOUR, corresponding to our seventh hour in the morning, sanctifies the day that has already come with prayer. At the first hour, the judgment of Jesus Christ by the high priests, which took place around this time, is recalled.
THIRD HOUR corresponds to our ninth hour in the morning. It recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, which took place around this time.
SIXTH HOUR corresponds to our twelfth hour of the day. It recalls the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, which happened from the 12th to the 2nd hour of the day.
NINTH HOUR corresponds to our third hour in the afternoon. It recalls the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which took place at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
DIVINE LITURGY or Mass is the most important divine service. On it, the whole earthly life of the Savior is remembered and Sacrament of Communion established by the Savior Himself at the Last Supper. Liturgy is always served in the morning, before dinner.
All these services in ancient times in monasteries and with hermits were performed separately, at the time set for each of them. But then, for the convenience of believers, they were combined into three services: EVENING, MORNING, and AFTERNOON.
Each of the above daily services would have to be served separately, as is done in many Orthodox monasteries, but due to the conditions of worldly life, at present, the celebration of all services, with rare exceptions, is transferred to the evening and morning hours. Each of the daily services has its own order of connection with the weekly and yearly services, depending on the events recalled. Following the custom of the Old Testament Church, The New Testament Church begins the circle of daily church services in the evening.
Reading at home daytime hours(during the day) and compline(before bed) and midnight office(on rising from sleep) was a common practice in Byzantium and in Russia. This practice is rare these days. Everyday life pious Christians, the place of Compline and Midnight Office was occupied by prayer rules: for the coming sleep and for the morning. However, in their origin, these rules are nothing more than an abbreviated Compline and Midnight Office with additional prayers.
GREAT COMPLICATION. At present, in the Orthodox Church, the liturgical Rule recognizes two types of Compline - great and small. Great Compline is served today only during Great Lent, and also as part of the All-Night Vigil of the feasts of the Nativity of Christ, Theophany of the Lord, and the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
SMALL COMPLICATION. Its Charter prescribes to be performed daily, except for the days of singing Great Compline and Bright Week. It is an abbreviation of the Great. In fact, this is the third part of Great Compline, to which the 50th psalm (at the beginning) and the Creed (after the daily doxology) are added. In the modern Russian Church, in view of the widespread practice of directly serving Matins immediately after Vespers, Small Compline out of worship both in parishes and in most monasteries.
Midnight Office one of the daily worship services. In the first centuries of Christianity, it was performed at night, since at night it was then the safest for worship. Later she was included in matins. It is not performed if the All-Night Vigil is served, as well as in some other cases according to the Charter.
In the modern parish life of the church, the daily cycle has become even more dense and reduced. On the eve of Sundays and holidays, the following takes place:
Evening service - ALL-NIGHT VISION, which combines: Vespers, Matins and the First Hour.
Morning Service - LITURGY. And before it are performed: the 3rd hour, the 6th hour.
WEEKLY CIRCLE OF SERVICES.
The Holy Church gradually gave prayerful remembrance not only to every hour of the day, but to every day of the week. So, from the very beginning of the existence of the Church of Christ, the “first day of the week” was dedicated to the remembrance of resurrection Jesus Christ, and became a solemn and joyful day - a holiday.
V Monday(the first day after the resurrection) incorporeal forces are glorified - Angels created before man and God's closest environment.
In Tuesday saint is glorified John the Baptist like a great prophet and righteous man.
V Wednesday the betrayal of the Lord by Judas is remembered and, in connection with this, a service is performed in memory Cross of the Lord(fast day).
V Thursday glorified St. Apostles and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
V Friday the sufferings on the cross and the death of the Savior are remembered, and a service is performed in honor of Cross of the Lord(fast day).
V Saturday memory is given to the Old Testament Sabbath of rest and expectation of the Savior. are glorified Mother of God which is gratified daily, and forefathers, prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, righteous and all saints who have reached rest in the Lord. In the same way, all the dead are commemorated in the true faith and hope for the resurrection and eternal life.
ANNUAL SERVICE CIRCLE
As the faith of Christ spread, the number of Saints increased: martyrs, saints. The greatness of their deeds provided an inexhaustible source for pious Christian songwriters and artists to compose in memory of their various prayers and hymns, as well as artistic images - icons.
The Holy Church included these emerging spiritual works in the composition of church services, timed their reading and singing to the days of memory of the saints designated in them. The range of these prayers and chants is wide and varied. It unfolds for a whole year, and each day there are not one, but several glorified saints.
The manifestation of God's Grace to a certain people, locality or city, for example, deliverance from floods, earthquakes, from attacks by enemies, etc. gave an indelible occasion to prayerfully commemorate these incidents.
Thus, every day of the year is dedicated to the memory of certain saints, important events, as well as special sacred events - holidays and fasts.
Of all the holidays of the year, the biggest is Light Christ's Resurrection- EASTER. It is the feast of the feast and the triumph of the feasts. Easter happens not earlier than April 4th and not later than May 8th, on the first Sunday after the spring full moon.
Present in the year 12 Great Holidays established in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. These holidays are called twelfth.
There are holidays in honor of great saints and in honor of the ethereal Forces of Heaven - Angels.
All holidays in the year according to their content are divided into: Lord's, Mother of God and saints' holidays.
According to the time of celebration, the holidays are divided into: motionless, which occur every year on the same day of the month and on mobile, which, although they occur on the same days of the week, fall on different days of the month in accordance with the time of the celebration of Easter.
According to the solemnity of the church service, the holidays are divided into: great, medium and small. Great holidays always include the All-Night Vigil. Middle holidays - not always.
The liturgical church year begins on September 1, old style, and the entire annual cycle of services is built in relation to the Easter holiday.
Thanks to the knowledge of the threefold kind of sacred memories that fall on each day, the prayer can explain to himself the following observation:
1 . If for several weeks, at least two, you attend each church service and carefully follow the content of the prayers, then you can notice that some, for example, “Our Father” or a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos and the litanies, are read at each service. Other prayers, and most of them, are heard only during one service, and they are not pronounced after another.
Consequently, some prayers are used without fail at each service and do not change, while others change and alternate with each other..
The change and alternation of church prayers occurs in this order: some prayers performed at one service are not performed after another. For example: the prayer “Lord, I have called…” is performed only at Vespers. The prayers “Only Begotten Son…” or “We have seen the true light…” are sung only at the Liturgy. Then these prayers are not repeated until the next day, where we hear them at the same service at which we heard yesterday. Consequently, these prayers, although they are repeated every day, are always timed to coincide with a specific service.
2 . There are prayers that are repeated every week on a certain day. For example: "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ..." we hear only on the eve of the resurrection at Vespers. Prayer of the “Heavenly armies of the Archangel…” - only on Mondays. Consequently: the “turn” of these prayers comes in a week.
3 . Finally, there is a third series of prayers, which are performed only on certain dates of the year. For example: “Your Christmas, Christ our God…” is heard on January 7th, and “Your Christmas, Virgin Mary…” is heard on September 21st.
If we compare the three kinds of changes and alternations of church prayers, it will turn out that prayers are repeated every day, related to sacred remembrances, daily and “hourly”. A week later - to the "seven". A year later - "annual".
Since all our prayers alternate with each other and repeat (circle), some - with the speed of the day. Others are weeks. Third - years. Therefore, such prayers are given in church books the name of the service of the “everyday circle”, “the circle of the week”, “the circle of the year”. Every day the prayers of all three “circles” are heard in the church, and not just one of them. but the main “circle” is the “everyday circle”, and the other two are additional.
COMPOSITION OF CHURCH SERVICES.
The alternating and changing prayers of the daily, weekly and annual circles are called "changing" prayers. The prayers that occur AFTER EACH service are called "unchanging". Every church service consists of a combination of changing and unchanging prayers.
UNCHANGING PRAYERS that are read and sung at every service: 1 - opening prayers, with which all services begin and which, therefore, in liturgical practice are called the "Usual Beginning." 2 - Litanies. 3 - Exclamations. 4 - Leaves and holidays.
CHANGING PRAYERS. As already mentioned, selected passages from the Holy Scriptures and prayers written by pious Christian writers are read and sung in the Church. Both are introduced into the composition of church services in order to depict and glorify the sacred event of the three circles of worship: daily, weekly and annual. Readings and chants from sacred books are named after the book from which they are borrowed. For example: psalms from the book of Psalms. Prophecies are from the books of the prophets. The gospel is from the gospel. Changing prayers are found in church service books and have various names.
The most important of them are the following:
1) Troparion- a song that briefly depicts the life of a Saint or the history of a holiday.
2) Kontakion(“kontos” - short. Greek) - a short song depicting some particular feature of the celebrated event or the Saint.
3) magnificence- a song containing the glorification of a Saint or a holiday. The magnification is sung during the All-Night Vigil before the festive icon, first by the clergy in the middle of the temple, and then repeatedly repeated by the chanters.
4) Stichira(polystich. Greek) - a hymn, consisting of many verses written in one size of versification, having mostly verses of Holy Scripture in front of them.
5) Dogmatist- a special stichera, which contains the teaching (dogma) about the incarnation of Jesus Christ from the Mother of God.
6) Akathist- "Non-sedal". Prayer, especially laudatory singing in honor of the Lord, the Mother of God or the Saint.
7) antiphons- alternating singing, opposition. Prayers to be sung alternately on two kliros.
8) Prokimen- "lying in front." The verse that precedes the reading of the Apostle, the Gospel and proverbs.
9) involved- a verse that is sung during the communion of the clergy.
10) Canon- This is a series of sacred hymns in honor of a Saint or a holiday that are read or sung at the All-Night Vigil at the time when the worshipers kiss (apply) the Holy Gospel or the icon of the holiday.
SERVICE BOOKS.
The books required for worship are divided into:
1 - Holy liturgical: A reading is made from the Holy Scriptures - the Gospel, the Apostle, the books of the Prophets, the Psalter.
2 - Church and liturgical: They contain the changing prayers of the daily, weekly and yearly circles. Of them:
A) - "Hourbook". It contains prayers of the daily circle. Order and text - Midnight Office, Matins, Vespers, etc.
B) 1 - "Oktoih" or Octophone. It contains prayers of the seventh circle of content. It is divided into 8 parts, corresponding to eight church tunes, and is used at all times, except for Great Lent, ending with the feast of the Trinity. Prayers and chants are arranged by day.
B) 2 - "Triod". There are two types: "Lent" and "Color". It is used during Great Lent and up to and including the feast of the Trinity.
C) - "Menaia" or Monthly. It contains the prayers of the annual circle. They are divided into 12 parts according to the number of months. All the prayers and hymns in honor of the Saints in the Menaion are arranged by numbers.
Division of Daily Time
PART 2. SERVICE RINGS
DIVISION OF BELLS BY GROUPS
The Russian tradition of liturgical bells implies an internal division of the total number of bells into groups:
1. - Blagovestnik - the largest and lowest sounding bells. They are from 1 to 4-5.
2. - Ringing bells - medium. They make up the variety of ringing, expressing its main melodies and rhythms. Calling can be from 2-3 to almost two dozen.
3. - Ringing bells are the smallest. They color the ringing with a special subtle rhythmic and intonational peculiarity.
TYPES OF SERVICE RINGS
1. BLAGOVEST - a bell announcing the beginning of worship. It represents uniform, not fast blows to a large, or to one of the large bells. The Annunciation not only announces the time of the beginning of the service, but also prepares Christians for it. He is already a service. If there are several evangelizers, then the ringing is performed according to the order of the holiday in the corresponding bell: on Great holidays - in a large or festive one. On Sundays - on Sunday (polyeleia). On weekdays - on weekdays. During fasting - in fasting. In accordance with the status, the size of the bell also decreases.
2. CELL. Several or all simultaneously ringing bells, with rhythm, dynamics and tempo corresponding to this ringing. The ringing can be performed in one step, in two or in three, depending on the liturgical daily circle, which contains THREE main services: vespers, MATINS and LITURGY.
Before Vespers, a chime is performed in one reception. Before Matins, since this is the second service, the chime at two reception. Before the Liturgy three reception.
3. CALL. Alternate successive strikes (from one to seven per bell) from the largest bell to the smallest. In liturgical practice, it is performed to emphasize the importance of the upcoming service or action:
1) - On the feast of Epiphany (Theophany), this ringing is performed at the rite of consecration of water, it symbolizes the descent of the Grace of God on the consecrated water.
2) - When the Shroud is taken out in the order of Great Friday of Great Lent, it marks the exhaustion of the strength of the Savior crucified on the cross.
3) - On Great Saturday Matins, when the shroud is buried, a chime is made.
Three times a year, on holidays associated with the Cross of the Lord:
4) - in great post, on the week of the Adoration of the Cross.
5) - on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.
6) - on the day of the Origin of the Honest Trees - the removal of the Cross to the middle of the temple is also accompanied by a chime.
7) - When the shroud is taken out at the All-Night Vigil of the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos (the evening before).
8) - On the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. At the evening service on the day of the holiday, at the burial of the shroud of the Virgin, a ringing is performed.
4. BUSY. Ringing one beat on each bell from small to large. Busting is a death knell. It has some varieties:
1) - at the burial of the priesthood, before sorting, they strike the largest bell 12 times. The enumeration symbolizes human life in its development and maturation, so the blows follow from the small to the big bell.
2) - At the burial of the laity, first, a search is made from a small to a large bell. At the end of each "circle" of enumeration, all the bells are struck simultaneously, symbolizing the interruption of a person's earthly life.
SUNDAY BELLS.
Since the daily cycle of worship, or, in other words, the church day, begins with vespers, the peals, respectively, begin on the eve of the day being celebrated. Ringing on Sundays is the most common and frequent in everyday practice, unlike everyday ones. They are a model for many holidays, so their structure is a necessary model for the bell ringer's basic liturgical knowledge. Bells for Sunday Vespers . Before Sunday afternoon, on Saturday evening, the ringer, having received a blessing from the primate, performs bells and whistles before the start of the All-Night Vigil. The Annunciation is carried out at the Sunday bell. First, two strikes are made on the bell until the sound is completely attenuated after each strike, then uniform strikes begin. At the end of the blessing ringing in one go.
The next bell at the all-night service is called double chime. This is a trezvon in two steps, in other words, two peals after a short period of time, and means the beginning of Matins. The ringing at this time symbolically marks the beginning of Matins, as the beginning of a new time in the life of mankind - the morning of eternal life. When making a double ringing, it must be remembered that there should be reverent silence in the church during the reading of the Six Psalms, so the ringing must be completed before the reading of the psalms, or rather, before the exclamation of the priest at the beginning of Matins.
Ringing for the Gospel it chime in one go, performed during the singing of the power antiphons, at the time of the removal from the altar of the Gospel. The ringing occurs during a special insertion into the holding of Matins polyeleic service, which begins with singing - "Praise the name of the Lord ..." and should be stopped before the reading of the Gospel. Since the Gospel symbolizes the Lord himself, the ringing in this place is a greeting to the one who came down to us in the form of the teaching of the Son of God.
Ringing on the "Honest" It is called so because it takes place on the 9th ode of the canon, before the beginning of which the deacon exclaims: “Let us exalt the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in song!”. Then the chant "My soul magnifies the Lord" is already sung, in the refrain of which they sing: "The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim ...". It's 9 beats on the big bell. The number 9 is not accidental, it denotes 9 angelic ranks, with which the Mother of God is compared in this hymn.
No bells are allowed at the end of Sunday Vespers. In any case, there are no indications in the "Typicon" on this matter, however, in many churches, the abbots bless the bell ringers to ring.
For the Sunday Liturgy evangelize in the same way as before the Vespers, with the difference that ringing at the end of the blagovest they perform in three stages. If there is an early Liturgy, then the evangelism is performed at the middle bell, less often and quieter. At the end of the gospel, there is no ringing.
Ringing on the Eucharistic Canon(after the Creed) contains 12 strokes of the holiday bell, those. according to the number of Apostles present at the Last Supper of the Lord. It is performed after the Eucharistic prayers have been recited by the priest and helps the believers to turn their hearts to God. "Woe to our hearts!" - proclaims the priest. "Imams to the Lord" - answers the choir and those who are coming. "Thank the Lord!" - proclaims the priest. From this moment on, the blows to the big bell begin, according to the words of the choir: “It is worthy and righteous to eat.” Here it is desirable to evenly distribute the beats during the singing and end the ringing by the end of the reading of the Eucharistic prayers, to the exclamation: "Fairly about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed ...".
At the end of the Sunday Liturgy, final chime.
BELLS OF THE GREAT (TWENTIETH AND GREAT) HOLIDAYS
Christian holidays are certain days church calendar celebrated with divine services of an individual liturgical character. This is recorded in the names of the holidays, the dates and order of their celebration, as well as in the content of the texts performed during the service. Their purpose and meaning is the remembrance, glorification and theological interpretation of the key stages in the history of Salvation, which is embodied mainly in the events of the earthly life of Jesus Christ (the Savior), and the Virgin Mary, a real participant in this divine-human process. Hence - an exceptionally important place in the calendar of events dedicated to Them.
The holidays are distributed within two overlapping annual cycles - FIXED - (Minean) and MOBILE - (triode or Paschal-Pentecostal). Celebrations and memorable events of the first cycle are strictly fixed only on the days of the month. The holidays of the second are fixed only by the days of the week, being strictly correlated with EASTER, which is the starting point for the entire moving annual cycle. The date of Easter moves within 35 days: from April 4 to May 8.
All holidays have a certain status or classification:
EASTER - as a "holiday holiday", has the highest status and is outside this classification. The most important holidays of modern Orthodox calendar are called "Twelfth".
Twelfth fixed holidays
Twelfth rolling holidays
1. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - a week before EASTER.
2. Ascension of the Lord - on the 40th day after EASTER.
3. Day of the Holy Trinity. Pentecost is 50 days after Easter.
The second step in the festive hierarchical ladder is occupied by holidays, which are called “great” in the liturgical language.
Great non-twelfth holidays:
There are holidays that formally are not great in status, but are celebrated very solemnly: the days of memory of Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, Nicholas the Wonderworker. These are especially, popularly revered saints. Divine services are celebrated on these days according to the order of the Great Feasts. Ringing these days is also made with the participation of all the bells.
In addition, all temples have their own significant dates on the days of which services are performed according to the order of the Great Feasts: days of patronal feasts, venerated images, memorable events, days of visits to the parish by the ruling bishop.
On the days of the Great Feasts, the services are basically similar to the Sunday service, and in this case, the bells should be considered from the point of view of their nature: the duration and solemnity of the chime and the participation of the largest bell.
Ringing at the end of the All-Night Vigil and after the Liturgy on feast days is prescribed and necessary.
CHRISTMAS RINGS
Ringing for the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany (Baptism) often presents significant difficulties in understanding, especially for beginner bell ringers. Therefore, it is necessary, first of all, to know the structure of the holidays, the order of the services, and their changes, in connection with the transfer of the Royal Hours, depending on the days of the week.
on the morning of January 6th attributable to weekday , in the temple are performed Royal Hours, Pictorial, Great Vespers, which serves Liturgy of Basil the Great.
Royal clock. Three times a year, special rites of hours are established, which are called great in liturgical books, and among the people - royal. vernacular name came from the ancient tradition of Byzantium: the Emperor himself was obliged to be present at this clock in the cathedral. Russia adopted the traditions of church services from Byzantium, and our noble sovereigns strictly followed this rule. The royal hours are celebrated on the eve of the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany, on the so-called Christmas Eve (January 6 and 18), and are dedicated to these sacred events, as well as on Good Friday - for the sake of the Passion of the Lord. The royal hours are read in a row - from the first to the ninth. At each hour, in addition to the psalms, paremia is read - an excerpt from Old Testament, containing a prophecy about a remembered day, a text from the Apostle and the Gospel. In addition, special troparia are sung.
pictorial. They are celebrated on those days when there is no liturgy (as on some weekdays of Great Lent, etc.) or when it is served after Vespers, that is, on days of special Lent. The name Pictorial is given because this service is some kind of image, i.e. the likeness of the Liturgy.
By the Royal Hours is performed 1) - blagovest. After the clock is made 2) - chime 3) - 12 strokes almost twice as long during the Eucharistic Canon. After the end of the Liturgy, 4) - chime.
Under the holiday itself on the evening of January 6th a special All-Night Vigil is served. Before it starts - 1) - blagovest and chime. The Vigil consists of Great Compline (since Vespers is celebrated in the morning), with a festive Litiya, and Matins with Polyeleos. At the Polyeleos 2) - ringing to the Gospel. 3) - Chime at the end Vespers and Liturgy. Festive Liturgy Begins at midnight on January 7th. The clock in front of her is unreadable. It serves the Liturgy of John Chrysostom with shorter intervals between 4) - 12 strokes in the Eucharistic Canon. After the Liturgy, at night - 5) - chime.
Option 2 . On the eve of the holiday, when January 6 and 7 fall on weekend, Royal Hours are moved to Friday morning. This happens because they associated with strict fasting, and Saturday and Sunday are not fasting in their essence in the liturgical sense. At the same time, the Liturgy is not performed on Friday. Before the Royal Hours - 1) - blagovest. After the Royal Hours are served Fine. Before Fine - 2) - chime
On Christmas Eve January 6th in the morning Liturgy of John Chrysostom is served. Before Liturgy 1) - blagovest and chime. On the Eucharistic Canon (short version) 2) - 12 strokes to the big bell. After Liturgy 3) - chime at the end and before Great Vespers (not long). After Vespers 4) - chime at the end.
Under the holiday itself, on the evening of January 6, the All-Night Vigil is served (maybe at 17 or 22 hours). By its beginning, 1) - blagovest and chime. At Matins, at the Polyeleic Service, for the reading of the Gospel, 2) - chime. After the end of the All-Night Vigil and before the Liturgy of Basil the Great, 3) - chime.
January 7th at 00:00 holiday begins Liturgy of Basil the Great. The clock is unreadable in front of her. The Eucharistic canon is long 4) - 12 strokes. After the end of the festive Liturgy, the festive 5) - ringing "in all".
RINGS FOR THE FESTIVITY OF THE EPOPHIENCE (BAPTIC)
The order of services on the feast of the Epiphany is a similar composition of bells as on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, for options with the transfer of the Royal Hours also take place depending on the days of the week. On the eve of the holiday, on Epiphany Christmas Eve, a great consecration of water is performed, so the chime is included in the ringing.
1 option. On the eve of the holiday (Christmas Eve), on the morning of January 18th attributable to weekday, in the temple are performed Royal Hours, Great Vespers, and the Liturgy of Basil the Great.
By the Royal Hours is performed 1) - blagovest. After the Royal Hours - 2) - chime before the Great Vespers and Liturgy. The liturgy of Basil the Great differs in that the intervals between 3) - 12 strokes almost twice as long during the Eucharistic Canon. After the end of the Liturgy, after reading the Prayer for the Ambon, during the procession of the clergy, led by the priest, to the place of consecration of the water, 4) - chime. The duration of the chime is until the time the priest immerses the cross in the water to be blessed. And during the dive 5) - short chime .
Under the holiday itself ( on the evening of January 18th) All-night vigil is served. Before it starts - 1) - blagovest and chime. The Vigil consists of Great Compline (since Vespers is served in the morning) and Matins with Polyeleos. At the Polyeleos 2) - ringing to the Gospel. In the end - 3) - Chime at the end Vespers.
On the day of the holiday on January 19, in the morning, Liturgy of John Chrysostom. Ringing on it occurs in the usual order: on the clock 1) - blagovest and chime to the beginning of the Liturgy. Further 2) - 12 strokes to the Eucharistic Canon (intervals are shorter).
At the end of the Liturgy, after the priest reads the Prayer beyond the Ambon, the water is blessed. The composition of the bells here repeats the order at the first consecration: 3) - chime until the immersion of the cross, and 4) - chime during the dive.
Option 2 . On the eve of the holiday, when January 17 and 18 fall on weekend , Royal clock carried over to the morning of the previous day. This happens because they associated with strict fasting, and Saturday and Sunday are not fasting in their essence in the liturgical sense. At the same time, the Liturgy is not performed during the transfer. Before the Royal Hours - 1)-blessing. At the end of them - 2) - chime. Next are the Pictorial. At their end, there is no ringing.
On Christmas Eve, January 18, the morning is served Liturgy of John Chrysostom and Great Vespers . Before the beginning of the Liturgy, at the clock, 1) - blagovest and chime. During the Eucharistic Canon 2) - 12 strokes into a big bell (short intervals). After the end of the Liturgy and before the Great Vespers 3) - chime. In this version, with the transfer of the Royal Hours, the order of the service of the rite of consecrating water changes. It's happening at the Great Vespers , after the petitionary Litany, in the place where Litiya is served on other holidays. In this place of service, during the procession of the clergy, led by the priest to the place of consecration of water, 4) - chime until the moment of immersion in the water of the cross. Since the immersion of the cross - 5) - short chime. At the very end of the service, when the faithful begin to parse the holy water, the final 6) - festive chime "to the fullest".
January 18 in the evening served All-night vigil . The order of calls on it is as set: 1) - blagovest and chime to the start of the service. 2) - chime at the Polyeleos service for the reading of the Gospel. 3) - Festive chime at the end of the service.
January 19 in the morning is served Liturgy of Basil the Great , where the Great consecration of water takes place. Ringing order: on the clock 1) - blagovest and chime to the start of the service. 2) - 12 strokes into a large bell during the Eucharistic canon (intervals are longer). At the end of the Liturgy, after the priest reads the Prayer beyond the Ambon, the rite of blessing the water begins. From the beginning of the procession of the clergy until the immersion of the cross 3) - chime. During the immersion of the cross - 4) - chime. At the very end of the service, when the faithful begin to parse the holy water, the final 5) - festive chime "in all".
ORDER OF SERVICES AND RINGS OF MIDDLE HOLIDAYS
In the Orthodox liturgical system, vigil and polyeleos services are included in the middle holidays. Vigil services on weekdays and Saturdays are performed on the same services of the daily circle and according to the order of the Great Feasts. Only in comparison with the Great Feasts, at Matins, before the canon of the feast, the canon of the Mother of God is sung, and at the Litiya of Great Vespers, before the stichera of the feast, the stichera of the temple is sung.
Such holidays can be the days of popularly revered saints, images or events. Patronal feasts of churches. The following services are performed:
1. 9 o'clock. (if read) Great Vespers.
2. Small Compline (if served).
3. Midnight Office (if served).
4. Polyeleic Matins.
5. 1st, 3rd, 6th hours.
6. Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
The chimes at Great Vespers and Matins are performed as during the All-Night Vigil. Ringing at the Divine Liturgy according to the Rule. However, on middle holidays there are no chimes for Matins and there are no 9 blows to the “Most Honest ...” when praising the Mother of God. At the end of the service, the bell is also not supposed to. Thus, the ringing occurs only at the beginning of the service and towards the "Gospel". However, all these rules are at the discretion of the abbot.
RINGS EVERYDAY
At present, everyday bells are not a frequent occurrence. The real need for the use of bells in our time is not great. We are used to being guided by the clock. We know the schedule.
On weekdays, before divine services, the annunciation is heard in a simple day, small bell. Trezvon also happens to him, and it must be performed carefully.
Ringing equally on weekdays and holidays is undesirable.
At the service without a festive rank - only the blessing of the everyday bell. At the Liturgy, the ringing is only at the beginning. There is no ringing at the Eucharistic canon and at the end.
RINGS DURING GREAT LENT
With the advent of Great Lent, changes are taking place in liturgical practice - the system of counting the days of the week is changing. If at the usual time (during the singing of the Oktoech) Sunday is considered the first day of the week, then in Great Lent it is Monday. The order of reading kathismas changes. And in the general order of reading becomes more, and less singing. The nature of this singing also changes and becomes more restrained.
There are varieties of ringing that are unique to the period of Lent. For instance, sentries: before the 3rd hour, three strokes of the fasting bell are made, before the 6th hour - six strokes, before the 9th - nine strokes, and before Compline - 12 strokes.
In many churches, ringing during Lent is generally canceled.
To Vespers, Matins and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts - ringing at two(two hour bells and a smaller one behind it in size).
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. During it, the Sacrament of the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is not performed. They partake of the Holy Gifts, which were consecrated on the Sunday preceding it. And the meaning of this divine service is simple: the Church cannot leave believers without the most important thing - without that Food, eating which a person, according to the Savior's word, has eternal life. Throughout Great Lent, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thursday of the fifth week. The first three days of Passion Day, as well as March 9 / February 24 (the first and second finding of the head of John the Baptist) and March 22 / 9 (40 Martyrs of Sebaste), if the celebration falls on the period of Holy Fortecost of Great Lent.
On the days of preparation for Great Lent, on Wednesday and Friday during Cheese Week, Liturgy is not served, but the reading of the Hours is performed according to the Lenten model. However, according to this pattern (“chasing”) is not yet necessary.
V Forgiveness Sunday at Vespers, they ring the Annunciation with a great bell.
From Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent at Great Compline the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read. By Compline they make blagovest in the Lenten bell.
At the end of the first week of Great Lent, the Triumph of Orthodoxy is celebrated. After the Sunday Liturgy, a special prayer service is served. This is a special rite performed by the bishop or rector and the clergy in the center of the temple with the removal of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, with the singing of the Great Prokimen, with the pronouncement of an anathema, with the proclamation of eternal memory and longevity. During the singing of many years - ringing.
Wednesday and Friday during the entire period of Great Lent, they celebrate Vespers ringing at two because the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served in conjunction with Vespers. The ringing at two is made before Vespers.
On Saturdays and Sundays, fasting for the service is canceled, since the Liturgy is performed on these days. Sunday is a small Easter. Consequently, the nature of the Sunday bells during Great Lent does not change.
What else is important for a bell ringer to know is the order of ringing in the Eucharistic Canon of the Liturgy during Great Lent. On Saturday - Liturgy of John Chrysostom. On Sunday - Liturgy of Basil the Great, on which the interval between 12 beats of the canon is longer.
The Liturgy of Basil the Great is served 10 times throughout the liturgical year:
5 times - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Sunday of Great Lent at the Sunday Liturgy.
2 times on Holy Week on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday.
The first week of Great Lent is an example of ringing for the entire period.
Third Week of Great Lent - Worshiping the Cross. At the Sunday service, after the Great Doxology, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is brought to the center of the temple, which will remain there until Friday of the fourth week of Fortecost. Ringing to the beginning and during the service are made as usual. And during the removal of the cross, when the rector, taking the cross on his head, carries it to the middle of the temple, chime is made, which continues until the laying of the cross on the lectern in the middle of the temple. From this moment a chime is made.
Features of the fifth week: On Thursday, the memory of Mary of Egypt is celebrated. On Wednesday evening, at Matins and Vespers, ringing but without the big bell. On Thursday evening, at Matins, the entire Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read in one go. For this reason, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Thursday morning. To her evangelism is done but not in a big bell, and ringing.
Fortecost ends by Saturday of the 6th week with two holidays - Lazarus Saturday followed by the Great Twelfth Feast - Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem(Palm Sunday). These days, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is being served, which means that there is no fasting for the service, and the bells are not lenten, but in accordance with the charter of the holiday - festive chimes and chimes.
CHINGS OF PASSION WEEK . Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - the ringing remains the same as during the period of Pentecost: the hourly ringing is performed, and before Vespers - the ringing "at two" for the Liturgy of the Presanctified gifts.
TO Maundy Thursday Morning(Wednesday evening) – blagovest to the polyeleos bell. Hours, Vespers and Liturgy of Basil the Great(Thursday morning) are performed together, so the ringing is made only in front of the clock good news into a polyeleon bell.
On Thursday evening served in churches Good Friday Matins reading the 12 gospels. Before Matins the Annunciation is laid. And while reading the Gospels - hitting the big bell by the number of gospels read. At the end of the service, according to the charter, bells are not allowed, but in many churches they make ringing, for those who pray carry the Thursday fire to their homes.
On Good Friday in the morning the Royal Hours are served. To them - blagovest.
On the same day, at the Great Friday Vespers(maybe at 14-00), on which, according to tradition, the removal of the Shroud is performed, the annunciation is carried out with a rare accent on the big one.
In the moment removal of the Shroud from the altar chime one beat on each bell from large to small. Upon placing the Shroud in the middle of the temple - ringing.
Good Friday evening(Great Saturday Matins) the Annunciation will be heard at the big bell. By the end of the service, at the Great Doxology, the burial rite is performed, culminating in a procession with the Shroud around the temple. At the procession - chime striking once from the big bell to the small one. During the placement of the Shroud in the middle of the temple, ringing.
From this moment, according to the established tradition, it is not customary to make any bells until the Midnight Office of Great Saturday, that is, until the good news for the Easter service.
BRIEF REVIEW-SCHEME OF RINGS OF THE PASSION WEEK:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday- fasting calls.
Thursday: to Matins (Wednesday evening) - the bell of polyeleos.
By the Hours, Vespers and Liturgy(merged. Thursday morning) Blasphemy at the polyeleos bell.
To Matins Good Friday(Thursday evening) - blasvet in the holiday bell. Reading the 12 Gospels. On each gospel, a big bell is struck according to the number of the read gospel. After the service - chime.
Good Friday: In the morning - Royal Hours. Blessings to them.
During removal of the Shroud(maybe at 14-00) - chime. Upon setting - a chime.
To Matins Great Saturday(Friday evening) - Blagovest. During the procession with the Shroud around the temple - a chime. Upon setting - a chime.
Saturday - no bells until Midnight Office, which is the beginning of the Easter service.
EASTER RINGS
The Midnight Office on Holy Saturday is the last service of Holy Week. In modern practice, it is adjacent to Paschal Matins. At present, before Midnight Office (at about 23-00) blagovest to the holiday bell 5 min.
After the Midnight Office, the Easter service begins immediately with Bright Easter Matins. Exactly at 00-00 o'clock the clergy in the altar sing the Easter stichera three times "Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior ...". After this, the procession begins, during which ringing all the bells, but not yet in full force. The ringing must be started already when the first altar boy with a lantern passes the porch of the temple to the exit. The ringing continues until the moment when the marchers, having gone around the temple around, stop at the western gate to perform Easter start. When the priesthood gathered at the entrance and everyone turned to the people, then stop ringing.
After the Easter beginning, at the end, after several exclamations: "Christ is Risen!" and answers "Truly Risen!", the ringing resumes with jubilant force. This is the most active moment of the ringing of the entire annual cycle, for the ringing affirms the Resurrection of Christ. Ringing needs to stop when the priesthood enters the altar.
The next ringing on Easter night is performed before the Liturgy. Serving before him Easter canon. Praise psalms. The catechumen of John Chrysostom is read. Litanies and Paschal leave. During the holidays, you need to quickly climb the bell tower, because the Easter Hours begin, which last no more than 5 minutes. During this time it is necessary to make chime for the Liturgy.
At the Liturgy, during the reading of the Gospel in several languages, relies one blow to the big bell after each gospel and short chime 2 minutes. by reading everyone. But if the feast of Easter coincides with the Annunciation, then there are no readings in tongues.
On the Eucharistic Canon, as usual, 12 strokes of the big bell.
After the end of the Liturgy festive chime "in all".
BELLS OF THE BRIGHT WEEK . All Bright Week evangelize to the holiday bell and ringing "in all". Since the Hours are sung at this time, and not read, it is necessary to call before the Hours and somewhat shorter. Some rectors bless before the beginning of the Liturgy to ring at all without a blagovest.
Throughout Bright Week, processions are made around the temple, accompanied by chimes.. At such moments, the bell ringer needs assistants who give signals about the movement of the procession. The chime must be stopped for the priesthood to read the Gospel, litanies, and sprinkle with holy water. The procession stops at all four sides of the temple, however, pauses between chimes are not the same: in front of the altar, they read and pause longer. The last stop is at the western part of the temple. There is also reading. The ringing is resumed from the entrance to the temple and to the passage to the altar. This chime can be considered final if there is no festive prayer after the Liturgy. If there is a prayer, then ringing even after its completion.
EASTER PUBLIC RINGS. According to the established tradition, on Bright Week, everyone, with the blessing of the rector, is allowed to visit the bell towers and ring the bells. The main thing here is not to leave the bells unattended. Guests must be accompanied by a bell ringer, who is responsible for the safety of the bells and connections, as well as for the safety of people.
BISHOPAL RINGS
When waiting for the service of the ruling bishop, the evangelization begins in advance, at the direction of the rector at the festive bell. As a rule, on this day they start calling a little earlier. Especially important in this case is the bell ringer alarm system. It can be an internal broadcast, light bulbs or a regular walkie-talkie. When the bishop approaches the gates of the temple (for 100 or more meters), the chime begins. If the bishop is expected for Vespers, then the ringing stops after about 20 minutes, as he proceeds to the altar and puts on the mantle.
If the bishop is met for the Liturgy, then after proceeding to the church, as it should be, two more parts of the chime are added to the Liturgy. The ringing of 12 strokes at the Eucharist is performed at longer intervals, since when serving as a bishop, all liturgical actions are performed more sedately. In other moments, the ringing remains the same.
In those cases when not one, but several bishops are expected to serve, then upon arrival and going to the church of one of them, after a counter chime, they resume the blagovest and wait for the next bishop, upon whose arrival everything resumes, as described above. At the end of the service, they wait for the exit of the bishop of their temple. His procession to the house of the clergy, to the refectory or departure from the territory of the temple is accompanied by a peal.
If the bishop leaves before the end of the service by a side or service exit (not solemnly), then the wire chime is not performed.
If the bishop is "in his" church or monastery, then at the end of the service chimes, his journey through the territory of the temple is not accompanied by a chime.
RINGS IN PRIVATE SERVICES. One difference between private worship and public worship is that it is not included in the annual, weekly and daily cycles and is performed as needed.
Before the consecration of the temple a water-blessed prayer service is served, at which chimes are made as on a patronal feast - a chime before the start of the prayer service and a chime during the immersion of the cross in water. During the consecration of the temple, a chime is performed during the procession of the procession with the relics. There is also a chime before the procession.
At the burial of priests and monks 12 strokes are made on a large bell, and bust, during the introduction of the coffin with the body of the deceased into the temple. Likewise when exiting.
At the wedding a trezvon is performed at the end of the rite, while the wedding couple sings of many years, at the moment the young people leave the temple.
Passing calls are performed during the procession in those churches, past which the procession takes place. Passing bells can be made while carrying relics and icons.
FESTIVAL, CONCERT AND MEMORIAL RINGS. These chimes occur as an exchange of creative experience between the bell ringers, or as certain thematic and free chimes in honor of some holiday. Festival bells, as a rule, are annual, and gather bell ringers from different parishes and cities. At the same time it is also a concert program. a large number of bell lovers. They call either on one bell tower, or on several.
In Rostov Veliky and Suzdal, concert bells are played on the belfries of museum reserves.
On the days of festivities, on Maslenitsa, small mobile bell towers often ring out on the streets, carrying entertaining and educational functions.
Memorial bells are made as a reminder of important historical events. V last years in many cities of Russia, a chime is made at noon on May 9th in memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic war 1941 - 1945.
Since 2007, memorial church bells have begun to ring on the territory of the Kulikovo Field Museum-Reserve.
Bells are one of the essential accessories of an Orthodox church. In the "order of blessing of the bell" it is said: “as if all who hear its ringing, whether in the days or in the night, be excited to glorify the name of your Holy One.”
Church bells are used to:
1 . call the faithful to worship,
2 . to express the triumph of the Church and her divine services,
3 . to announce to those who are not present in the church about the time of the performance of especially important parts of the Divine Services.
In addition, the people were convened at the veche (people's assembly) by ringing. The ringing indicated the way for travelers who got lost in bad weather. The ringing signaled some kind of danger or misfortune, for example, a fire. In tragic days for the Motherland, the people were called to defend the Fatherland. The ringing announced the people about the victory and welcomed the victorious return of the regiments from the battlefield (war) and so on. So the bell ringing accompanied the life of our people in many ways.
The bells are hung on a special tower called belfry or belfry, which is built above the entrance to the temple or next to the temple.
But bells, as you know, did not begin to be used by Christians immediately with the advent of Christianity.
In the Old Testament Church, Jerusalem Temple, - believers were called to Divine services not by bells, but by the sounds of trumpets.
In the first centuries of persecution of Christianity from the pagans, Christians did not have the opportunity to openly call the faithful to worship. At that time, believers were called to Divine services in secret. This was usually done through deacons or special messengers, and sometimes the bishop himself, after the Divine Service, announced the time and place of the next Divine Service.
After the cessation of persecution (in the 4th century), they began to convene believers in various ways.
A more general way of calling the faithful to Divine services was determined by the 6th century, when they began to use the beater and the riveter. Bila or candia are wooden boards, and rivets are iron or copper strips bent into a semicircle.
Finally, the most advanced way of calling the faithful to Divine services was determined - this bell ringing.
For the first time, bells, as is known, appeared in Western Europe. There is a legend according to which the invention of bells is attributed to St. Peacock, Bishop of Nolan(† 411), that is, at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century. There are several stories about this. According to one of these legends, St. Peacock in a dream saw wild flowers - bells that made pleasant sounds. After his sleep, the bishop ordered the bells to be cast, which had the shape of these flowers. But, obviously, St. Peacock did not introduce bells into the practice of the Church, since neither he himself in his writings, nor contemporary writers mention bells. Only at the beginning of the 7th century Roman Pope Savinian(the successor of St. Gregory the Dialogist) managed to give the bells a Christian meaning. Since that time, bell ringing began to be gradually used by Christians, and during the VIII and IX centuries in Western Europe, bells firmly entered the practice of Christian worship.
In the East, in the Greek Church, bells began to be used from the second half of the 9th century, after the Venetian Doge Ursus sent 12 large bells as a gift to Emperor Michael in 865. These bells were hung on the tower at St. Sophia Cathedral. But among the Greeks, bells did not come into widespread use.
Bells appeared in Russia almost simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity by St. Vladimir (988), i.e. at the end of the tenth century. Along with bells, beaters and riveters were also used, which existed until recently in some monasteries. But oddly enough, Russia did not borrow bells from Greece, from where it adopted Orthodoxy, but from Western Europe. This is indicated even by the very name of the bell, which comes from the German word Glocke. In church language, the bell is called "campan"- from the name of the Roman province of Campania, where the first bells were cast from copper. At first the bells were small, several hundred pounds each. There were few of them at the temples, 2, 3 bells each.
But since the 15th century, when Russia's own bell-casting factories appeared, large-sized bells began to be cast. So, on the bell tower of Ivan the Great in Moscow there are, for example, the following bells: the bell called "Every Day", weighs 1017 pounds 14 pounds; bell "Reut", weighs about 2000 pounds; the largest bell is called "Assumption" or "Festive", weighs about 4000 pounds.
The largest bell in the world is still "The Tsar Bell", standing now on a stone pedestal at the foot of the bell tower of Ivan the Great. It has no equal in the world, not only in size and weight, but also in artistic casting. Tsar Kolokol was cast by Russian masters (father and son) Ivan and Mikhail Matorin in 1733 - 1735. The material for the Tsar Bell was its predecessor, the giant bell, damaged by fire. This bell weighed 8000 poods and was cast by the bell-maker Alexander Grigoriev in 1654. Over 5000 poods of alloy were added to this material of 8000 poods.
The total weight of the Tsar Kolokol is 12,327 pounds and 19 pounds or 200 tons (218 American tons). The diameter of the bell is 6 meters 60 cm or 21 feet 8 inches.
This amazing work of foundry art was not raised to the bell tower, because the bell was severely damaged by a terrible and devastating fire in 1737. Tsar Kolokol was then still in the foundry pit, surrounded by wooden scaffolding (structures). But whether he was raised on these scaffolds or not is not exactly established. When these wooden scaffoldings caught fire, they were flooded with water. The red-hot bell from a sharp change in temperature gave many large and small share cracks and a large piece fell off from it, weighing 11,500 kilograms.
After the fire, Tsar Kolokol lay in the pit for a century. In 1836, the bell was raised and installed on a stone pedestal, designed by the architect A. Montferrand, the builder of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg. It still stands on this pedestal. Below, the fallen edge of the bell is leaning against the pedestal. Such is the fate of the world's greatest Tsar Bell, who never rang.
But even now, located in Moscow on the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the Uspensky bell is the largest in the world (4000 pounds). A blow to it gave rise to the solemn ringing of all Moscow churches on the Great, Bright, Easter night.
So the Russian Orthodox people fell in love with church bells and enriched it with their ingenuity and art.
A distinctive feature of Russian bells is their sonority and melodiousness, which is achieved by various means, such as:
1 . the exact proportion of copper and tin, often with the addition of silver, that is, the correct alloy.
2 . the height of the bell and its width, that is, the correct proportion of the bell itself,
3 . the thickness of the walls of the bell,
4 . correct suspension of the bell,
5 . the correct alloy of the tongue and the method of attaching it to the bell; and many others.
The tongue is called the percussion part of the bell, which is placed inside it. The Russian bell differs from the Western European bell in the first place in that the bell itself is fixed motionless, and the tongue is suspended inside the bell by a freely swinging one, the blow of which produces the sound.
It is characteristic that the Russian people, calling the shock part of the bell language, likened these to the ringing of a bell live voice. For believing Russian people the bells were made tongue, voice and trumpets. Truly, what other name than a non-speaking mouth can be called a bell ringing: on the days of great holidays it reminds us of heavenly bliss, on the days of the saints of God it tells us about the eternal rest of the holy celestials, on the days of Passion Week it reminds us of our reconciliation with God, through Christ the Savior, in the days of Bright Paschal Week exalts us about the victory of life over death and about the eternal, endless joy of the future life in the Kingdom of Christ.
Is it not a speaking mouth, when the bell lets us know about every hour, about its course, reminding us at the same time of eternity, when "there will be no more time"().
Heralding the glory of the name of Christ, resounding day and night, and mostly from on high at the temples of God, the bell ringing by itself reminds us of the words of the Lord Almighty, spoken through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah: “On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen who will not be silent neither day nor night ..., reminding of the Lord "(). It is no coincidence that the pagans often heard the bell ringing and said: “This is the voice of the Christian God is heard!”...
Sounds one church bells represent something lofty, solemn; and if the bell rings several more or less consistent bells, then there is even more majestic euphony. The powerful ringing of bells, acting on our inner feeling, awakens our souls from spiritual lulling.
What mournful, depressing, and most often irritating tones the bells ring in the soul of an evil wicked apostate.
A feeling of anxiety, spiritual anguish is caused by the ringing of bells in a constantly sinful soul.
Meanwhile, as in the soul of a believer, seeking peace with the Lord God, church bell ringing excites a bright, joyful and peaceful mood. So a person can determine the state of his soul by the ringing of bells.
One can give many examples from life when a person, tired in the struggle with worldly sorrows, fallen into despair and despondency, decides to encroach on his own life. But, behold, the church bells reached his ears, and he who is preparing to become a suicide shudders, fears himself, involuntarily shields himself with the sign of the cross, remembers the Heavenly Father, and new, good feelings arise in his soul - and the deceased was forever reborn to life. Thus, in the strokes of a church bell, a marvelous power is hidden, penetrating deeply into human hearts.
Having fallen in love with the church bell ringing, the Russian Orthodox people connected with it all their solemn and sad events. Therefore, the Orthodox bell ringing serves not only to indicate the time of the Divine service, but also serves as an expression of joy, sadness and triumph. Hence, various types of ringing appeared, and each type of ringing has its own name and meaning.
TYPES OF RINGING AND THEIR NAMES
Church bell ringing is divided into two main types: 1. blagovest and 2. actually ringing.
1. BLAGOVEST
Blagovest is called measured blows to one big bell. With this ringing, believers are summoned to the temple of God for Divine service. This ringing is called the Annunciation because it proclaims Good, good news about the beginning of Divine service.
Blagovest is done like this: first, three rare, slow, lingering strike(until the sound of the bell stops), and then follow measuring strokes. If the bell is very large or huge size, then these measured blows are made by swinging the tongue to both edges of the bell. If the bell is relatively small, then its tongue is attracted by the rope quite close to its edge, a board is placed on the rope and blows are made by pressing the foot.
Blagovest, in turn, is divided into two types:
1 . Ordinary or frequent and produced by the largest bell; and
2 . lean or rare, produced by a smaller bell, on the seven days of Great Lent.
If there are several large bells at the temple, and this happens at cathedrals, large monasteries, laurels, then the large bells, in accordance with their purpose, are distinguished into the following bells: 1) festive; 2) Sunday; 3) polyoleic; 4) simple day or everyday; 5) fifth or small bell.
Usually in parish churches there are no more than two or three large bells.
2. ACTUAL RINGING
Actually ringing is called ringing when they ring all the bells at once or several bells.
The ringing of all bells differs in:
1 . trezvon- this is a ringing of all the bells, then a small break, and the second ringing of all the bells, again a small break, and the third time the ringing of all the bells, i.e. ringing all the bells three times or ringing in three steps.
The trezvon expresses Christian joy, triumph.
In our time, not only the ringing of all bells three times, but, in general, the ringing of all bells has come to be called trezvon.
2 . Double ringing is the ringing of all the bells twice, in two steps.
3 . Chime- this is a ringing alternately in each bell (one or more beats in each bell), starting from big to smallest, and this is repeated many times.
4 . Bust- this is a slow ringing in turn to each bell once, starting out from the smallest and to the big, and after hitting the big bell, hit all the bells together at once, and this is repeated many times.
THE USE OF RINGING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
RINGING AT THE ALL-NIGHT VISION
1 . Before the start of the All-Night Vigil - blagovest, which ends ringing.
2 . At the beginning of reading six-psalmia relies double chime. This double chime announces the beginning of the 2nd part of the All-Night Vigil - matins and expresses the joy of Christmas- the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning of Matins, as we know, directly points to the Nativity of Christ and begins with the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
In the people, the double bell at the vigil is called "second call"(the second ringing after the beginning of the vigil).
3 . While singing polyelea before reading gospels relies ringing expressing the joy of the celebrated event. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, the chime expresses joy and triumph of the Resurrection of Christ.(In some localities it is performed during the singing: “The Resurrection of Christ Who Seen” ...) usually in the manuals this ringing is called "call to the gospel".
In the people, the trezvon at Vespers ("ringing to the Gospel") is called "Third ring".
4 . At the beginning of the singing of the song of the Mother of God: "My soul magnifies the Lord..." sometimes short blagovest, consisting of 9 blows to a large bell (according to the custom of Kiev and all of Little Russia).
5 . V Great holidays at the end of the Vigil happens ringing.
6 . During the hierarchal Divine Liturgy after each All-Night Vigil, ringing, for the bishop's wire.
RINGING AT THE LITURGY
Before the beginning of the reading of the 3rd and 6th hours, Announcement to the Liturgy, and at the end of the 6th hour, just before the beginning of the Liturgy, - ringing.
If two Liturgies are served (early and late), then evangelism for the early Liturgy happens more rare, slow than to the late Liturgy, and is usually performed not at the largest bell.
At the hierarchical service the evangelism for the Liturgy begins at the appointed time. When the bishop approaches the temple, it is necessary ringing. When the bishop enters the temple, the chime stops and the blagovest continues again until the beginning of the vestments of the bishop. At the end of the 6th hour - ringing.
Then during the Liturgy it is necessary blagovest at the start "Eucharistic Canon", - the most important part of the Liturgy, to announce the time of consecration and the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.
At Fr. K. Nikolsky, in the book "The Charter of the Divine Service", it is said that the evangelism to "Worthy" begins with the words: “It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...”, and it happens before singing: “It is worthy to eat as truly, bless Thee the Mother of God ...” Exactly the same indication is found in the book: "The New Tablet", Archbishop. Benjamin, ed. SPB. 1908 p. 213.
In practice, the call to “Worthy” is shorter, consisting of 12 strokes.
In the south of Russia, the evangelism to "Worthy" is usually performed before the beginning of the "Eucharistic Canon", during the singing of the Creed. (12 hits, 1 hit for each member of the Creed).
The Annunciation to “Worthy” was introduced into the custom of Russian churches during the time of the Moscow Patriarch Joachim (1690) in the likeness of Western churches, where they ring at the words: “Take, eat ...”
After the end of the Liturgy all great holidays relies to ring(to ring all the bells).
Also after each Liturgy celebrated by the bishop, relies to ring, for the bishop's wire.
On the feast of the Nativity relies to ring the entire first day of the Feast from Liturgy to Vespers.
On the Feast of Easter - the Resurrection of Christ:
Blagovest to Bright Matins starts before Midnight Office and continues until the beginning procession, and with the beginning of the procession and until its end, and even longer, there is a joyful solemn ringing.
To the Paschal Liturgy - Blagovest and ringing.
And on the very Easter Liturgy, while reading Gospel, relies frequent chime, 7 strokes on each bell (the number 7 expresses the fullness of the glory of God). This solemn chime signifies the preaching of the gospel of Christ in all languages. This chime, after reading the Gospel, ends with a joyful victorious ringing.
Throughout Holy Easter Week relies chime daily, from the end of the Liturgy to Vespers.
In everything Sundays from Easter to Ascension, after the end of the Liturgy, it is supposed to perform ringing.
On Temple Holidays:
At the end of the Liturgy before the beginning of the prayer service relies brief blagovest and ringing and by the end of the prayer service is a chime.
During all religious processions a chime is due.
TO Royal Hours happens blagovest ordinary into a big bell, and to Great Lenten Hours - Blagovest lean into a smaller bell. How on Royal Hours, and on the Lenten Hours before each hour, the ringing: before the 3rd hour they strike the bell three times, before the 6th - six times, before the 9th - nine times. Before pictorial and Compline - 12 times. But if there is a holiday during Lent, then the bell on the clock is not struck separately at each hour.
On the Great Heel Matins, which serves in the evening in Vel. Thursday and when it is read 12 Gospels of the Passion of the Lord, in addition to the usual good news and ringing at the beginning of matins, is performed blagovest To every gospel: to the 1st Gospel - 1 hit to the big bell, to the 2nd Gospel - 2 hits to the 3rd Gospel - 3 hits etc.
At the end of Matins, when the faithful carry the "Thursday fire" home, it is supposed ringing.
CHIM USE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
On the Vespers of the Great Heel, before the removal of the Shroud, while singing: “You who are dressed ...” is supposed to be slow chime once per bell(from large to small), and according to the position of the Shroud in the middle of the temple - immediately ringing.
On the Great Saturday Matins starting with singing "Great Doxology" and in the course of the entire procession with the Shroud around the temple chime, the same as during the removal of the Shroud, i.e., a slow chime 1 time in each bell from large to small. When they bring the Shroud into the temple and reach the Royal Doors with Her, immediately ringing.
Slow chime 1 time in each bell, starting with the largest, most powerful sound, and gradually reaching the thinnest and highest sound of a small bell, it symbolizes "exhaustion" Our Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of our salvation, as we sing, for example, in the irmos of the 4th song, 5th tone: "Thy divine understanding of exhaustion ... for the salvation of your people ...".
According to the established age-old practice of Russian Orthodox Church(in the central part of Russia) such a chime should be made only twice a year: in Vel. Friday and Vel. Saturday, the day of the Lord's death on the cross and His free burial. Experienced bell-ringers watch this especially strictly and in no way allow that the mournful ringing of the one related to the Lord, our Savior, would be the same as the funeral ringing of simple, mortal and sinful people.
On the Matins on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, on the Week of the Adoration of the Cross and August 1st, before the removal of the cross from the altar during the singing of the "Great Doxology", there is a chime, during which they slowly strike 3 times(in some areas 1 time) to each bell from the largest to the smallest. When the cross is brought to the middle of the temple and placed on the lectern - ringing.
similar chime, but only frequent, fast, and 7 times(or 3 times) in each bell, happens before small consecration of water. When the cross is immersed in water - ringing.
The same as before consecration, it happens chime front consecration to the rank of Bishop. In general, there is a frequent chime several times in each bell bell ringing. In some areas, such a chime is performed before the start of the Liturgy in Temple Feasts and on other solemn occasions, for example, as mentioned above, when reading the Paschal Gospel.
USE OF BRUTTER AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Bust, otherwise funeral or death knell, expresses sadness and sorrow for the deceased. It is performed, as already mentioned above, in the reverse order than the chime, that is, they slowly strike one time to every bell from smallest to largest, and then hit all the bells at the same time. This mournful funeral enumeration necessarily ends with a brief ringing expressing joyful Christian faith in the resurrection of the deceased.
In view of the fact that in some manuals on ringing it is indicated not to perform pealing at the funeral of the dead, and this does not correspond to church practice, we give some clarification on this matter.
The slow enumeration of the bells, from the smallest to the largest, symbolizes the growing human life on earth, from infancy to maturity and manhood, and the simultaneous strike of the bells means the suppression of earthly life by human death, in which everything that a person has acquired for this life is left . As it is expressed in the songs at the funeral: “All the vanity of man, the Christmas tree does not abide after death: wealth does not abide, nor glory descends: after death has come, all this is needed. (Or as in another hymn it is sung: “In a single moment, and all this death accepts”). With the same cry to the immortal Christ: give rest to him who has passed away from us, where there are all having fun dwelling".
The second part of the song directly points to the joy in the future life with Christ. She then expresses herself, in conclusion of a mournful enumeration, ringing.
In the journal "Orthodox Russia", in the section "Questions and Answers", Archbishop Averky, about the customs at the funeral service and memorial services, he gave solidly substantiated explanations, which certainly should also apply to ringing: “According to our Orthodox custom, memorial services and funeral services are supposed to be performed in bright vestments. The custom of performing these rites in black vestments came to us from the West and is completely uncharacteristic of the spirit of St. Orthodoxy, but nevertheless it has spread quite widely among us - so much so that it is not easy to eradicate it now ... For a true Christian - death is a transition to a better life: joy, not sorrow, as it is beautifully expressed in the touching third kneeling prayer read at Vespers on the day of Pentecost: for the most useful and sweetest, and for repose and joy ”(see Color Triode).
The ringing, reminiscent of the resurrection, has a beneficial effect on the believing Christian soul, grieving for separation from the deceased, and gives her inner consolation. There is no reason to deprive a Christian of such consolation, especially since this ringing has firmly entered the life of the Russian Orthodox people and is an expression of their faith.
Thus, when carrying the deceased to the funeral service in the temple, a mournful enumeration, and when bringing it into the temple - ringing. After the funeral, when the deceased is taken out of the temple, it is performed again enumeration, also ending ringing.
At the funeral and burial priests, hieromonks, archimandrites and bishops takes place somewhat different enumeration. First, the big bell is struck 12 times, then follows enumeration, again 12 times in a big bell and again enumeration etc. When the body is brought into the temple, ringing, also after reading the permissive prayer - ringing. When taking the body out of the temple, again indicated enumeration, and after putting the body in the grave it happens ringing. In other places, they call with the usual funeral search.
The “Official Book” indicates that when Patriarch Joachim was taken out, there was a blessing, changing all the bells from time to time (Temporary Imp. Moscow. General. Ist. and ancient. 1852, book 15, p. 22).
Recently, we happened to learn that there was another species enumeration- this is one blow to each bell, but starting from large to small, and then the simultaneous strike of all the bells. This was confirmed by the gramophone record: "Rostov Ringing", recorded in Rostov, in 1963. In practice, we have not heard such a ringing, there are no instructions about it in the ringing manuals. Therefore, we cannot indicate where and when it was applied.
There is also the so-called red chime to all the bells ("in all seriousness").
Red ringing occurs at cathedrals, monasteries, laurels, that is, where there are a large number of bells, which include many large bells. The red bell is made by several ringers, in the amount of five people or more.
The red bell occurs on Great Feasts, during solemn and joyful events in the Church, and also to pay honor to the diocesan bishop.
In addition, one should also mention the "sudden" or "alarm" ringing, which has a social significance.
aroused or alarm ringing called the continuous, frequent strikes of the great bell. The alarm or flash was called during an alarm on the occasion of a fire, flood, rebellion, invasion of enemies or some other public disaster.
"Veche" bells were called bells, with which the inhabitants of Novgorod and Pskov called the people to veche, i.e., to the people's assembly.
The victory over the enemy and the return of the regiments from the battlefield was heralded by a joyful, solemn ringing of all the bells.
In conclusion, let us recall that our Russian bell ringers have achieved high skill in bell ringing and have become famous throughout the world. Many tourists came from Europe, England and America to Moscow for Easter, to listen to the Easter bells.
On this "holiday holiday" in Moscow, a total of all the churches rang more than 5,000 bells. The one who heard the Moscow Easter ringing could never forget it. It was "the only symphony in the world", as the writer I. Shmelev writes about it.
This powerful, solemn ringing shimmered throughout Moscow with various melodies of each temple and ascended from earth to heaven, like a victorious hymn to the Risen Christ.
(The instructions on the order of ringing are based mainly on practice of the Russian Orthodox Church(center. Russia). This practice was created and approved by the centuries-old experience and life of the Russian Orthodox people, that is, by the very life of the Catholic Church).
Everything about religion and faith - "bell ringing prayer" with a detailed description and photographs.
bell ringing is an important part of church worship. He announces the beginning of the service and invites the faithful to the temple. The ringing of the bell expresses the festive solemnity of the most important places of worship. On great holidays and Sundays, he expresses the spiritual joy of the faithful.
The church charter distinguishes four types of ringing:
- blagovest - measured blows to the largest bell, which is called the evangelist;
- chime when all the bells are struck in turn;
- the ringing itself, when all the bells are rung or only a few;
- a chime when they strike in three stages at several bells or at all bells (in all seriousness).
Bell ringing is festive and everyday. The festive ringing calls for an all-night vigil and liturgy. He reminds the faithful of the Divine service and calls to the temple to prayer: Proclaim from day to day His salvation (our God)(Ps 95:2). First, two strikes are heard on the largest bell - the evangelist. After the sound from the second blow subsides, the ringer begins to make measured blows. During the gospel, he must read the 50th psalm twelve times or once the 118th psalm (Immaculate).
Then the ringing starts.
To the all-night trezvon occurs in two steps, and to the liturgy - in three, that is, three times with some intervals in time.
Again, the bell ringing during the liturgy is heard at the beginning of the Eucharistic canon - the most solemn part of the service. At this time, the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered at the altar. The Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ is performed. After the exclamation: “We thank the Lord!” - the choir sings: "It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible." The blows to the evangelist begin. The bell-ringer must make twelve strokes on the festive bell - according to the number of the apostles at the Lord's Last Supper. It is necessary to finish the ringing by the end of the reading of the Eucharistic canon - to the exclamation: "Fairly about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Our Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary."
In church practice, the ringing is also performed at the end of the all-night and festive liturgy, although the Typicon does not establish this. The festive chime at the end of the service is in tune with the joy that fills the hearts of believers on the day of the holiday.
Every day during the entire Bright (Paschal) week, a chime is due: from the end of the Liturgy to Vespers.
During all religious processions, a chime is required.
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Purification (healing) by bell ringing, what are the varieties and types
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Orthodox bell ringing is a prayer imprinted in sound. Beauty, which is endowed with unusually great power, because it gives a person healing, heals not only the body, but also the soul. This music revives love in the heart, envelops with calmness and creates harmony.
Bell Cleansing
The ringing of bells has tremendous power, which saturates the space around with the positive energy of goodness and love, and purifies it. The sound wave of the bell ringing propagates in the air in the form of a cross, therefore the ringing has such an effect on the human condition, both physical and mental:
- the incidence decreases: pathogenic bacteria die and do not multiply further;
- the psycho-emotional background stabilizes: peace and tranquility sets in.
The enormous effect of bell ringing for the treatment of various diseases has been proven by numerous examples and facts. The most common among these conditions of the human body are:
- stress, nervousness, insomnia;
- vascular disease;
- depression, mental disorders;
- hypertension, diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
- stomach ulcer;
- bronchial asthma;
- acute pain of various origins;
- infectious and respiratory diseases;
- low immunity;
- female diseases;
- kidney disease;
- intestinal and biliary diseases;
- hearing loss.
But it is also necessary to remember that the ringing of bells will have the desired effect if you listen to it correctly, namely:
- only on high-quality media;
- it is advisable not to use headphones;
- if it draws you into sleep, do not resist;
- before listening, read “Our Father”, during - Psalm 50, at the end - “It is worthy to eat”;
- at least once a year (if possible) listen to a live bell ringing.
The positive impact of ringing on a person and the world around him is possible only when it does not cause irritation. It should also be remembered that a sound therapy session directly under a living bell should not exceed 15-20 minutes.
The bell ringing of the monasteries is a kind of energy generator, which is transformed into sound. At the same time, it is very important that the sound more often sound in a live form, and not in a recorded one, because this way the spectrum of its propagation is disturbed. Under this condition, the effect increases several times. And the very environment in which a person hears a ringing is conducive to its correct perception - through the church, through righteous faith, through God.
For cleaning the house
Church bells are also able to purify the home. After all, everyone has their own energy. And this does not depend on good repair or beautiful furniture. The spiritual atmosphere is what is important in this case. And if it is broken, then the people who live in it can often get sick, quarrel for no reason, suffer from mental disorders and depression. Therefore, one should try to maintain not only the physical condition of the house (keep clean and tidy), but also the spiritual, achieving peace and harmony.
You can use bell ringing to cleanse your home in the following ways:
- hang a bell at the entrance (symbol);
- periodically “ring” the corners;
- put on audio recordings of church bells ringing.
And of course, great option there will be a fact of finding a house next to an Orthodox church. Then protection, positive energy and harmony will become faithful companions of its inhabitants.
What are the bells
With love for church bells, the Orthodox people combined all their life events, both solemn and sad. Therefore, it serves not only as a measure of church time, but also as an expression of the state of mind of an Orthodox person. This was the reason for the emergence of various types of ringing, each of which has its own specific name and semantic purpose.
What are the bells and their names:
Blagovest, in turn, is divided into two more:
Actually, the ringing can also be of several types:
What are the types of bells
Blagovest is the most important bell ringing for every Orthodox Christian. These are measured blows to one big bell. With the help of it, believers are summoned to the temple for worship. And its name comes from the fact that they proclaim the good news - the beginning of the ministry.
The procedure for making a blessing:
- three beats (rare, slow, lingering);
- measured blows.
Actually ringing is the sounding of all or several bells at once.
What are the types of blessing
As you know, the blessing is of two types:
- ordinary or frequent - produces the largest bell;
- lenten or rare - performed by a smaller bell on the days of Great Lent.
The sound of bells is divided into the following types:
- chime - ringing all the bells, then a short break, then the second and third chimes in the same way, also with a short break. In other words, ringing in three steps. It is an expression of Christian joy and triumph;
- double ringing - ringing all the bells in two steps;
- chime - ringing each bell in turn, from the largest to the smallest, and so on several times;
- enumeration - a slow ringing of each bell one at a time, from the smallest to the largest, after which a blow to all the bells at once, and so on many times.
If there are several large bells at the temple, then, according to their purpose, they differ in the following:
Usually in parish churches there are no more than two or three large bells. A larger number happens at cathedrals, monasteries, laurels.
What bell ringing is healing
Each bell ringing has its own healing abilities and properties. And the expected effect depends on how much a person believes in their power and listens to the voice of the Lord, for it is in them that the true purpose of church music is.
Bell ringing is healing and all-forgiving. In it is the melody of the spirituality of the Orthodox people, the basis of which is inexhaustible faith and the eternal grace of God, which leads to life path and grants salvation.
The Lord is always with you!
In this video you will hear the cleansing ringing of bells:
PRAYERS UNDER THE RINGING OF BELLS.
It has long been known that the ringing of bells destroys any negative program and in some cases kills (or at least significantly weakens) the action of pathogenic bacteria.This occult effect increases several times if at this time one prays before an icon, especially before the image of the Mother of God, the most merciful and compassionate among the rest.
Prayers in this case should be short, capacious in order to have time to say them three times during the bell ringing.
PRAYER FOR A POSITIVE CHANGE OF DESTINY:
« Mother of God, Blessed Virgin Mary. You see everything, you know everything, you understand everything. I beg you, I beg you, Lady of Heaven, remove thorns, resentment, spiritual devastation, sorrows and grief from my life, constantly to me, (my full name), related. I repent of the sins that I have committed (a), from now on I undertake to live in a righteous way, in a divine way, in a human way. Amen, amen, amen."
During the pronunciation of this prayer, at your own discretion (you will somehow understand exactly where), make the sign of the cross three times, but not at the end.
PRAYER FOR HEALING:
"O Holy Mother of God, protect and protect me, (your name), from painful diseases, sick ailments, sad sadness, mournful sorrow. I pray and hope for Your mercy and compassion. Let me become healthy again (oh) and cheerful (oh). In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen".
PRAYER FROM DAMAGE. THE EVIL EYE. CURSE.
Light two candles. Hold one in your left hand, the other in your right. The text is read in a whisper, from time to time making the sign of the cross with a lit candle (if it goes out, then this is a bad sign and damage should be removed in a different way).
“In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I, (my full name), prayerful (s), baptized (s), God (s), spoiled (s) with an evil eye, black libel, cursing word, I ask, Heavenly Queen, intercede for me, free me from witchcraft, evil witchcraft, human envy, superficial devilry. My word is sad, my soul is desperate, forgive me, (your name), an ignoramus, my only hope is in you. Amen".
Then put a candle in the candlestick from the left hand, then from the right.
And the last thing: you should go to church in an absolutely sober state.
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Orthodox bell ringing
From time immemorial, Russian people have treated the bell ringing reverently, remembering the divine origin of its sound. No wonder the voice of the bell, announcing the reading of the Gospel, is called the gospel. He, like a voice from heaven, frames the entire church service. With measured strikes on the largest bell, the Divine Liturgy begins and ends. Bell ringing makes a person involved in temple activities even when he is outside the walls of the church (cathedral, temple). The bell calls for prayer and action, forcing you to forget about everyday worries, problems, troubles at least for a moment and remember God.Orthodox ringing has always been based on rigor and simplicity, but no one forbids being creative within the framework of existing canons (the ringer is himself a composer, performer, and improviser). Its task is to set off the ringing in such a way that today “show”, for example, the Assumption, and tomorrow the Nativity of the Virgin (with the help of different strength of beats, tempo and rhythm, convey peace and sorrow, jubilation and anxiety). But the first thing that the bell ringer should remember when standing on the bell tower is that he is the link between the temple and Heaven and that church bells are an equivalent temple rite (after all, Divine services begin and end with it).
Bells. Miracle of Healing - Golden Apple
Traditionally, special types of ringing have developed: blagovest, wired (funeral) ringing, everyday, wedding (accelerating), counter and, finally, festive chimes, among which there are great, medium, red and a special form - trezvon. Trezvon is the most difficult to perform, but the brightest musically. It consists of 3 parts connected into a single whole (and its very name comes from the merger of the phrase “three bells”). The red ringing of all bells (“in all seriousness”) strikes with its power and beauty on Great holidays. Ringers have such a concept - euphony. The bells for the belfries were always selected in such a way that all together they formed a harmonious “chime-choir”. If any bell was dissonant with the rest, falling out of the general system, it received the apt nickname “ram”, “dissolute” and, as a rule, was excluded from ringing. For belfries, 3 groups of bells are usually selected: large - evangelists, medium - ringing and small - ringing bells. As for the sound and tone of the bells, it depends on their weight, shape and casting quality: 100 identical bells cast in the same production will sound differently (the temperature of the pouring and how the metal cools down also affect).
Festive bell ringing
Orthodox bell ringing is divided into three main types:
2) chime, bust;
3) Actually ringing.
Blagovest is measured blows to one big bell. This ringing announces to believers the good news about the beginning of Divine services in the temple. Blagovest is festive, everyday and Lenten.
A chime is a sorting of bells from the largest bell to the smallest (or vice versa) with a different number of strokes for each bell. There are two main chimes: funeral and water blessing.
The ringing itself is a characteristic rhythmic ringing using all the main groups of the bell scale. The bells of this group include: holiday bells (trezvon, dvuzvon), everyday bells, as well as bells composed by the bell ringer himself (the latter are the result of the bell ringer's creative work and self-expression).
The fate of bells, like people, is different. There are also long-livers among them (for example, the still functioning Nikonovsky bell, born in 1420, from the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra).
Before being installed on the belfry, a rite of consecration is always performed above the bell: they sprinkle holy water on the outside and inside and read prayers. Blessed and created by true masters of their craft, the bell will surely live for a long time and overshadow people with a “sounding” cross – moving both horizontally and vertically in surround sound.
In Russia, the bell has become a symbol of statehood and at the same time a broad Russian soul (probably, some “strings” of the Russian soul are adequately reflected in the bell ringing). It is interesting that Russian bells are fundamentally different, for example, from Dutch ones (in particular, Malinsky ones). Malin is a Dutch city in which bells, famous for their euphony, were poured (hence the raspberry chimes came from). Dutch bells have a more precise, toned (like a string) sound. The Russian bell, in turn, takes the whole chord (which is why a very wide range of sounds is obtained in one stroke of the Russian bell).Church bells are not for concerts! It has been like this for a long time: bells are a spiritual witness to the whole world, a symbol in bronze, and their ringing is a symbol in sound. It is not for nothing that bell ringing is called “the voice of the Church”, and this voice calls for spiritual Rebirth and Repentance. And it is not good for church bells to idly broadcast from the bell towers (bell ringers do not even have the right to rehearse in the bell tower, to ring after hours or for the amusement of the public). Bells ringing is performed only according to church canons: at a certain hour, in a certain way. But there is one week in the year when (not simultaneously with the church service) it is allowed to call enough, to the delight of the whole world. This is Paschal Bright Week. It should be remembered that the church bell is a shrine that must always be protected and honored. Ringing is an adornment of a temple (cathedral, church), and may it always be magnificent!
Bell ringing of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Hear the Healing Bells!
2 ideas on “Orthodox Bell Ringing”
I wonder how the ringer can rehearse his art, probably in monasteries and seminaries they teach this?
I love ringing bells! It is a pity that there is no audio on your site to listen to. Thank you very much for the new interesting chants in ruble audio.
The wonders of the bell
As they said before, bells make the sinner's soul tremble and bring joy to the believer, it is very good to listen to the bell ringing for cleansing the house, it sanctifies the dwelling and removes all kinds of viruses and microbes. A modern man, unfortunately, hears the music of bells less and less. Their ringing drowns out the noise of big cities. But just a hundred years ago, church bell ringers, by striking the bells, announced the beginning of worship and the reading of important prayers to those who could not be present in the temple, brought joyful and sad news, performed wedding chimes, delivered from epidemics, gave new family joy and well-being.
Listen to the Easter chime in the Valaam Monastery - just a balm for the soul and purification!
The healing power of bells for the body
The sad thing is that the number of churches has significantly decreased over last century Therefore, legends about the uniqueness and great significance of these instruments for humans go back to the depths of centuries. Few people already remember the healing properties of bell ringing, but this amazing sound has a detrimental effect on influenza, jaundice, plague and smallpox viruses, and anthrax spores. And all this, by the way, has been proven by scientists!
If Petri dishes are placed under six-octave bells, then sterilization will occur during the ringing: proteins will coagulate in the cells, cease into crystalline structures, and become safe for humans. It is interesting that each type of virus dies only in its specific sound range (F.Ya.Shipunov, Academician of the Institute of the Biosphere of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
In the old days, craftsmen knew how to sound the bells to cope with this or that epidemic and cast them using a special technology. In one of the cities of Switzerland there is a monument to the bell that saved people from the plague.
In Russia, they knew that the ringing of bells would cure a headache, and remove the pain in the hands, if a person himself would ring the bells, and if you hit them over a seriously ill person, he would quickly recover. Grease from the bells was carefully collected and used for medicinal purposes. These facts have received scientific confirmation: the sound of this instrument has a positive effect on the human energy system, entering into resonance with it and significantly improving its condition.
And again, this is now scientifically confirmed - there are miracles of bell ringing, scientists have conducted studies that have confirmed that bell ringing is able to cleanse the surrounding space of all evil spirits and harmful formations. And among the people in the old days, with any epidemic, attacks by enemies and other problems, they rang bells around the clock until the attack left people. The same academician Shipunov with his group of scientists found out and approved - the bell ringing emits ultrasonic vibrations that destroy any pathogenic environment.
The beneficial effect of bell ringing on humanity is also known in our history. For example, when a desperate person who decided to “lay hands on himself” heard the gospel at that very moment, he remembered God, began to pray fervently, and this saved his life. And two old blockade women said: in order not to die of hunger, they listened to the bell ringing and prayed. Only the two of the entire population of the eight-story building survived.
And this also has scientific confirmation - a set of certain sounds, called the dominant seventh chord, is able to nourish a person who, listening to him, practically does not feel the need for food.
The bell ringing of the Svyatogorsk Lavra is music for the soul!!
Scientific confirmation
- In the last century, scientists from Sweden announced to the world that the bell ringing emits ultrasound, which kills pathogenic viruses. And our physicists Iskakov and Okhatrin proved that the sound of bells excites microleptons, after which microelectronic fields arise, removing harmful isotopes for us, rejuvenating the body.
- 10 years ago, Uralsky Rabochiy published an article describing the following experiment - a container of broth full of pathogenic bacteria was placed under a bell that made sounds. To the sound of the bell, the microbes suspended their harmful activity and died.
- In the 16th century, the body of Metropolitan Athos was kept in the Spaso-Khutynsky Monastery for more than 70 days under church bells, and no signs of decomposition were recorded!
- In the American Columbia Medical Center, in the treatment of cancer patients, bell therapy is hastily used, which, thanks to the emission of ultrasounds, can work wonders, destroying cancer cells.
It is recognized by science that the cross and bells, the main symbols of Orthodoxy, are the most powerful sources of energy, which is still very little studied and miraculous. Scientists also measured the radiation of the domed cross in the cathedral on Easter and noted with great surprise that when the service began, the radiation of the cross increased many times over, emitting simply colossal energy! Approved:
The vertical part of the cross receives cosmic energy, while the horizontal part "reradiates" it to the surface of the Earth. The cross is one of the most powerful devices replenishment of vital forces on Earth, and only a bell can be compared with it (academician F.Ya.Shipunov).
Bell ringing for the soul
And even more beneficial is the sound of bells for the human soul.
- In St. Petersburg there is a doctor Gnezdilov A.V., who uses the sound of bells to treat mental illness, and has many recovered people who were considered completely lost people by traditional medicine.
- The music of the bells helps to quickly cope with stress, severe depression, and cures insomnia.
- Goethe, in his notorious tragedy, told how Faust, holding a bowl of poison, threw it when he heard the bell ringing.
Types of bell ringing
- Blagovest - we hear this ringing before the start of worship - such measured deep sounds emanating from one large bell. Hearing the first sound, you need to raise your eyes to the sky, cross yourself at the second blow, and bow at the third.
- Chime - from small to large beautiful melodic chime.
- There is also a simple chime - this is when the ringers rhythmically strike the main bells.
The bell tower usually contains different bells, unique in sound. Moreover, low tones just have a healing and pacifying effect on a person, and high tones have a revitalizing effect. It should be noted that here only the LIVE bell sound is meant, because no recording equipment can reproduce the subtle vibrations of a real bell ringing and its life-giving force, healing the body and soul, spiritually elevating a person.
Folklore about bell ringing
Under the ringing of bells, our ancestors were born, married, gave birth to children, lived and died, all more or less significant events in the life of our ancestors were accompanied by a bell ringing. He gathered at the veche and called for help, called kings and announced trouble, there was even a special “blizzard” ringing that could bring a freezing person back to life.
- They called during a thunderstorm to save the village from a fire caused by lightning, and on certain holidays to get high yields of buckwheat and flax.
- And, of course, the bell ringing protected from evil spirits. He was also afraid of rats, mice and some types of insects. Japan confirms the same New Year the bells emit exactly 108 strokes, and for more than a thousand years the Japanese have been convinced that these 108 bell strikes drive away all evil spirits and harmful passions.
- People say that there were cases when the bells could ring on their own if a saint appeared in front of them, or a crime was committed, as well as predicting the imminent death of one of the parishioners.
History of bells
The high priests wore bells on their clothes, without them it was impossible to pray for the people and approach God, in Buddhist temples bells always hung outside and inside, cleansing from evil. And Slavic paganism gladly accepted the Christian bell ringing, associated with the thunder of heaven, merciful and punishing. Weddings in Russia could not do without bell ringing, people believed that they give young people happiness and the joy of childbearing.
From the very beginning in Russia there were Candias and Bila, called the flat ancestors of modern bells. they were first wooden boards. then iron plates, which were beaten with wooden mallets, calling the people together, then tulip-shaped ones appeared, from the tenth century. Even in Soviet godless times, the people, in fact, lived under the ringing of bells issued by the Kremlin chimes.
Interestingly, until the 20th century in Russia during the Easter week, those who wished could climb the bell tower and ring the bells. The bell ringer kept an eye on the children, and whoever did the best - called for training, because then there were no bell ringing schools and everything happened spontaneously.
The power of the bell is in the purity of sound
The soul of a monk sounds in church bells, and from how subtly the ringer feels the music of each bell, the bells sing so blissfully, our soul blossoms and is filled with joyful sensations of enlightenment and purity. The heart stops, because there is something mysterious and unusual in this, as if Divine grace descends on you.
I also noticed how the ringing of bells affects me, it happened, I pass by the temple, the bells begin to ring, you will stand, listen (if you don’t go to the temple even on this day), it becomes light and joyful in your soul, as if with a good person talked..
Yes, a wonderful thing - a bell ringing! I have long heard about his healing abilities, how he overcame the plague epidemic, how he has a calming effect on the soul and on the whole person ...
I once heard one of Fr. Andrey Tkachev's sermons, and then I remember his phrase that the ringing of the bell is consonant with the name "Adam", just as God called out to the first person in Paradise: "Adam!", And now the bell ringing calls our souls to the temple of God: “Adam, Adam, Adam”…
And another moment from my own life. Once I was in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, either on some big holiday, or on Sunday it was - I don’t remember anymore. After the Liturgy, the bell rang solemnly and for a long time, right next to the huge bell tower of the Lavra, I sat down on a bench to rest and fell asleep, leaning on its back - to the loud ringing of the bell! beds!) And those who have been to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra know how powerful the bell ringing is there. This was my short but wonderful dream, after which I felt a surge of vivacity and new strength, as if after a two-hour midday sleep.
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