136L (48 fi. oz.) tia SHADY LANE BUTTER e $925 COCA - COLA OR SPRITE LUCERNE EGG NOG Save 31¢. $ 9 8 2 Litre Lonwilll RKEYS = $900) 9] 27 SLICED SIDE BACON Save $1.06. saieney: eg. or Thick. LONG ENGLISH CUCUMBERS Prices Effective Oe: 22, 23 & 24 IN THE CASTLEGAR STORE — SAFEWAY A SAPEWAY LIMITED ao SALES IN RETAIL QUANTITIES ONLY OUENEEOONG AOTOEEOCAEOOEAEEUUU CHRISTMAS IS THE PEAL OF CHURCH BELLS “Bing louder around’ To the bells’ cheerful sound” — Wm. Blake Bells are and have been so much a part of the symobolism of Christmas that it is impossible to imagine Christmas without them — sleigh bells, church bells and the colorful but silent decorative bells one sees everywhere. Bells are also an essential part of the monastic life and there are few finer peals of bells in the country than those found in the Pfitzer Memorial bell tower at St. Joseph's Abbey of Westminster, the Benedictine monas- tery near Mission. It seems only proper, therefore, to write a Christmas column on those highly symbolic and essential bells and to dedicate it to Father Abbot and the monks of Westminster Abbey. The column is in two parts — my own personal experience with the bells and an unpublished paper on the story of the bells, very kindly given to me by Father Mark Dumont, one of the monks at the abbey. . * s It is only mid-November, but the lights gleam dimly in the 5:45 morning darkness and cast apathetic reflections on the rainpools in the darker courtyard. The monks were up long ago and must at about this time be completing their first devotions of the day — Lauds — in the abbey church. I hurry through my exercises, wash, shave, dress, make my bed and then, leaving my apartment, walk down the short corridor of the main guest house to the reception hall, up the curving carved staircase to the upper hall down the passage to the right to the door marked “private” and through into the long, vaulted and dimly lit cloister, to stand by the steep stairs which lead to the bell tower and wait in the quiet dimness. I am here with permission. Until yesterday I had thought, if I thought at all, that the bells, which rang briefly or at length through the day, starting with the call to mass at 6:15 and ending with the call for silence at 9 in the evening, and which marked the pace and order of life at the monastery, had been operated mechanically or by a keyboard. Yesterday I learned (after almost two months) that the bells were rung manually, expressed an interest in “seeing it done,” and here I was, waiting. Far below, the Fraser River twists idly down the valley while the lights of mission, like fireflies glance fitfully off its surface and stop only when they reach the mountains, dark, ragged silhouettes in the distant eastern horizon. There is almost total silence, and yet I know that the monastery is already a beehive of activity and that even some of the guests are already stirring. It is now 6:18 a.m. and as if by magic seven dark-robed monks appear from different directions out of the gloom and with the faintest smile or nod of recog- HUAQQ0QNNOCENGQOOUUUUOOUO4NOQOE444QNQQOOOOUCEONNNEASIOCA4OQNGOOONOQGQOOOQOQUUONeoqOxOLOO4ONNGQQauOOquvO INDOW BLINDS 20% OFF LAPETITE t” VENETIANS ¢ VEADSOL ALLCOVERINGS 15% OFF SAVE (5% ON ORDERED OF sTacK for the lotect Look (@) dives ore home achione Y, PAINT & WALLCOVERINGS LTD. GI2 Columbiadue. CASTLEGAR 36-614 FOUNDATION 198 = 2 = = chapel below ground level. E =] = =| ‘John Charters... ‘Reflections So ee ee ee oe iii tt tt tt i & recollections nition (the period of, silence does not end. until; after breakfast) move in'their quick, quiet but ‘unhurried way: up the stairs and into the carilloneurs room and to their appointed places. It is a small room with heavy ropes coming through ‘ holes in the high ceiling. Lightweight cords are looped at the ends of these bell-ropes, a: blackboard covered ‘with series of numbers and ‘incomprehensible hieroglyphics: ‘hangs on one wall and low, moveable platforms are ranged around the perimeter, In a moment, and still without a sound, the monks range themselves in a circle, some standing on a platform some on the floor, but all with the cord loops around their ets and their hands on the bell ropes, poised and A bilel low volced tustruction ae the leader and - they begin — pull, release, watch, pull, release, watch. For five minutes the ordered clangor of the bells goes on, calling the community and visitors to mass and marking the beginning ofa new day for some of the citizens a mile or more away in, Mission. The tower trembles ever so slightly, then again « comes a low-voiced signal from the leader and the bells lapse into silence. The cords are again looped on the ropes, the platforms returned to their: places and the monks file out as quietly as they came. In less than 10 minutes some of them will be singing the Gregorian chant in English and in Latin in the choir while others, robed in the appropriate vestments and preceded by acolytes with lighted candles, will be moving in solemn procession toward the altar. The stained glass windows glow faintly in the first blush of dawn but the bells, silent now, will speak again and again marking the Passage of the day as they have for 1,500 years and will doubtless continue to do for ages yet to come. * # « t THE ABBEY BELLS AND BELLRINGING By FATHER MARK DUMONT ¥ Our guests for the dedication of the new abbey church on Sept..19 were treated to a quarter-hour of bellringing before and after the ceremony. The bellring- ing enhanced the liturgical celebrations noticeably and even provided background music for Cardinal Hume's interview for CBC-TV. The story behind our bells and belltower goes back almost 85 years. The 10 bells were ordered in 1948 from the White- chapel Foundry in London, England, and were delivered to the monastery in 1951. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was established in 1570 and many of its bells have been ringing out for centuries. The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia “was cast in 1752 at Whitechapel, and ‘Big Ben” of Westminster was cast in 1858. Until they could be placed in their permanent tower here in Mission in 1957, the abbey bells were simply himed” or struck with external hammers. The bells were dedicated in the fall of 1956 and lowered into the belltower after its completion the following summer. The Pfitzer Memorial Tower was designed by Asbjorn Gathe, the architect for all the abbey and seminary buildings. As he pointed out, a belltower is actually a very large musical instrument. The tower was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete. It is 49 metres (196 feet) high and has a 2.4 metre (7%: foot) bronze cross atop it. There is a sound deadening chamber. between the belfry and the ringing room and a crypt The peal or “ring” of 10 bells weighs just under 5.5 tonnes, with the heaviest weighing 1,300 kilograms (2,860 pounds) and the lightest 278 kg. (600 pounds). The bells SUUANEOQOUULLLQEONACAUONEEEEOUADAEUAb}OGACAnaNddnuauacyonuatenetaaacsgcenneggacnersendneead.tuuuanay 4°85 GENERAL ELIGIBILITY CHART FOR SCHOLARSHIPS Sebeueehine’s andieeyy of abn Sanolarshipe Scholarships Benois Bachelor's degree or equivalent prior to co) of scholarship studies None required None required Purpose of Scholarships ion seeks to promote At least At least years 2 years of teaching the married and friendly ‘The Rotary Foundati understanding relations between peoples of different nations through Graduate, Ur ‘Vooational, Journalism maintain high mic achievement while serving as an unofficial “ambassador of FURTHER ENQUIRIES Good will” between the peoples of the sponsoring and host countries. CONTACT: Roger Plant Ph. 365-5481 | ‘Puzzle No. were carefully tuned to be in the key of E Major. Tuning bell is achieved at the foundry by shaving off some of th bronze from the inside of the bell. Bells producing th * finest tone are cast from an alloy of 77 per cent_copper and 28 per cent tin. Bell founders learned that it was possible to give a bell almost the same overtones as those produced by nature in the taut string or organ pipe — with one exception: the bell has ‘a ‘minor third, quite contrary to nature. It is this tone that gives the bell its distinctive characteristic, its plaintive and haunting appeal. Just as their medieval counterparts, our bells ring out for daily Mass and for Vespers on Sunday and Solem- nities. But unlike their medieval forerunners and most contemporary continental bells, our bells are rung in “change-ringing,” i.e. pealing of the bells in ever- changing sequences. This method was developed and perfected in post-Reformation England and there are more than 6,000 bell towers for change-ringing in England today. Outside of Britain there are not more than 50 change-ringing towers. There are only six such towers in Canada — three here in British Columbia, including Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver and Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. Up until now the abbey'’s was the only ring of 10, but the ring of eight at Christ Church has recently been increased by two bells, and. Queen Elizabeth II dedicated these new bells when she came to Victoria in March. Change-ringing differs from other of be ringing like the carillon by the way the bells are rung. The bells in a carillon hang stationary, their clappers connected by wires to a console from which a single carilloneur can play the entire instrument. Well known carillons in Canada include the Peace Tower on Parli- ameht: Hill, Ottawa, and the one near the Parliament Buildings in Victoria. On occasion our own bells can be rung down and tunes can be played on them as with a carillon. = soe 3 ane A change-ringing bell,.on the other hand, is connected to a wheel and a rope, by means of which it is swung through a full circle each time it rings. This arrangement allows the bell to produce a fuller note — ours have been heard up to eight kilometres away — but it complicates the task of ringing the bell. One person is = needed to ring each bell, and that person must carefully listen to his bell and watch the ropes of the other ringers if his bell is to avoid clashing with other bells. In our tower there are eight experienced ringers, and two learners. It takes several years of practice to become an experienced ringer. Change-ringing is both an art and a science. Devotees of the art have visited our tower often, and two “peals” have been rung over the past 25 years. A peal is a series of changes conforming to certain = definite rules and consisting of not less than 5,040 £ changes. On five bells the number of possible changes is +120 (5 x 4 x 8 x 2 x 1). Six bells offer 720 changes or permutations, and seven bells gives 5,040. Eight bells can , be rung through 40,820 different changes — a feat accom- plished a few years ago in England in 18 straight hours. To ring all 3,628,800 permutations possible on our 10 bells would require over three months’ nonstop ringing! The first peal on our bells — and the first 10-bell peal E in Canada — was rung on June 17, 1978 in three hours and = three minutes. Called “A Peal of 5,040 Cambridge = & Surprise Royal,” it was rung by a group visiting from = England. i Next Week: Dr. John Hall's story of one day’s ee in Papua New Guinea — an impression and iction. Sconce JOIMAIOIND} min D> iz m