There's a conversation going on about why we ring bells in the Catholic Mass. The answers so far have been incomplete or incorrect.
Here's the whole thing explained:
In the Middle Ages, churches had many side altars. You can still see the many side chapels when you visit a medieval cathedral in Europe.
Often the side chapels were added to a church or cathedral by a wealthy benefactor who left an endowment (a parcel of land from which there would be a revenue stream).
The endowment paid for a priest's stipend to say Mass in that chapel every day for the repose of the soul of the donor and his family members.
As a result, Masses were said every day at all the side chapels and altars. In the monasteries, all the monk-priests celebrated their own Mass for designated intentions. The stipends paid by the donors supported the priest or monk.
These priests were called "chantry priests" and in addition to their duty of saying Mass in their chapel, they often had pastoral duties.
The chantry chapel in one of the old Anglican churches where I served, for example, doubled as a school room and the chantry priest was the schoolmaster.
Anyway...if you went into a medieval church, abbey, or cathedral at any point in the day, Mass would be happening.
In fact, many masses took place at the same time. The church was open, and instead of the faithful going to Mass at a set time to intentionally attend Mass and receive communion, the faithful simply dropped into the church to pray, worship, and spend time with the Lord.
Most people rarely received communion--and if so, only once a year at Easter.
So if they were in the church praying, or even in the church meeting with neighbors for a gossip– their attention was given when the bell was rung.
Imagine you are in one of those churches at that time. It's been a busy day for you in the fields. You drop into the church to say your prayers, and while kneeling at the far end, behind the rood screen, a bell rings and you know the Lord is present.
So you turn your attention to Him in praise and worship. That's why the bells were rung, and if you visit a medieval cathedral today - busy with noisy tourists - you can see why the bell was necessary to quiet people down and turn them to prayer.
The tradition has carried on, and although our circumstances are different, the bell still rings to gather us back and give us focus.
This article originally appeared on Father Dwight Longenecker's X (Formerly Twitter) account.