Bell ringing in Orthodoxy. The ringing of bells is cleansing and healing, listen Listen to the ringing of healing bells

The Monday following Pentecost is a holiday in honor of the Holy Spirit. This holiday was established by the Church “for the sake of the greatness of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, as one is (of) the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity,” in opposition to the teachings of heretics who rejected the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and His consubstantiality with God the Father and the Son of God.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles

The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son in everything, therefore He does everything with Them, being autocratic, omnipotent and good. Through Him all wisdom, life, movement is given, He is the source of all life. He has everything that the Father and the Son have, “except ungeneration and generation,” coming from the one Father. Saint Athanasius says: “The Holy Spirit is not created, not created, not begotten, but proceeds from the Father.” But what the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father consists of is incomprehensible to us, just as the birth of the Son is incomprehensible. Therefore, the Holy Orthodox Church never decided to subject this mystery of the Divine to human reasoning, but always confessed it, in accordance with the teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ (John 15:26). The Lord reveals to a person only what is necessary for his salvation, and many secrets remain for us behind an impenetrable veil.

Enriching a person with spiritual gifts and growing spiritual fruits in him, the Holy Spirit adorns a person with diverse virtues, making him, according to the word of Scripture, a good tree, producing good fruits (Matthew 7:17). Life according to the Holy Spirit is clearly revealed in the fruits of the Spirit, which include, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Descent of the Holy Spirit

Sermon by St. Philaret of Moscow. Word on the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

Be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesus V, 18

The soul of every holiday is the presence of the one being celebrated. And for those celebrating the day of the Holy Spirit, what could be more desirable than if this heavenly Comforter visited His festival with an influx of grace? If He, although He no longer illuminated our heads with tongues of fire, at least with a secret spark of His fire touched our hearts and ignited them with a sense of the presence of God; just as He once kindled the “inert hearts of two disciples to believe” so that these very hearts could show them at least a trace of the presence of the Lord: “Isn’t it our heart that grieved in us, when we said to us on the way” (Luke XXIV.32). This good is so great that I don’t know whether it is possible to ask for it from the “Treasure of the Good” without an internal shudder and some surprise at one’s own boldness; although, however, the Church, every day, and at the beginning of each prayer, invites us to pray for the Holy Spirit, not only to “come,” but also to “dwell in us.”

But what a single desire is so difficult on our part, listeners, is what the Holy Spirit now offers us, so simply and so generously, through the mouth of the Apostle; and not only offers, but commands, inspires, sets the law: “be filled with the Spirit!” (Eph.5:18)

How blessed, Divine Paul, but at the same time how wonderful and incomprehensible you give us a commandment! “Be filled with the Spirit”: is it our will to be filled with the Spirit? If this treasure is so close and so accessible, then why is it so rare and unknown?

Christians! Of course, among our Ephesian fellow students, “to whom the teacher of languages ​​originally gave the instruction we are considering,” there was not a person who did not understand him in this case, and could contrast our bewilderments with him. Otherwise, the Divinely inspired mentor would, without a doubt, have warned the questioners with admonition. So, at that time those who were “thirst” knew the path once indicated by the prophet, but “they go to the water, and the trees have no money, but on the way they buy and eat, and on the way they buy wine and milk without money or price.” Nowadays, apparently, “silver is not used for bread, and our labor is not enough to satisfy us” (Isa. LV. 1-2). It seems to us as if the Lord values ​​His blessings too dearly, and as if it is not our muscles that have become weak to accept, but His hand that has become weak to give spiritual gifts.

No! The Lord unconditionally “pours out his Spirit on all flesh” (Joel II. 28). If we are not “filled with the Spirit,” then it is not His gifts that are lacking for us, but we are not sufficient for His gifts. May the poor be comforted by the Spirit! Let those who are weak in the flesh be raised up! May the Lord be justified in all His words!

There was a time when the apostles, mainly the holy temples of the Holy Spirit, did not feel the Living One in them. They already possessed the gift of miracles, but did not yet understand the beginning and did not notice the direction of the force acting in them. The spirit of love was the spirit of wrath in them, and those called to the ministry of salvation were ready to bring down the fire of consumption from heaven. The Truth itself convicted them of such strange ignorance of themselves: “You do not know what spirit you are” (Luke IX. 55).

Afterwards, when the same Spirit, which at first acted in the Apostles with hidden power, having visited them with His solemn descent, filled them with knowledge and wisdom, they recognized Him so clearly and so closely that they decisively distinguished Him from both their own and the general spirit acting in natural people, not regenerated by the Spirit of God, and, perhaps, in them themselves at one time. “But we,” says one of them, “have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is from God, even the spirit that has been given to us by God” (1 Cor. II. 12).

Let us note, listeners, that the Apostle does not say: “the spirit has been given to us,” but: “we have received the spirit.” As if to say: “it is known that God “gives” His Spirit to everyone who is disposed to “receive” Him. Only people for the most part are enslaved and darkened by the “spirit of the world. We rejected the dominion of this dark spirit, but accepted with our spirit the luminous influence of the “Spirit from God” emanating; and thus an active knowledge and sensation of the gifts given to us by God was revealed in us. “We do not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is from God, and we know that which is given to us from God.”

Descent of the Holy Spirit
Album of images of holy icons, chromolithograph edition
E.I. Fesenko in Odessa. Late 19th century.

So, do not believe us, the weak servants of the word, believe the chosen instruments, the messengers and evangelists of the Spirit of God, that, despite a certain independent existence and freedom of man, he not only can be, but is usually under the rule of one of two principles, or “ the spirit of this world”, or “the Spirit who is from God”, depending on which of them freely “accepts” the action on itself. If you, apparently, do not experience this for yourself, this only means that “you do not know what kind of spirit you are.”

In order, if possible, to bring these secret relations of the human spirit to the Spirit of God closer to the general understanding, let it be allowed to use a parable and fortune-telling, in which the Divine truth itself was often clothed in order to appear to the eyes of people, more or less sensual. – The baby in the womb has its own soul and life; but his life is immersed in the life of his mother, imbued with it, nourished by it, so that, in comparison with the full life of a person, it can hardly be considered life: this is the image of the state in which a natural person finds himself in the world. His spirit has its own life and freedom, but nevertheless, being in the flesh, it is embraced and insensitively ruled by the power of the world: it thinks, but according to the elements of the world; desires, but in the way that is prompted by the carnal lust that prevails in the world, the lust of desire and the pride of life; acts, but in a narrow and low circle of the sensory; lives, but according to the spirit of the world, “alienated from the life of God” (Eph. IV. 18). However, the confinement of a baby in the womb is not a decisive intention of nature, but only a means and a path by which he is led to full being; and he must come into the light, see the beauty of the world, taste its blessings, know its Creator: this is the highest purpose of the human spirit, “embraced” by flesh and imprisoned in the world. “It is fitting for you to be born again” (John III. 7) – “suitable”, for this, according to God’s intention, is not merely the accidental lot of some, but the established law and predestination of all mankind, to which all natural life serves only as a preparation and transition . The prisoner of the world must be “brought out of his prison” - “confess the name of the Lord” (Psalm CXLI. 8), “be enlightened” by the light of Christ, “taste the gift of heaven and the power of the age to come” (Heb. VI. 4-5) during still of this century, to “receive” in the world itself the “Spirit who is from God”, to begin to breathe heavenly air on earth. And just like a newborn baby, renouncing the life of its mother, has no difficulty in looking for a new life of its own, but carries within itself a source of activity that is constantly developing and improving, and around itself everywhere it finds the air it needs to breathe: so, drawn by grace from the world and Called to higher birth, a person is closer to the realm of new life than he thinks; for we can only be far from the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God cannot be far from us. This Spirit, according to the words of the Wise One, “passes through all spirits” (Wis. VII. 23), being inviolable in its holiness and omnipresent in its goodness: it is poured out on every power and ability that is given over to its action, and in the very heart of the old man it opens source of new life. “Believe in me,” says the Giver of the Spirit, “rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly. “This,” adds the beloved disciple, explaining the words of the heavenly Teacher, “this is spoken about Dus, Whom those who believe in His name wanted to receive” (John VII. 38-39). Finally, here is an important difference between natural and spiritual birth: the former is achieved and accomplished by the necessary procession of nature, and the latter by the free striving towards the God of faith in Christ. “Believe in me, as the scripture says, rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly.” And why are there whole “rivers from one womb,” when a single drop from the fulfillment of grace is enough to revive hosts of spirits? - In order, as Scripture said, to reveal the exceeding wealth of goodness, according to which the Holy Spirit not only fills, but also exceeds the measure of our readiness to accept Him and, so to speak, bestows upon us more than we accept.

Should we, children of faith, not recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit among us and ask about His dominion: where is it? And even before His solemn descent into the kingdom of faith, the children of the law felt His omnipresent and all-effective power so vividly that they could not hide anywhere and rest from reverent horror! “Which way will I go from Your Spirit” (Psalm CXXXVIII. 7)? exclaimed David. Should we be perplexed how the spontaneous human spirit can stand under the constant action of the Almighty Spirit? And even in the time of Job they understood that “there is spirit in men, and the breath of the Almighty is teaching” (Job. XXXII. 8)! Is it necessary to recall our own confession, so often renewed by the voice of the Church, by which, bringing ourselves into a prayerful approach to God, we proclaim the omnipresent and all-fulfilling power of His Spirit? - “Go everywhere and do everything!”

“Do everything!” But why are we not all “filled with Him?” “It’s obvious that we should ask ourselves about this.”

Is it possible for us to be “filled with the Spirit” if the flesh, constantly at war with the spirit, does not find in us any barrier to its dominion? If in its satiety, rapture, pleasure we quench even the hunger inherent in our spirit of hearing the word of God and the thirst for truth? If we only live in this flesh, in which, as the man of God assures us from our own experience, “no good thing dwells in it at all” (Rom. VII. 18)? In this case, we ourselves flow under the grave judgment of God, pronounced on the first world: “My Spirit shall not remain in these men forever, for they are flesh” (Gen. VI. 3). “For if a man sows, he will also reap: for whoever sows to his flesh, from the flesh he will reap corruption; but whoever sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit he will reap eternal life” (Gal. VI. 7-8).

Is it possible for us to be “filled with the Spirit of God” if we ourselves animate ourselves only with the spirit of this world? If only with his elemental wisdom we fill our minds, only with his charms do we enliven our imagination, only with his passions do we excite our hearts, only with his laws do we govern our will, only with his charms do we try to please our actions? If our best feelings and most virtues are infected with the corruptive breath of the “spirit of the world”: love with passion, condescension with affection, nobility with pride, hard work with self-interest, charity with vanity, dignity with contempt for others, exploits with ambition? Only those can receive “the Spirit who is from God” who “have not received the spirit of this world,” or have cast it out, “not loving the world, nor what is in the world” (1 John II. 15).

Is it possible for us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” if we are still so filled with ourselves that there is not so much abolished and purified place in us, where even a drop of all-flowing water, throughout the entire length and breadth of times and places, “flowing into the eternal belly” ( John. IV. 14), could have sunk and not become rotten by our pride and sinful remains? – Our uncleanness is a stronghold with which we block from ourselves the currents of the Spirit of the Lord, like the aspirations of the spring waters, “sent” everywhere to “create” a new creation and “renew the face of the earth” (Psalm III. 30), but this is not also anger , and even more so the mercy of God, that these currents do not penetrate into unworthy souls, for the holy and sanctifying water of life, falling on the unclean, would ignite with an all-consuming fire.

And, therefore, let not those who, although with all their strength reject the flesh, the world and themselves and come to Christ with a spiritual “thirst,” yet “drink” from the source of blessings, do not feel the comforting the presence of sanctifying and renewing grace, or, having felt it instantly, they lose it. It is written in the Gospel that once upon a time, while Jesus Christ Himself preached about “the Spirit which those who believe in His name would receive, but the Holy Spirit was not with him” acceptable, “for Jesus was not glorified” (John 7:39) . In another place He tells His disciples that even after unfailingly following Him, one must first be tempted by the deprivation of His visible presence and then cry out to the mysterious communion of the Holy Spirit: “You are no longer here, but I am coming.” If I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; If I go, I will send Him to you” (John XVI. 7). Even after His resurrection, when “all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him” (Matthew 28:18), the Apostles needed fifty days of “patience, unanimous prayers and supplications” (Acts I. 14), so that they could, having abolished everything, alone finally “be filled with the Holy Spirit” and begin to live in this fulfillment. Just by “being abolished” from everything, they were deemed worthy to “celebrate” the great feast of God. Perhaps for you too, who are zealous for the apostolic following of Christ, but do not feel the “anointing of the Holy One” on yourselves - perhaps for you too, because “you do not have the Holy Spirit, for Jesus is not glorified” in you; Perhaps you have accepted Him only as a “Prophet”, bearing the word “of God” in your mouth, but have not yet dedicated yourself to Him as a “Priest”, so that in the communion of His universal sacrifice He will completely lift you up as an auspicious offering to the Father To yours; They have not yet exalted Him as a “King,” and no desire or thought can be raised without His beck. Perhaps “you also have not, if you understand” and seek “Christ” more “according to the flesh” (2 Cor. V. 16) than according to the spirit, so that the longed-for “Bridegroom” may be “taken away” from your souls for a while "(Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:20), and the deprivation of spiritual consolations will purify your faith, elevate love, strengthen patience, refine prayer, drive out dangerous self-indulgence, and prepare for extreme bliss.

But those in whom, if not felt, at least the anointing has already begun with the hidden hand, do not demand, but whoever teaches them: for that same anointing teaches them about all things (1 John II. 27). What will we do, living only flesh and blood, who “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50)? What will we be, dead in spirit, cold and dry, like the “bones” scattered in the field in Ezekiel’s vision? “Shall these bones live” (Ezek. XXXVII. 3)? God asked the Prophet, wanting to send down His life-giving Spirit on them. “Not wanting the death of sinners, but to be converted and to be alive” (Ezek. 33:11), without a doubt, he looks at these spiritual skeletons with the same mercy and desire for their revival by the Holy Spirit. “Will these bones live? “Lord God, You weigh this” (Ezek. 37:3). - And now the Lord Himself, who You declared of old by Your Prophet, that there is nothing in us that He will prophesy, - The Lord Himself with these bones: “Behold, I will bring the spirit of life into you, and I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live and know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 37:5-6). Amen.

Notes

blessed - In the department. ed.: "invisible".

In the department ed. further follows: “Can everyone approach this “sea of ​​glass” that exists “before the throne” (Apoc. XV. 2) of God, without fear of the consuming fire with which it is “mixed,” and draw with every vessel the water of life, like water river."

In the department ed.: “to which the teacher of languages ​​originally extended the words we have given.”

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “when the pristine temples did not feel the Holy Spirit living in them. Apostles."

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “whom, of course, as punishment for the unworthy service of the word, the Lord no longer appoints as leaders of your faith and nourishers of love, but only delivers them to shame and judgment before you, so that in this sacred place it is no longer so much the word of God , living and active, judges the thoughts and thoughts of the heart of those who hear, just as the cold attention of those who hear judges and condemns the dead words of men.”

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “chained.”

Being – In the department. ed.: "formerly".

In the department ed.: “of this spirit...”

Or they expelled him - To the department. ed.: “or suppressed it...”

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821: “to be fulfilled...”

In the department ed. here below the line there is a remark: St. Chrysostom (Hom. LXXVIII, t. v.) pronounces these words of the Gospel like this: ouk en pneyma agion en tois anthropois dothen. “The Holy Spirit was not given in men.” But we should especially note the explanation that St. The Evangelist gives his words: “He did not have the Holy Spirit” (John 7:39), prefacing that they should be understood “about the soul which believers want to receive” (John 7:39), that is, about tangible gifts of the spirit only , or, in the words of the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. XII. 7), about the “manifestation of the spirit”; consequently, not about Dus, since He “proceeds from the Father” (John XV. 26) or about the very second hypostasis of the Divinity. For in this last mind “the Holy Spirit is ever present, is, and will be” (Pentecost, stichera on praises 2nd), as the Church sings.

In the department ed. and in collection 1820 and 1821 further follows: “most of all the power to teach the Holy Spirit.”

In the department ed. and in collection 1820, 1821 and 1844 further follows: “impatient, if I may say so...”

The ringing of bells is called “prayer without words”; it is not for nothing that so many poems and songs have been written about it. Many people associate the Russian Orthodox Church with the ringing of bells. Few people know that there are several types of bell ringing:

• good news;
• ordinary bell ringing.

Blagovest also comes in two types:

1. ordinary, or frequent;
2. lean, or rare.

The usual bell ringing is divided into:

• trezvon (this bell ringing is considered festive, jubilant);
• double ringing;
• chime (this type of bell ringing is used before particularly important services, emphasizing their significance);
• overkill (the death knell, which expresses all the sorrow of human death, symbolizes our earthly life).

Everyone knows that musical instruments are not used in Orthodox worship, why then is the ringing of bells so strongly associated with Orthodox churches? Bells, oddly enough, appeared in Rus' from Western Europe. Bell ringing has been known to man since the Bronze Age; small bells were found in India, Egypt, and China. The ringing of the bells did not come to the Church immediately. For the first time, bells appeared in the temple because people had to somehow be called to worship. It was thanks to this that the ringing of bells appeared, which was called blagovest. Blagovest is called 15 minutes before the service. To the monasteries in 30 minutes. In the name of the Holy Trinity, the large bell is struck three times. Each bell has its own tone. The ringer’s special skill is considered to be his ability to express the essence of the upcoming service in these three strikes. Sorrowful, joyful or everyday, the bell ringer can ring the same bell differently each time, although the bells are not tuned like a piano. Nevertheless, they remain full-fledged musical instruments, and it is thanks to them that bell ringing is born.

In addition, there is the art of casting bells, which also requires special skills and talent.

If in the Old Testament trumpets were used for this, then Christian churches were called to people by ringing bells. During the persecution of Christians, it was impossible to use loud instruments such as trumpets. At the very beginning of the 4th century, Emperor Constantine the Great tried to return trumpets for bells, but this tradition never took root. But bell ringing gradually came into church use. At the beginning of the 7th century this became a widespread tradition. The birthplace of bells is Western Europe; in the East, bell ringing initially did not receive much recognition.

Since the Baptism of Rus', after 988, bell ringing began to appear on our territory. The first documentary evidence of bells in Rus' dates back to 1066. Bells in those days were very expensive; they were often captured by conquerors as war trophies. Gradually, Rus' developed its own bell-casting art.

Cleansing and healing with bells

The ringing of bells, originally intended to invite people to worship, became a musical decoration of church life. Now bell ringing and its varieties announce church holidays, and this is another important function of bell ringing, because on ordinary days the bells ring differently.

In the modern world, bell ringing has three main functions:

1. Signal.
2. Notification of an important part of the service.
3. An expression of the triumph of the Church.

The ringing of bells creates a special atmosphere in the temple, helps believers achieve a special state of prayer, distract themselves from everyday problems and mentally rush to God, focus on communicating with Him. Along with this, there are many theories that claim that bell ringing can be useful for:

• cures for illnesses;
• expulsion of evil spirits;
• helps with asthma and other respiratory diseases because it kills pathogens in the area.

Orthodox believers know many cases of healing through prayer and other Orthodox miracles, but the use of bell ringing as a “medicine” should still be treated with caution. Bell ringing has a completely different function in the Church, and all the recipes that advise driving away illnesses and sins with the help of bell ringing are nothing more than superstition.

The purpose of the bell ringing is to call believers to prayer, strengthen their prayerful mood and lead them through the ringing of the bells so that they do not lose the special state that appears after the service in the temple.

During Easter week, many churches allow everyone to climb the bell tower and ring the church bells in order to fully share the joy of Easter together. Thanks to this tradition, many began their service to God as bell ringers. The main miracle of bell ringing is not in healing physical ailments, but in helping a person lift his heart to Heaven, forget, thanks to these beautiful sounds, the problems of ordinary life and sincerely pray for the future eternal life. In a certain sense, ringing a bell helps cleanse a person's soul. To heal from illnesses, it is best to consult a doctor, because it is through the hands of doctors here on earth that the Lord sometimes heals a person from the most serious illnesses. Of course, prayers in a church, where everything is so different from the usual everyday environment, a conversation with the Lord to the sounds of bells, is natural for a believer. After all, if the Lord had not helped people to heal, there would not have been numerous evidence of this in the Bible, there would have been no prayers for health and miracles of healing even in the most seemingly hopeless cases.

You can now learn bell ringing in special bell ringing schools. Parishes usually always require good bell ringers, so those who wish can undergo training at such a school. The myth that bell ringers often go deaf has no basis in fact. In the modern world, there are many ways to protect your hearing, even for those who ring the bells themselves and hear the bells ringing especially loudly.

Everything about religion and faith - “bell ringing prayer” with detailed descriptions and photographs.

Bell ringing is an important part of temple worship. He announces the beginning of the service and invites believers to the temple. The ringing of the bell expresses the festive solemnity of the most important places of worship. On great and Sunday holidays, it expresses the spiritual joy of believers.

The church charter distinguishes four types of ringing:

• blagovest - measured strikes on the largest bell, which is called blagovestnik;
• chime, when all the bells are struck in turn;
• the actual ringing, when all the bells are rung or just a few;
• trezvon, when they strike several bells in three steps or all the bells (at all times).

Bell ringing can be festive or everyday. The festive ringing calls for all-night vigil and liturgy. He reminds believers of the Divine service and calls to the temple for prayer: Preach the gospel of His (our God) salvation from day to day.(Ps 95:2). First, two strikes sound on the largest bell - the evangelist. After the sound from the second strike subsides, the bell ringer begins to make measured strikes. During the gospel, he must read the 50th Psalm twelve times or the 118th Psalm (Immaculate) once.

Then the ringing begins.

For the all-night vigil, the trezvon occurs in two stages, and for the liturgy - in three, that is, three times with some intervals in time.

During the liturgy, the bells ring again at the beginning of the Eucharistic canon - the most solemn part of the service. At this time, a Bloodless Sacrifice is offered at the altar. The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is celebrated. After shouting: “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 Inseparable.” The blows to the evangelist begin. The bell ringer must ring the festive bell twelve times - according to the number of apostles at the Last Supper of the Lord. It is necessary to end the ringing at the end of the reading of the Eucharistic canon - to the exclamation: “A lot about the Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady of our Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.”

In church practice, ringing is also performed at the end of the all-night vigil and festive liturgy, although the Typikon does not establish this. The festive peal at the end of the service is in tune with the joy that fills the hearts of believers on the day of the holiday.

The trezvon is rung every day throughout Easter Week: from the end of the Liturgy to Vespers.

During all processions of the cross, a trezvon is required.

Orthodox icons and prayers

Information site about icons, prayers, Orthodox traditions.

Cleansing (healing) by ringing bells, what are the varieties and types

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Orthodox bell ringing is a prayer captured in sound. Beauty, which is endowed with unusually great power, because it gives healing to a person, heals not only the body, but also the soul. This music revives love in the heart, envelops you in peace and creates harmony.

Cleansing with bells

The ringing of bells has enormous power, which saturates the space around with the positive energy of goodness and love, cleanses it. The sound wave of a bell ringing spreads in the air in the form of a cross, which is why ringing has such an effect on a person’s state, both physical and mental:

• morbidity is reduced: pathogenic bacteria die and do not reproduce 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 such conditions of the human body are:

• stress, nervousness, insomnia;
• vascular diseases;
• depression, mental disorders;
• hypertension, heart and vascular diseases;
• stomach ulcer;
• bronchial asthma;
• acute pain of various origins;
• infectious and respiratory diseases;
• low immunity;
• women's diseases;
• kidney disease;
• intestinal and biliary diseases;
• hearing loss.

But it is also necessary to remember that the ringing of a bell 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 drags you into sleep, don’t 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 live bell should not exceed 15-20 minutes.

The ringing of bells in monasteries is a kind of energy generator that is transformed into sound. At the same time, it is very important that the sound is often heard live, rather than recorded, because this disrupts its distribution spectrum. Under this condition, the effect increases several times. And the very environment in which a person hears the ringing is conducive to its correct perception - through the church, through righteous faith, through God.

To cleanse the house

Church bells can also cleanse the house. After all, everyone has their own energy. And this does not depend on good repairs 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, you need to try to maintain not only the physical condition of the house (maintain cleanliness and order), but also the spiritual condition, 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;
• play audio recordings of church bells ringing.

And, of course, the fact that the house is located next to an Orthodox church would be an excellent option. Then protection, positive energy and harmony will become faithful companions of its inhabitants.

What types of bells are there?

With love for the ringing of church bells, the Orthodox people connected 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 mental state of an Orthodox person. This was the reason for the emergence of different types of ringing, each of which has its own specific name and semantic purpose.

What types of bells are there and their names:

Blagovest, in turn, is divided into two more:

The ringing itself also comes in several types:

What are the types of bells?

Blagovest is the most important bell ringing for every Orthodox Christian. These are measured strikes of one large bell. With its help, believers are called to the temple for Divine services. And its name comes from the fact that they proclaim the good news - the beginning of ministry.

The procedure for performing the gospel:

• three beats (rare, slow, drawn-out);
• measured blows.

Actually, ringing is the sound of all or several bells at once.

What are the types of blagovest

As you know, there are two types of blagovest:

• ordinary or frequent - produces the largest bell;
• Lenten or rare - performed with a smaller bell during the days of Great Lent.

The sound of the bells itself is divided into the following types:

• trezvon - ringing all the bells, then a short break, then the second and third ringing 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;
• busting - slowly ringing each bell once in turn, from the smallest to the largest, after which striking 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 as follows:

Usually in large parish churches there are no more than two or three bells. Larger numbers occur at cathedrals, monasteries, and laurels.

What kind of healing bell ringing is

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 lies.

The ringing of bells is healing and forgiving. It contains the melody of the spirituality of the Orthodox people, the basis of which is inexhaustible faith and God’s eternal grace, which leads along the path of life and grants salvation.

The Lord is always with you!

In this video you will hear the cleansing ringing of bells:

PRAYERS TO THE RINGING OF BELLS.

This occult effect increases several times if at this time you pray in front of an icon, especially in front of the image of the Mother of God, the most merciful and compassionate among the rest.

In this case, prayers should be short and succinct in order to have time to say them three times during the ringing of the bell.

PRAYER FOR A POSITIVE CHANGE IN DESTINY:

« Mother of God, Blessed Virgin Mary. You see everything, you know everything, you understand everything. I ask, I beg You, Lady of Heaven, remove from my life the thorns, resentment, spiritual devastation, sadness and grief that constantly accompany me (your full name). I repent of the sins that I have committed, and from now on I undertake to live in a righteous way, in a Godly way, in a human way. Amen, amen, amen."

While saying this prayer, at your discretion (you will somehow understand where exactly) make the sign of the cross three times, but not at the end.

PRAYER FOR HEALING:

“O Most Holy Theotokos, protect and protect me, (your name), from painful diseases, sick ailments, sad sorrow, sorrowful sorrow. I pray and hope for Your mercy and compassion. Let me become healthy and cheerful again. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

PRAYER FROM DAMAGE. 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 the damage should be removed in another way).

“In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I, (my full name), prayerful, baptized, God's, corrupted by an evil eye, a black slander, a cursing word, I ask, Heavenly Queen, to intercede for me, to free me from evil witchcraft 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 place a candle in the candlestick from your left hand, then from your right.

And lastly: you should attend church completely sober.

Orthodox prayers

Orthodox prayers, church hymns, prayers (listen and download). History of the Greek Church. Lives of the holy elders

Orthodox bell ringing

Orthodox ringing has always been based on rigor and simplicity, but no one forbids, within the framework of existing canons, the exercise of creativity (the bell ringer is his own composer, performer, and improviser). His task is to highlight the ringing in such a way as to “show” today, for example, the Assumption, and tomorrow the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (with the help of different strength of beats, tempo and rhythm to convey peace and sorrow, jubilation and anxiety). But the first thing a bell ringer should remember when standing on a bell tower is that he is the connecting link between the temple and Heaven and that church bell ringing is an equivalent temple sacred act (after all, the Divine service begins and ends with it).

Bells. Miracle of Healing - Golden Apple

Traditionally, special types of ringing have developed: blagovest, wired (funeral) bells, everyday bells, wedding bells, counter bells and, finally, holiday bells, among which there are great, medium, red and a special form - trezvon. Trezvon is the most difficult to perform, but the most musically striking. It consists of 3 parts connected into a single whole (and its name itself comes from the merger of the phrase “three bells”). The red ringing of all the bells (“all the heavy”) amazes with its power and beauty on the Great Holidays. Bell ringers have a concept called euphony. The bells for the belfries were always selected in such a way that all together they formed a harmonious “ringing choir”. If any bell was dissonant with the others, falling out of the general order, it received the apt nickname “ram”, “dissolute” and, as a rule, was excluded from the ringing. For bell towers, 3 groups of bells are usually selected: large - evangelistic bells, medium - ringing bells and small - ringing bells. As for the sound and tonality of bells, this depends on their weight, shape and quality of casting: 100 identical bells cast in the same production will sound differently (the pouring temperature and how the metal cooled are also affected).

Festive bell ringing

Orthodox bell ringing is divided into three main types:

2) Chime, search;

3) The actual ringing.

Blagovest is measured striking of one large bell. This ringing announces to the believers the good news about the beginning of the Divine service in the temple. Blagovest can be festive, everyday and Lenten.

Chiming is a process of bells going from the largest bell to the smallest (or vice versa) with a different number of strikes on 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 creative work and self-expression of the bell-ringer).

The fate of bells, like people, is different. Among them there are also long-livers (for example, the Nikon Bell, born in 1420, from the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, which is still in use today).

Before installation on the belfry, a rite of consecration is always performed over 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 certainly live for a long time and will overshadow people with a “sounding” cross - moving simultaneously horizontally and vertically in surround sound.

Church bells are not for concerts! This has been the case for a long time: bells are a spiritual testimony 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 Revival and Repentance. And it is inappropriate for church bells to idly broadcast from bell towers (ringers do not even have the right to rehearse in the bell tower, ring outside of school hours or for the amusement of the public). Bell ringings are performed only according to church canons: at a certain hour, in a certain way. But there is one week in the year when (not at the same time as a church service) one is allowed to ring in plenty, to the joy of the whole world. This is Easter Bright Week. It should be remembered that a church bell is a shrine that must always be protected and honored. Ringing is the decoration of a temple (cathedral, church), and may it always be magnificent!

Bell ringing of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

Listen to the Healing Bell!

2 ideas about “Orthodox bell ringing”

I wonder how a bell ringer can rehearse his art; they probably teach this in monasteries and seminaries?

I really love the ringing of bells! It's a pity that there is no audio on your site to listen to. Thank you very much for the new interesting chants in audio rubles.

Miracles of bell ringing

As they said before, bells make the soul of a sinner tremble and bring joy to a believer; it is very good to listen to the ringing of bells to cleanse a house, it sanctifies the home and removes all sorts of viruses and germs. And modern people, unfortunately, hear 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 announced the beginning of worship and the reading of important prayers to those who could not be present in the church by striking bells, bringing joyful and sad news, ringing wedding bells, getting rid of epidemics, and giving joy to a new family. and well-being.

Listen to the Easter chime in the Valaam Monastery - just a balm for the soul and cleansing!!

The healing power of bell ringing for the body

The sad thing is that the number of churches has decreased significantly over the last century, so the legends about the uniqueness and great significance of these instruments for humans go back centuries. Few people already remember the healing properties of bell ringing, but this amazing sound has a detrimental effect on influenza viruses, jaundice, plague and smallpox, and anthrax spores. And all this, by the way, has been proven by scientists!

If Petri dishes are placed under b-octave bells, then during the ringing sterilization will occur: proteins will coagulate in the cells, form crystalline structures, and become safe for humans. It is interesting that each type of virus dies only in its own specific sound range (F.Ya. Shipunov, Academician of the Institute of Biosphere of the Russian Academy of Sciences).

In the old days, craftsmen knew how to sound a bell to cope with a particular 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 Rus' they knew that ringing bells would cure headaches and relieve pain in the hands if a person rang the bells himself, and if they were rung over a seriously ill person, he would quickly recover. The grease from the bells was carefully collected and used for medicinal purposes. These facts have been scientifically confirmed: the sound of this instrument has a positive effect on the human energy system, entering into resonance with it and significantly improving his condition.

And again, this has now been scientifically confirmed - the miracles of bell ringing exist, scientists have conducted research that has confirmed that bell ringing can cleanse the surrounding space of all evil spirits and harmful formations. And in the old days, in case of any epidemic, enemy attacks or other problems, people rang bells around the clock until the misfortune left people. The same academician Shipunov with his group of scientists found out and confirmed that the ringing of bells 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 man, who decided to “kill himself,” heard the gospel at that very moment, he remembered God, began to pray fervently, and this saved his life. And two old women from the siege said: in order not to die of hunger, they listened to the ringing of the bells and prayed. Only the two of them survived out of the entire population of the eight-story building.

And this also has scientific confirmation - a set of certain sounds, called a dominant seventh chord, can nourish a person who, listening to it, practically does not feel the need for food.

The ringing of the bells of the Svyatogorsk Lavra is music for the soul!!

Scientific evidence

• In the last century, scientists from Sweden announced to the world that bell ringing emits ultrasound, which kills pathogenic viruses. And our physicists Iskakov and Okhatrin have proven that the sound of a bell excites microleptons, behind them microelectronic fields arise that remove harmful isotopes for us, rejuvenating the body.
• 10 years ago, “Ural Worker” published an article telling about the following experiment - a container with broth full of pathogenic bacteria was placed under a bell making sounds. To the sound of the bell, the microbes stopped their harmful activities and died.
• In the 16th century, in the Spaso-Khutynsky Monastery, the body of Metropolitan Afonius was kept for more than 70 days under church bells, and no signs of decomposition were recorded!
• In the American Columbia Medical Center, when treating cancer patients, bell therapy is quickly used, which, thanks to ultrasound radiation, can work wonders, destroying cancer cells.

Science has recognized 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 manyfold, emitting simply colossal energy! Approved:

The vertical part of the cross receives cosmic energy, and the horizontal part “re-radiates” it to the surface of the Earth. The cross is one of the most powerful devices for replenishing vital forces on Earth, and only a bell can compare with it (Academician F.Ya. Shipunov).

Bell ringing for the soul

And the sound of bells is even more beneficial for the human soul.

• In St. Petersburg there is a doctor A.V. Gnezdilov, who uses the sound of bells to treat mental illnesses, and has on his account many recovered people who were considered by traditional medicine to be completely lost people.
• The music of bells helps to quickly cope with stress, severe depression, and treats insomnia.
• Goethe, in his well-known tragedy, told how Faust, holding a cup of poison, threw it away when he heard the ringing of a bell.

Types of bell ringing

1. Blagovest - we hear this ringing before the start of services - such measured deep sounds emanating from one large bell. Having heard the first sound, you need to raise your eyes to the sky, cross yourself at the second blow, and bow at the third.
2. Chime - from small to large, a beautiful melodic chime.
3. There is also a simple chime - this is when the bell ringers rhythmically beat the main bells.

The bell tower usually has different bells, each with a unique sound. Moreover, low tones have a healing and calming effect on a person, while high tones have a revitalizing effect. It should be noted that here we mean only LIVE bell sound, because no recording equipment can reproduce the subtle vibrations of real bell ringing and its life-giving power, healing the body and soul, spiritually elevating a person.

Folk knowledge about bell ringing

To the sound of bells, our ancestors were born, got married, gave birth to children, lived and died; all more or less significant events in the lives of our ancestors were accompanied by the ringing of bells. He gathered at the meeting and called for help, called kings and spoke of trouble, there was even a special “blizzard” ringing that could bring a freezing person back to life.

• They called during thunderstorms to save the village from fire caused by lightning, and on certain holidays to get high yields of buckwheat and flax.
• And, of course, the ringing of bells protected from evil spirits. Rats, mice and some types of insects were also afraid of him. Japan confirms the same thing - on New Year’s Eve the bells sound exactly 108 strikes, and for more than a thousand years the Japanese have been confident 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 happily accepted the Christian bell ringing, associated with heavenly thunder, merciful and punishing. Weddings in Rus' were never complete without the ringing of bells; people believed that they gave the newlyweds happiness and the joy of childbearing.

From the very beginning, Rus' had Candia and Bila, called the flat ancestors of modern bells. At first they were wooden boards. then iron plates, which were beaten with wooden hammers, calling the people together, then tulip-shaped ones appeared, from the tenth century. Even in the godless Soviet times, the people, in fact, lived to the sound of bells sounded by the Kremlin chimes.

It is interesting that until the 20th century in Rus', on Easter week, those who wished could climb the bell tower and ring the bells. The bell-ringer looked closely at the children, and whoever did it best invited them to study, because at that time there were no bell-ringing schools and everything happened spontaneously.

The power of the bell is in the purity of its sound

The soul of a monk sounds in the church bells, and the more subtly the bell ringer feels the music of each bell, the more blissfully the bells sing, our soul blossoms and is filled with joyful sensations of enlightenment and purity. Your heart skips a beat, because there is something mysterious and extraordinary in this, as if Divine grace is descending on you.

I, too, noticed how the ringing of bells affects me, I used to pass by a temple, the bells start ringing, you stop and listen (if you don’t even go to the temple on that day), your soul becomes light and joyful, like being with a good person talked..

Yes, a wonderful thing - the ringing of bells! I have long heard about its healing abilities, how it overcame the plague, how it has a calming effect on the soul and on the whole person...

I once heard one of Father Andrei Tkachev’s sermons and I remembered his phrase that the ringing of a bell is consonant with the name “Adam,” just as God called out to the first man in Paradise: “Adam!”, so now the ringing of a bell 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 whether it was a Sunday - I don’t even remember. After the liturgy, the bell rang solemnly and for a long time, I sat down on a bench to rest right next to the huge bell tower of the Lavra and fell asleep, leaning on its back - to the loud ringing of the bell! (And I usually have a very light sleep and it was difficult to fall asleep even at home, in my native beds!) And those who have been to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra know how powerful the bells are there. This was my short but wonderful dream, after which I felt a surge of vigor and new strength, as if after a two-hour midday nap.

Bells are one of the necessary accessories of an Orthodox church. The “rite of blessing the bell” says: “For that all who hear its ringing, whether by day or by night, may be awakened to the praise of Thy Holy Name.”

Church bell ringing is used to:

1 . call the faithful to worship,

2 . express the triumph of the Church and its Divine services,

3 . announce to those not present in the church about the time of especially important parts of the Divine services.

In addition, the people were called to the veche (national assembly) by ringing the bell. The ringing showed the way to travelers lost in bad weather. The ringing signaled any danger or misfortune, for example, a fire. In tragic days for the Motherland, the people were called upon to defend the Fatherland. The ringing notified the people of victory and welcomed the victorious return of regiments from the battlefield (war), etc. So the ringing of bells in many ways accompanied the life of our people.

The bells are hung on a special tower called bell tower or belfry, which is built above the entrance to the temple or next to the temple.

But bells, as we know, did not begin to be used by Christians immediately with the advent of Christianity.

In the Old Testament Church, in the Temple of Jerusalem, believers were called to services not by bells, but by the sounds of trumpets.

In the first centuries of persecution of Christianity by pagans, Christians were not able to openly call believers to worship. At that time, believers were convened for 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 end of the persecution (in the 4th century), they began to convene believers in various ways.

A more general method of convening believers for Divine services was determined by the 6th century, when they began to use beats and rivets. Bila or candi are wooden boards, and riveting are iron or copper strips bent into a semicircle.

Finally, the most improved way of convening believers to Divine services has been determined - this is bell ringing.

Bells are known to have first appeared in Western Europe. There is a legend according to which the invention of bells is attributed to St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nolan(† 411), i.e. at the end of the 4th or at the beginning of the 5th century. There are several legends about this. According to one of these legends, St. Peacock saw wild flowers in a dream - bells that made pleasant sounds. After his dream, the bishop ordered bells to be cast in the shape of these flowers. But, obviously, St. Paulinus did not introduce bells into the practice of the Church, since neither he himself in his writings nor his contemporary writers mention bells. Only at the beginning of the 7th century To Pope Savinian(successor of St. Gregory Dvoeslov) managed to give the bells a Christian meaning. From that time on, bell ringing began to be gradually used by Christians, and during the 8th and 9th centuries in Western Europe, bells became firmly established in the practice of Christian worship.

In the East, in the Greek Church, bells began to be used in 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 10th century. Along with bells, beaters and rivets were also used, which existed until recently in some monasteries. But oddly enough, Russia borrowed bells not from Greece, from where it adopted Orthodoxy, but from Western Europe. This is indicated even by the name 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 not many of them at the temples, 2 or 3 bells each.

But since the 15th century, when Russia had its own factories for casting bells, large-sized bells began to be cast. So, at the bell tower of Ivan the Great in Moscow there are, for example, the following bells: a bell called “Everyday”, weighs 1017 poods 14 pounds; the “Reut” bell weighs about 2000 pounds; the largest bell is called “Uspensky” or “Festive”, weighs about 4000 pounds.

The largest bell in the world is currently "The Tsar Bell", now standing on a stone pedestal at the foot of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It has no equal in the world not only in size and weight, but also in artistic casting. The Tsar Bell was cast by Russian craftsmen (father and son) Ivan and Mikhail Matorin in 1733 - 1735. The material for the Tsar Bell was its predecessor, a giant bell damaged by fire. This bell weighed 8,000 pounds and was cast by the bellmaker, Alexander Grigoriev, in 1654. Over 5,000 pounds of alloy were added to this 8,000-pound material.

The total weight of the Tsar Bell is 12,327 poods and 19 pounds or 200 tons (218 US tons). The diameter of the bell is 6 meters 60 cm or 21 feet 8 inches.

This amazing work of foundry art did not have time to be raised to the bell tower, because the bell was severely damaged by a terrible and devastating fire in 1737. The Tsar Bell was then still in the foundry pit, surrounded by wooden scaffolding (structures). But whether he was raised on these scaffoldings or not has not been established for sure. When these wooden scaffoldings caught fire, they began to fill them with water. The red-hot bell, due to the sudden change in temperature, gave many large and small fractional cracks and a large piece weighing 11,500 kilograms fell off.

After the fire, the Tsar Bell lay in the pit for a whole century. In 1836, the bell was raised and installed on a stone pedestal, according to the design of 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, which never rang.

But even now, located in Moscow on the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, 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 bell ringing 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, i.e. the correct alloy.

2 . the height of the bell and its width, i.e. the correct proportion of the bell itself,

3 . the thickness of the bell walls,

4 . hanging the bell correctly,

5 . the correct alloy of the tongue and the method of attaching it to the bell; and many others.

The tongue is the striking part of the bell, located inside it. The Russian bell differs from the Western European bell primarily in that the bell itself is fixed motionless, and the tongue is suspended inside the bell, freely swinging, the blow of which produces the sound.

It is characteristic that the Russian people, having named the striking part of the bell tongue, likened to the ringing of a bell to a living voice. Bells were made for Russian believers tongue, voice and trumpets. Truly, what other name than speaking lips can be called the ringing of bells: 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 peace of the holy inhabitants of heaven, on the days of Holy Week it reminds us of our reconciliation with By God, through Christ the Savior, during the days of Bright Easter Week, he exalts to us the victory of life over death and the eternal, endless joy of future life in the Kingdom of Christ.

Isn’t this a speaking mouth, when the bell lets us know about every hour, about its passage, reminding us at the same time of eternity, when “there will be no more time”().

Preaching the glory of the name of Christ, resounding day and night, and mostly from on high at the temples of God, the ringing of bells 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 us of the Lord” (). It is no coincidence that the pagans often heard the ringing of bells and said: “This is the voice of the Christian God heard!”...

Sounds one church bells represent something sublime, solemn; and if there is a ringing several more or less consistent with each other bells, then even more happens majestic euphony. The powerful ringing of bells, acting on our inner feelings, awakens our souls from spiritual slumber.

What mournful, depressing, and most often irritating tones the bell rings in the soul of the evil, wicked apostate.

The feeling of anxiety and spiritual anguish is caused by the ringing of bells in the constantly sinful soul.

Meanwhile, in the soul of a believer seeking peace with the Lord God, the ringing of church bells arouses a bright, joyful and peaceful mood. So a person can determine the state of his soul by the ringing of a bell.

You can give many examples from life when a person, tired of struggling with everyday sorrows, falling into despair and despondency, decides to encroach on his own life. But, behold, the church bell reached his ears, and the one preparing to become a suicide shudders, fears himself, involuntarily protects himself with the sign of the cross, remembers the Heavenly Father, and new, good feelings arise in his soul - and the lost one is forever reborn to life. Thus, in the strikes of a church bell there is hidden a wondrous power that penetrates deeply into human hearts.

Having fallen in love with the ringing of church bells, the Russian Orthodox people connected all their solemn and sad events with it. Therefore, the Orthodox bell ringing not only serves as an indication of the time of the Divine service, but also serves as an expression of joy, sadness and triumph. This is where different types of ringing came from, and each type of ringing has its own name and meaning.

TYPES OF CALL AND THEIR NAMES

Church bell ringing is divided into two main types: 1. blagovest and 2. actually ringing.

1. BLAGOVEST

Blagovest is the measured sound of one large bell. With this ringing, believers are called to the temple of God for Divine services. This ringing is called the Good News because it announces good, good news about the beginning of the Divine service.

The gospel is carried out like this: first, three rare, slow, drawn out blow(until the sound of the bell stops), and then follow measured blows. If the bell is very large or huge, then these measured blows are made by swinging the tongue at both edges of the bell. If the bell is relatively small, then in this case its tongue is pulled with a 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 is produced by the largest bell; And

2 . lean or rare, produced by a smaller bell, on the weekdays of 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) polyeleous; 4) just everyday or everyday; 5) fifth or small bell.

Usually in parish churches there are no more than two or three large bells.

2. THE RINGING ACTIVITY

Actually, ringing is called ringing when all the bells or several bells are rung at once.

The ringing of all bells differs in:

1 . Trezvon- this is ringing all the bells, then a short break, and a second ringing all the bells, again a short break, and the third time ringing all the bells, i.e. ring all the bells three times or ringing in three stages.

The trezvon expresses Christian joy and triumph.

In our time, trezvon began to be called not only ringing all the bells three times, but, in general, ringing all the bells.

2 . Double ringing is ringing all the bells twice, in two steps.

3 . Chime- this is ringing each bell in turn (one or several strikes on each bell), starting from big to small, and this is repeated many times.

4 . Bust- this is a slow ringing of each bell in turn once, beginning from the very beginning And to big, and after striking the big bell, they strike all the bells together at once, and this is repeated many times.

USE OF RINGING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

RINGING AT THE ALL-NIGHT VIgil

1 . Before the start of the All-Night Vigil - blagovest which ends ringing.

2 . At the beginning of reading six psalms relies double ringing. This double ringing announces the beginning of the 2nd part of the All-Night Vigil - matins and expresses 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, good will toward men.”

People call the two-ringing at the all-night vigil "second ringing"(second ringing after the beginning of the all-night vigil).

3 . While singing polyelea, just before reading Gospels relies pealing expressing the joy of the celebrated event. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, the trezvon expresses joy and triumph of the Resurrection of Christ.(In some localities it is performed while singing: “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ”...) this ringing is usually called in manuals "a call to the Gospel."

People call the trezvon at the All-Night Vigil (“ringing for the Gospel”) "third bell".

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 strikes on a large bell (according to the custom of Kyiv and all of Little Russia).

5 . IN Great Holidays at the end of the Vigil it happens pealing.

6 . During the bishop's Divine service, after each All-Night Vigil, pealing, to see off the bishop.

RINGING AT THE LITURGY

Before the beginning of the reading of the 3rd and 6th hours, it is performed good news for the Liturgy, and at the end of the 6th hour, just before the start of the Liturgy, - pealing.

If two Liturgies are served (early and late), then good news for the early Liturgy there are more rare, slow, than to the later Liturgy, and is usually performed not on the largest bell.

During the bishop's service The good news for the Liturgy begins at the indicated time. When a bishop approaches a church, he must pealing. When the bishop enters the church, the trezvon stops and the bell ringing continues again until the bishop begins to vest. At the end of the 6th hour - pealing.

Then, during the Liturgy, it is blagovest at the beginning "Eucharistic Canon", - the most important part of the Liturgy, for announcing the time of consecration and transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts.

At the prot. K. Nikolsky, in the book “Charter of Divine Services”, it is said that the gospel 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, to bless Thee Theotokos...” Exactly the same indication is found in the book: “The New Tablet”, Archbishop. Benjamin, ed. St. Petersburg. 1908 p. 213.

In practice, the bell to “Worthy” is shorter, consisting of 12 beats.

In the south of Russia, the gospel to “Worthy” is usually performed before the start of the “Eucharistic Canon”, during the singing of the Creed. (12 strikes, 1 strike for each member of the Creed).

The gospel to “Worthy” was introduced into the custom of Russian churches during the time of Moscow Patriarch Joachim (1690) in the likeness of Western churches, where they ring with the words: “Take, eat...”

After the end of the Liturgy in all major holidays relies ring(ring all the bells).

Also after each Liturgy performed by the bishop, relies ring, to see off the bishop.

On feast of the Nativity of Christ relies 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 begins before midnight office and continues until the start Procession of the Cross, and with the beginning of the procession and until the end, and even longer, there is a joyful, solemn pealing.

For the Easter Liturgy - good news And ringing

And on the most Easter Liturgy, while reading Gospels, frequent chimes are expected, 7 strikes 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 victory ringing.

Throughout Bright Easter Week relies ringing every day, from the end of the Liturgy to Vespers.

In everything Sundays from Easter to Ascension, after the end of the Liturgy it is necessary to perform pealing.

On Temple Holidays:

At the end of the Liturgy before the beginning of the prayer service supposed to be brief blagovest And pealing and by At the end of the prayer service there is a trezvon.

During all Processions of the Cross the bell is supposed to ring.

TO Royal Hours It happens blagovest ordinary in a large bell, and to For the Lenten Hours - good news lean into a smaller bell. Both at the Royal Hours and at the Lenten Hours there is a ringing before each hour: before the 3rd hour the bell is struck three times, before the 6th - six times, before the 9th - nine times. Before fine 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 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, it 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 believers carry the “Thursday fire” home, it is supposed pealing.

USING THE CHIME AND ITS IMPORTANCE

On Vespers of Great Heel, before the removal of the Shroud, while singing: “For you to get dressed...” it is supposed to be slow chime once on each bell(from large to small), and according to the position of the Shroud in the middle of the temple - immediately pealing.

On Matins of Holy Saturday starting with singing “Great Doxology” and throughout the entire procession with the Shroud around the temple, supposedly chime, the same as when taking out the Shroud, i.e., slowly ringing each bell once from large to small. When they bring the Shroud into the temple and reach the Royal Doors with Her - immediately pealing.

Slow ringing of each bell once, starting with the largest, most powerful sound, and gradually reaching the thinnest and highest sound of the small bell, 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 the exhaustion... for the salvation of Your people...”.

According to the established centuries-old practice of the Russian Orthodox Church (in the central part of Russia), such a chime should be made only twice a year: on 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 the mournful ringing of one relating to the Lord, our Savior, to be the same as the funeral ringing of ordinary, mortal and sinful people.

On Matins on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross And August 1st, before the cross is taken out of the altar during the singing of the “Great Doxology”, there is a chime, in which they slowly strike 3 times(in some areas 1 time) in each bell from largest to smallest. When the cross is brought to the middle of the temple and placed on the lectern - pealing.

Similar chime, but only frequent, fast, And 7 times(or 3 times) on each bell, sometimes before small blessing of water. When the cross is immersed in water - pealing.

The same as before the blessing of water, it happens chime before consecration to the rank of Bishop. In general, there is frequent chiming of each bell several times solemn ringing. In some areas, such a chime is performed before the start of the Liturgy in Temple Festivals and on other solemn occasions, for example, as stated above, when reading the Easter Gospel.

USING BURST AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Bust, otherwise funeral or death knell, expresses sadness and grief for the deceased. It is performed, as already mentioned above, in the reverse order of the chime, i.e. they strike slowly once at a time at every bell from the smallest to the largest, and then they hit ring all the bells at the same time. This mournful funeral procession necessarily ends with a brief ringing, expressing the joyful Christian faith in the resurrection of the deceased.

Due to the fact that some manuals on ringing indicate not to ring the bell during funeral services for the dead, and this does not correspond to church practice, we give some clarification on this matter.

The slow ringing of the bells, from the smallest to the largest, symbolizes the growing life of man on earth, from infancy to maturity and manhood, and the simultaneous striking of the bells means the end of earthly life by human death, in which everything that a person has acquired for this life is abandoned . As it is expressed in the songs during the funeral service: “All human vanity does not endure after death: wealth does not endure, nor glory descends: for death has come, this is all consumed. (Or as another chant says: “in one moment, and all this death is accepted”). Let us cry out to the immortal Christ: give him rest from us, where all are merry home".

The second part of the song directly points to the joy in the future life with Christ. It is expressed at the conclusion of the mournful enumeration, ringing.

In the magazine “Orthodox Rus'”, in the “Questions and Answers” ​​section, Archbishop Averky, regarding the customs during funeral services and memorial services, gave solidly grounded explanations, which should certainly also apply to the ringing: “According to our Orthodox custom, memorial services and funeral services are supposed to be performed in light vestments. The custom of performing these rites in black vestments came to us from the West and is completely unusual for the spirit of the saint. 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 most touching third kneeling prayer, read at Vespers on the day of Pentecost: “For there is no death, O Lord, for Thy servant, who proceeds to us from the body, and who comes to Thee our God, but repose from the sorrowful to the most wholesome and sweet, and to peace and joy” (see Triodion Colored) .

The trezvous, reminiscent of the resurrection, has a beneficial effect on the believing Christian soul, grieving over separation from the deceased, and gives it inner consolation. There is no reason to deprive a Christian of such consolation, especially since this trezvon 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 ceremony is performed. overkill, and when he is brought into the temple - pealing. After the funeral service, when the deceased is taken out of the church, it is performed again overkill, ending also ringing.

During the funeral service and burial priests, hieromonks, archimandrites And bishops something different is happening overkill. First the big bell is struck 12 times, then overkill, again 12 times into the big bell and again overkill etc. When the body is brought into the temple, pealing, also after reading the prayer of permission - pealing. When carrying the body out of the temple, again indicated overkill, and after placing the body in the grave it happens pealing. In other places they call the usual funeral call.

The “Official Book” states that during the removal of Patriarch Joachim there was a bell sound, changing all the bells occasionally (Temporary Imperial Moscow General History and Ancient 1852 book 15, p. 22).

We recently learned that there was another species brute force- this is one blow on each bell, but starting from the big one to the small one and then a simultaneous blow of all the bells. This was confirmed by the gramophone record: “Rostov Bells”, recorded in Rostov in 1963. In practice, we have never heard such a ringing; there are no instructions about it in ringing manuals. Therefore, we cannot indicate where and when it was used.

There is also the so-called red ringing all the bells are ringing (“all the bells”).

Red ringing occurs at cathedrals, monasteries, laurels, i.e. where there are a large number of bells, which include many large bells. The red ringing is performed by several bell ringers, five or more people.

The red ringing occurs on Great Holidays, during solemn and joyful events in the Church, as well as to honor the diocesan bishop.

In addition, we should also mention the “alarm” or “alarm” ringing, which has social and everyday significance.

Alarmed or alarm bells called continuous, frequent striking of a large bell. The alarm or flash was rung during an alarm in the event of a fire, flood, rebellion, invasion of enemies or some other public disaster.

“Veche” bells were the bells with which the residents of Novgorod and Pskov called people to veche, i.e. to the people's assembly.

Victory over the enemy and the return of the regiments from the battlefield were heralded by the 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 the Easter holiday to listen to the Easter ringing.

On this “holiday holiday” in Moscow, in total, more than 5,000 bells rang from all churches. Anyone 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 the various melodies of each temple and ascended from earth to heaven, like a victorious hymn to the Risen Christ.

(The instructions for the ringing order are based on the following: practice of the Russian Orthodox Church(central 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).

The ringing of bells evokes joyful surprise in every person, regardless of whether he is a believer or not. The sound of the bells makes people, against their will, turn their eyes towards the temple and smile.

A bell tower with several melodious voices is the pride of every temple. The ringing of bells, which has healing powers for Orthodox souls, depending on the type, “calls” people to service, “sings” during celebrations and sounds like an alarm bell in case of danger.

When you hear the bell ringing, you need to cross yourself and pray

What is the purpose of church bells

In the arrangement of a Christian church, every thing has its own purpose. The souls of Orthodox Christians, when listening to church overflows, are filled with light, joy, peace, and tranquility. When the bells sound like an alarm, Christians know that trouble has happened.

The Orthodox ringing is filled with amazing power, which has the ability to penetrate human hearts. In church sounds and overflows, Russian Orthodox people have learned to distinguish triumph, call and alarm, hearing a certain ringing.

An amazing phenomenon - when the bells sound, doves, prototypes of the Holy Spirit, do not fly away, but, on the contrary, rush to the churches.

Hearing the sound of the bells, the Orthodox people rush to the Divine Services, to which they are called by the rhythmic strikes of the bell. The sounds announcing the triumph of the Church and festive services fill the hearts of believers with joy and joy. Celebration and reverence cause chimes to ring during solemn services.

Types of bell ringing

Having fallen in love with the ringing of church bells, the Russian Orthodox people connected all their solemn and sad events with it. The Orthodox bell ringing serves not only to indicate the time of the Divine service, but also to fill joy, sadness and triumph. This is where different types of ringing came from, and each type has a name and meaning.

Only a church-going person with certain qualities can be a bell ringer:

• gut instinct;
• sense of rhythm;
• knowledge of sounds;
• knowledge of performance techniques;
• knowledge of the Church Rules.

The bell ringer must be a prayer book and observe fasts in order to convey to people the triumph of Orthodoxy through the play of sounds.

A bell ringer paints with sound like an artist paints

Hearing the uniform strikes of a large bell, Orthodox Christians know that this is the gospel , caller to worship .

The more significant the event, the greater the voice of God:

1. The festive gospel sounds on Easter or on special holidays; in order for it to sound, the blessing of the rector of the temple is necessary.
2. The Sunday gospel sounds on Sundays, the polyeleos - for special services.
3. Daily services begin with the weekday gospel, and during Great Lent - fast.
4. The alarm that announces trouble, thank God, sounds extremely rarely.

When all the bells in the church are struck repeatedly and in turn, the chime rings, water blessing prayers, Liturgies, and temple holidays are announced.

During the actual ringing of the bells, the bell ringer strikes two bells.

The trezvon speaks for itself, at this time all the bells, large and small, work, each time producing three strikes with a short break. Low and ringing sounds fly straight into the sky and the souls of Christians, announcing the beginning of the Divine service or the end of the gospel.

Morning, monastery ringing, healing from all diseases

The history of bells

The first mentions of bells were found in documents that are more than 6 thousand years old. The prototype of this marvelous work is the bell flower, whose petals move at the slightest breath of wind. The first task of the bells was to give a signal. They were put on pets and hung on doors.

Interesting about Orthodoxy:

China is considered the birthplace of the first cast bells, where bells are used in purification rituals. According to legend, the master could not mix the right metals to achieve the desired sound; all the products either cracked or did not sound. On the advice of the monks, the master’s daughter threw herself into the molten metal, and the first large bell, “Lovely Flower,” sounded throughout China.

Egyptian monks were the first to use bells to call Christians to services.

For information! Church chimes became most widespread in Rus' in the 16th century, surpassing in weight all those available in European countries.

God's voice has become an element of Russian culture. According to legend, bell ringing drives away evil spirits, so during times of pestilence and enemy invasions, church bells did not stop ringing.

Over time, even musical notation appeared for playing these unique works of human hands. In Russia, bell ringing festivals are often held, filling everything around with God's glory.

The largest Assumption bell in the world - “Tsar Bell”

The healing power of bell ringing

Scientists have proven that bell chimes have healing powers not only in cleansing space from evil spirits, but also in healing people.

An amazing discovery made by researchers shows that church sounds propagate through space in waves in the shape of a cross, having a positive effect on a person’s physical, mental and spiritual state.

Repeatedly, Christians celebrated recovery, deliverance from birth illnesses after being under the cover of the overflow of God's voice. Especially the ringing of bells has healing powers for psycho-emotional diseases.

Modern achievements make it possible to listen to various sounds of church music in recordings while indoors, thereby cleansing the surrounding space of evil spirits.

Advice! Turn on the songs of the bells and enjoy the joy and peace in your home, not forgetting that sound therapy lasts no more than half an hour.

Bell ringing. Space cleansing and healing