Church Bells

St. Stanislaus Kostka Church was the first Catholic parish established in Chicago for the droves of Polish immigrants in the 19th century. While the first church was built in 1869, the current church was completed only 12 years later, in 1881. The twin towers were completed several years later, in 1892. St. Stanislaus Kostka followed the venerable Catholic tradition of placing blessed bells in church belfries to signal to the faithful. We do not know exactly when the bells were installed, although the founder’s casting date for the five-bell collection was 1883–this set could have been installed anytime from this date until after the completion of the towers.

Blessing of Bells
For centuries, bells have played an important role in Catholic Church life.  Originally, they were used to call the faithful to prayer - ringing out at prescribed times of day.  Due to the importance of bells, a special ceremony was developed and is often referred to as a “baptism”.  Like parishioners, bells are baptized and confirmed in the faith. Ceremonies are held in which the bishop or priest (with special authority) baptizes them, giving them names and godparents.  While this baptism is symbolic, it does reflect the spiritual power that is bestowed on bells.

This name has been given to the blessing of bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with holy water by the bishop, before he anoints it with the oil of the infirm without and with chrism within. A thurible with burning incense is then placed under it. The bishop prays that these sacramentals of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer.
 (Catholic Encyclopedia)

The ceremony highlights the sacramental power of bells. Sacramentals are anything set apart or blessed by the Church for the purpose of sanctifying our lives and leading us to the sacraments. They are extensions of the sacraments. While they are not sacraments in themselves, they are related to the seven sacraments and help to increase devotion through them.  They are sacred signs and provide for grace through the intercession of the Church.

The solemn blessing of bells addresses their additional purpose of driving away evil spirits and protecting the faithful from storms.

Let the people’s faith and piety wax stronger whenever they hear its melodious peals. At its sound let all evil spirits be driven afar; let thunder and lightning, hail and storm be banished; let the power of your hand put down the evil powers of the air, causing them to tremble at the sound of this bell, and to flee at the sight of the holy cross engraved thereon … when the peal of this bell resounds in the clouds may a legion of angels stand watch over the assembly of your Church, the first-fruits of the faithful, and afford your ever-abiding protection to them in body and spirit. (Roman Ritual)

The bells’ sacral ringing call the faithful to Mass, toll for funerals, and ring jubilantly for weddings or other joyous events. The bells of St. Stanislaus Kostka are rung daily to remind parishioners of the Angelus–a prayer said in the morning, noon, and evening–which is announced in its characteristic ringing pattern of threes. At times, the bells are purposely silenced. Then and now, to honor the solemnity of the Triduum, Catholic churches cease to ring their bells. Clergy instead use the hand-held wooden crotalus to signal the consecration and even to gather the faithful for Mass. 

Naming of the Bells
During the ceremony each bell is given a name.  These names usually reflect a specific connection to the church or the saint for whom the church was named.  Unfortunately, we do not know the names given to the six bells at St. Stanislaus Kostka.

How Bells are Rung
At St. Stanislaus Kostka, as in other churches, the bells are rung by means of ropes. Each bell is mounted on a stand and attached to a wheel, around which a rope was thread. By pulling the rope, the entire bell could be swung around, allowing the clapper inside to fly up against the bell wall. Two people may have been needed for the largest bell, while one person would have been manned at each of the others. The steady repetition of one bell would have tolled for a funeral, while all five bells rung staggered in a peal would have signaled a celebration. A single bell ringing thrice, three times in a row would have signaled the Angelus. A distinctive pattern all its own may have announced the impending start of Sunday Mass.

North Tower Bells
The set of five bells in the north tower create a harmonic peal based on the Salve Regina plainchant sung in the Catholic liturgy during the middle ages. The five notes (lowest to highest, C–E–G–A–C) are used in the opening arc of the plainchant melody. This Salve Regina pattern was very common in the United States for Catholic church bells. The first three notes also form a major triad, a harmonious combination on its own, and a common pitch combination for sets of three bells.

The five bells were cast by McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1883. Henry McShane, an Irish immigrant, started the firm in 1856 after having worked in the Baltimore brass foundry of Clampitt & Regester. McShane was one of the top producers for bells in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. The McShane bells do not possess the precise tuning of bells cast today. The five-point tuning method, in which five different overtones of the bell’s pitch are tuned by shaving metal off the inside of the bell, was nearly lost in Europe in the 18th century and not rediscovered until the late 1890s.

The set of five bells in the north tower are generously inscribed in Latin, demonstrating their great importance to the congregation.

Bell One
The largest bell (pitch C, ca. 4,200 pounds) is inscribed:

Side One:
ILL^mo D^no NOS PATRITIO, A. FEEHAN
PRIMO ARCHIEPISCOPO SEDEM CHICAGO VIENSAM
GUBERNANTE. HUJAS VERO MISSIONIS RECTARE
R^do D^no VINCENTIO BARZYNSKI C.R.
UNA E MUTUI AUXILII SOCIETATIBUS POLONICE
“TOWARZYSTWO S^tej TROJCY” DICTA
HUIC ECCLESIAE S^tI STANISLAI KOSTKA
IN CHICAGO ILLINOIS VOVIT, OBTULIT, DONAVIT
A.D. MDCCCLXXXIII

(Our illustrious Lord, Patrick A. Feehan, first archbishop of the See of Chicago. To guide this mission, Reverend Lord Vincent Barzyński, C.R., one in mutual assistance to the Society of the Holy Trinity, says, this church of Stanislaus Kostka in Chicago, Illinois vowed, offered, donated in the year of the Lord 1883)

Side Two:
IN HONOREM
SS’^mae ET INDIVIDUAE TRINITATIS
DEO † UNO † VERO † VIVO
PATRI ET FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO
HANC CAMPANAM
REGNANTE SS^mo D^no NOSTRO
LEONE XIII P.P.

(In honor of the Most Holy and undivided Trinity, God, One, Truth, Life, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, this bell, reigning our most holy Lord, Pope Leo XIII)

Bell Two
The second bell (pitch E, ca. 2,000 pounds) is inscribed:

SACRATISSIMO, MITI ET HUMILI

CORDI D.N. JESU CHRISTI
UNIVERSAM ECCLESIAM TOTO ORBE
TERRARUM DISPERSAM IN UNITATEM
CATHOLICAM DIVINITER COADUANTI
SOCIETAS “TOWARZYSTWO S^tej TROJCY”
DICTA OFFERT ET DONAT
A.D. MDCCCLXXXIII

(Most sacred, young and humble heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, the universal church of all the world, dispersed throughout the world in a divinely united Catholic unity, the Society of the Holy Trinity, says, offers, and gives in the year of our Lord 1883)

Bell Three
The third bell (pitch G, ca. 1,200 pounds) is inscribed:

IN HONOREM
IMMACULATAE CONCEPTIONIS
BEATISSIMAE VIRGINIS MATRIS DEI MARIAE
CELEBERRIMAE REGINAE POLONORUM QUAE
DUOBUS SAECULIS HOC ANNO EXPLETIS
INSIGNEM VICTORIAM
REGI POLONIAE JOANNI III^o SOBIESKI
DE TURCIS SUB VIENNA REPORTATAM
IPSA DEDIT GRATI POLONVOVENT
A.D. MDCCCLXXXIII

(In honor of the Immaculate Conception of the most blessed virgin mother of God, Mary, the most celebrated queen of the Poles, who two centuries ago this year ended with a glorious victory for the King of Poland John III Sobieski who freed Vienna from the Turks, she filled the Poles with gratitude in the year of our Lord 1883)

Bell Four
The fourth bell (pitch A, ca. 800 pounds) is inscribed:

PATRIAR CHARUM MAXIMO
ECCLESIAE CATHOLICAE PATRONI
IMMACULATAE VIRGINIS MATRIS
FIDELI SPONSO
PATRIQUE PUTATIVO DIVINI INFANTIS
BEATISSIMO JOSEPH
HANC CAMPANAM SOCIETAS
“TOWARZYSTWO S^tej TROJCY”
DICTA OFFERT
A.D. MDCCCLXXXIII

(Dear Father, the greatest patron of the Catholic Church, faithful husband of the Immaculate Virgin Mother, known father of the divine infant, Blessed Joseph, this bell society, Society of the Holy Trinity, does offer in the year of our Lord 1883)

Bell Five
The fifth bell (pitch C, ca. 500 pounds) is inscribed:

IN HONOREM
PATRONI HUJUS ECCLESIAE ET MISSIONIS
SANCTI STANISLAI KOSTKA
TOWARZYSTWO SEI TRÓJCY UPUD HANCCE
ECCLESIAM EXISTENS TOTO CORDE OFFERT
A.D. MDCCCLXXXIII

(In honor of the patrons of this church and mission St. Stanislaus Kostka this Society of the Holy Trinity offers to the church with all its heart in the year of our Lord 1883)

South Tower Bell
The single bell (pitch D, ca. 3,000 pounds) in the south tower was cast by the Buckeye Bell Foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1893, another mass producer of bells for the American market. The company was started by George W. Coffin in 1837. The clock works company, E. Howard Clock & Watch Co., was founded in Boston by Edward Howard and Charles Rice in 1858. Their intricate mechanical devices rang bells at regular intervals by means of a striker mounted on the outside of a bell. While the five bells in the north tower were used for sacred purposes, the bell and clock mechanism in the south tower had the more pedestrian task of ringing the time in increments of the hour, half-hour, or 15 minutes. This clock mechanism and bell were likely installed not long after the towers were completed in 1892.

An invoice, dated December 16, 1892, shows that the clock faces for the north and south tower, and the 3,000 pound bell, were purchased for $1,815.00.  That would equate to approximately $58,299 in 2022 dollars.

In June of 1964, a massive storm roared through Chicagoland; lightning hit the southern tower and started a fire which destroyed the cupola. It was not rebuilt.

Events for which the bells tolled recently:

• In December 1976, our Pastor, Fr. Anthony Buś, C.R., then a seminarian, was asked to ring the bells to honor the death of Richard J. Daley, the mayor of Chicago.
• On April 17, 2019 all the churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago rang their bells at 11:50am in solidarity with the Archdiocese of Paris after the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral.
• In March 2020, all Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago were asked to ring their bells five times per day to call the faithful to prayer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Special thanks to Kimberly Schafer for her research assistance on the bells and Christopher Chung for his photographs.