The bell of St Cecilia's.

I did do one moderately interesting thing today: I climbed up the bell tower of my church, along with the organist and elder and younger. As is typical, it is a rather steep and dirty climb. I finally got a look at the bell at the top- it was considerably larger than I had expected, and it was cast in bronze. At the bottom of the bell was a the name of the foundry that cast it written in French, so the bell almost certainly came from Quebec. There was a saint's image embossed on the side of the bell- probably the bell's name (Yes, bells frequently had names)- and a Latin inscription along the top. I tried to practice my Latin on the inscription, but I could only read the first few and the last few words. I could not get around to read most of it. It began "In Ecclesiam..." and ended ",,,voco." Roughly, "In the church...I speak (call)."

The bell is sadly silent now. The way it is set up, it rings by swinging the entire bell. Swinging a bell that size means shifting the centre of gravity of the tower slightly with every swing, which could ultimately bring the tower down. However, the priest wishes to replace the swinging bell with just a swinging clapper. Then the bell will speak again, at least occasionally.

Wish I'd had a camera with me.