The sound of the Middle Ages: New bells for Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral

Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters

Priests arrive to attend a ceremony to bless the new eight bronze bells of Notre Dame in Paris, on Feb. 2. The new eight bronze bells were cast with medieval methods at a French foundry in Normandy, and are ready now to ring for the 850th anniversary of the cathedral on March 23, 2013.

Nine newly cast bells are to be installed at Notre Dame, the historic Paris cathedral whose towers were made famous by the fictional hunchbacked bell-ringer Quasimodo.

The giant bronze bells, commissioned as part of the cathedral's 850th birthday celebrations, will replace the current bells, whose chimes are notoriously discordant.

After the French Revolution began in 1789, nine of the 10 original bells were snatched, melted down and turned into cannons.

Of the replacements, four were recast in the 19th century, and the original sound was lost.

Nine newly cast bells are to be installed at Notre Dame in Paris. NBC's Annabel Roberts reports.

"Historically the idea of this project is to recreate the old bells of Notre Dame in terms of tune so there will be 10 bells ringing as there used to be in the Middle Ages," said Paul Bergamo, president of the Cornille-Havard foundry in Normandy.

They will be on display inside the cathedral for three weeks, then hung in the cathedral towers. They will be rung for the first time on March 23, the day before Palm Sunday.

More than 20 million visitors come to the cathedral ever year, making it one of Europe’s top tourist attractions.

Its tower and bells were made famous by Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

Charles Platiau / Reuters

The public take photographs of 'Gabriel', the new and biggest bell, as it is lifted in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on Jan. 31.

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If god wanted the church to have new bells he would have created them...

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 1:36 PM EST

God didn't make the bells the 1st time...lol

  • 5 votes
#1.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 1:48 PM EST

Story said 9 of the 10 where taken and melted down, 4 where recast in the 19th century.

That still left one of the original bells to take the mold & spec's from. Good thing they didn't loose all of them.

Good investment into infrastructure no matter how bad off they are economically, as they are the prize when it comes to drawing tourists & money to the area.

See that's what good investment into infrastructure by government & private parties looks like.

  • 5 votes
#1.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:04 PM EST

He Did

  • 2 votes
#1.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:27 PM EST

D-10. You must be the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

    #1.4 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 8:38 PM EST

    2 million for 8 bells. All donated monies. Must be nice.

    Awsome cathedral

      #1.5 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 5:36 AM EST

      because Man created the church, bells and what not to "worship" fictional "GOD" Fition just like the hunchbak of Notre dame

      • 1 vote
      #1.6 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 9:29 AM EST

      inArizona - You are a sad person.

      • 1 vote
      #1.8 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 11:14 AM EST

      You know, I think that the apostate church known as the roman catholic church would be able to bring forth more good fruits of the spirit if they weren't so busy in blessing inanimate objects like bells, candles, statues and likenesses of the Virgin Mary seen in some guy's banana peel. Religion is about blessing the lives of individuals and families. After all, we are all spirit sons and daughters of the Most High God. He exists as a man with a perfect, immortal physical body of flesh and bone not as some blob like what is depicted in several Star Trek episodes. Just so you know that I don't capitalize religions that don't have the authority to act in God's name and the truths and ordinances(rituals and ceremonies) capable of saving the human race. There is only ONE true and living church that exists on planet Earth and that is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All of the supposed keys that were passed on from Peter to the first vicar of the rc church did not contain any of the rights of apostolic power and authority. No church on earth can consider itself to be the Lord's one and only that does not base itself on the authority that Jesus ordained through the quorum of Twelve Apostles. The rc church is led by cardinals and a pope, no titles which have anything to do with prophetic and/or apostolic leadership. The LDS Church has its highest leadership positions within a First Presidency(Prophet/Senior Apostle with two counselors that are also ordained Apostles) and a separate twelve-member group of ordained Apostles. Church leadership is based on the same positions as were done during biblical times such as seventies, high priests, elders, bishops, priests, teachers and deacons. If I were you, I would rather listen to the will of the Lord through men who possess His holy power and authority rather than some big-bonging bells. I don't know how I can become a better person by listening to those bells and quite frankly I don't know how all of you can either.

        #1.9 - Fri Feb 8, 2013 3:26 PM EST
        Reply

        How can they recreate original sound, when that original sound has been lost?

        • 2 votes
        Reply#2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 1:40 PM EST

        i wondered the same thing. could there have been some "specifications" for this that would have allowed the bells to be cast in the same way to recreate their sound???

          #2.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 1:50 PM EST

          It is possible they may have the original castings stuck in the back somewhere.The church is known for not throwing anything away.( or at least the specs on them)I have no clue when their sound changed but,I am sure that somewhere over 850 years the bells suffered from some wear and tear.

          • 1 vote
          #2.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 1:52 PM EST

          Or, certain songs can again be played by the carillon, since they will once again have 10 bells, as compared to 8. If music was written in a key or with a range greater than the 8 bells, well, you do the math -- you can't play that melody.

          • 1 vote
          #2.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:41 PM EST

          Thomas--believe it or not, having 10 bells in a church means there was MUSIC written down, and played by trained campanists. At the risk of quoting Julie Andrews, it's all a matter of 'do-re-mi'.

          • 2 votes
          #2.4 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:47 PM EST

          The inevitable wear and tear of centuries, including stress fracturing and distortion, will change the sound immensely. Do you think the Liberty Bell sounds the same today as it did before it had a huge crack running through it?

          In any event, the cross sectional drawings might have been preserved somewhere, if not they could have gotten a good idea from the remaining original bell as to their overall design.

          • 2 votes
          #2.5 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:16 PM EST
          Reply

          They may need to pawn those bells to help pay for the lawsuits that are pending against the Los Angeles diocese for the sexual abuse of hundreds of youngsters.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 2:52 PM EST

          You can't paint all people with one brush, there are bad apples in every bunch.

          • 7 votes
          #3.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:24 PM EST

          The Paris diocese has nothing to do with what the L.A. diocese did or has to publicly deal with. And, as Cyndy mentioned, there are many Protestant "ministers" who have been caught sexually abusing kids -- and this from "ministers" who are allowed to marry.

          BTW, Sicne the 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church's morality has been obliterated by "Protestant-like freedoms and changes" a la the Second Vatican Council. Blame current hypocracies in the Catholic Church on popes since Pius XII, who allowed the protestantization of the Church.

          • 1 vote
          #3.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:39 PM EST

          Gimmeabreakoradrink--sorry, I hate to break this to you, but the Catholic church has a LOOOONG history or corruption and sexual transgressions, PARTICULARLY among the heirarchy.

          It is NOT 'hypocracies in the Catholic Church" that has harmed the 'reputation' of the Catholic Church--it is the ability of the average person (be they Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, agnostic, or athiest) to READ about not only the corruption, greed, and misbehavior in their church, but also to read about the GOOD that has been done in OTHER churches by loosening petty regulations such as women Ministers, etc, in an era when CHURCH membership was decliining due to the obvious 'non-Christian behavior that has been demonstrated by so called leaders in EVERY religion.

          In the long run, it is MORE important to keep the Church 'relevant' to young people, by making the CORE of the church be the Love of God and Jesus, rather than Blind obedience to the rules and regs.

          • 1 vote
          #3.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:59 PM EST

          Wasn't Paterno's assistance a jew?

            #3.4 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:13 PM EST

            Momaide The Catholic Church has a LONG HISTORY PERIOD. Jews and non-catholics are just jealous that they have NOTHING comparable to the ART and Treasures the Catholic Church has produced.

            So they try to destriy, try to harm the CHURCH of the TRUE Religion.

            Just immagine how much the "money-changers" would love to DEAL in St Peter Basilca. :)))))

              #3.5 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:21 PM EST

              Catholics have the largest and most fruitful charities in history and do the most humanitarian good world wide surpassing FEMA (not hard), Red Cross and all the others. Hates Catholics all you want, but just know that their fruits are greater than any other Christian Church. And by the way, Catholics were and are the first original Christians. This is a article about the beauty of the past and the accomplishments of thousands of people into one build with the Grace of God as their strength, not an article about what the human aspect of an institution but the human ELEMENT.

              All things have done evil. Every Government, every charity (religious or not) has done evil. Given time, ANY institution will commit great evils, why? Because we are human. Hitler became atheist. Stalin was Atheist. The leaders in China are atheist and were when they killed over 100+ million people. To point out the Catholic Church for its flaws is ignorant. And about the sexual abuse, many of those are actually fraud. I worked with people on those cases and talked to judges who sentenced the priests. MANY of them (between 75-80%) of them are parents greedy for money and training their kids to say terrible things about another human being.

              So before you go bashing the greatest source of charity, healing, housing, love, comfort and humanitarian aid in the WORLD, learn your entire history not just the bad and educate yourself on the facts. Not just what the main stream media throws at the masses. Wake up and grow up.

              Sincerely,

              A Catholic tired of the BS from radical uneducated idiots

              • 5 votes
              #3.6 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:22 PM EST

              Amen, Josh, you said it all!

              • 1 vote
              #3.7 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 10:42 PM EST

              Always has to be one dragging their anti-Catholic dribble onto these pages. What about college football coaches, scoutmasters, social workers, school custodians, etc. Why not condemn all those jobs too? Tiny, tiny little minds ....

              • 2 votes
              #3.8 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 9:04 AM EST
              Reply

              I don't know about you all but this looks like an ocult more than anything else. What ever happened to the traditional mass or the traditional church. This people are getting out of hand.

                Reply#4 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:03 PM EST

                yeah yeah yeah

                  #4.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:29 PM EST
                  Reply

                  I can't wait to get there.

                  • 2 votes
                  Reply#5 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:05 PM EST

                  Want me to help you? Just a small push and ZIPPPP. Come down to the subway platform :)))

                  • 1 vote
                  #5.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:15 PM EST
                  Reply

                  I am at a loss for words after reading some of the previous dumb.......really DUMB comments.

                  • 9 votes
                  Reply#6 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:19 PM EST

                  Amen to that!

                  • 1 vote
                  #6.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:36 PM EST

                  Welcome to America! We've got an ignorant, redneck a$$hole for every occasion!

                  • 10 votes
                  #6.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:04 PM EST

                  AMEN!

                    #6.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:19 PM EST
                    Reply

                    Go Fighting Irish!

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#7 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:29 PM EST

                    wrong Notre Dame, UncommonSensa...LOL

                    • 2 votes
                    #7.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:15 PM EST
                    Reply

                    If the bells were cast with medieval methods, what makes them think that the new ones are going to sound any better?

                      Reply#8 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:40 PM EST

                      As if EVERYTHING from the Medieval Ages should automatically be regarded as crap? I'm sure you rip on the 18th century, the 1920s and the 1990s, too, in the same arrogant way.

                      • 2 votes
                      #8.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:43 PM EST

                      For those folks unfamiliar with acoustical engineering, the size, shape, thickness and materials used in a bell will mark its sound. If you have the specifications, or better yet real examples, for a particular bell from the middle ages, then reproducing it to the same specifications with the same materials will create a bell with the same sound within a very small variance.

                      • 2 votes
                      #8.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:08 PM EST

                      A set of bells, cast correctly, will be "in tune" to each other.... and sound wonderful... very melodious

                      • 1 vote
                      #8.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:17 PM EST

                      "New ones" would be made in India or China and last about one week. It sounds like a time-tested technique was used.

                        #8.4 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 5:45 AM EST

                        No necessarily Lisa from Wayland. They will have similar timbre, but still have to be tuned to each other. It is sad it took until Jimbo's post 8.2 for anyone to have an idea what it would take to accomplish this feat. Thank you Jimbo. It is not impossible to reproduce Medieval techniques. It would be very labor intensive though. I think this is, while very expensive, a great positive thing the Cathedral is doing. They admit it is an incredible tourist attraction, why not take advantage of it? It makes it more meaningful to have the old reproduced rather than current technology installed. I, until now, had no reason to visit France, but this could change my mind.

                        • 1 vote
                        #8.5 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 9:53 AM EST
                        Reply

                        Very nice, muy bien....very proud...

                        • 2 votes
                        Reply#9 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:49 PM EST
                        • Jesus just called: "I hate the colors. Start over."
                          Reply#10 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 3:52 PM EST

                          I am not religious, I don't care for it and wish it didn't exist. But history is history and I think this is cool.

                          • 3 votes
                          Reply#11 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:03 PM EST

                          Your right, and the history of the cathedral isn't entirely religious in any case. It has been neglected, used as storage, a farmers market and stables as different times of it's history. In fact, it was Victor Hugo's "Hunchback" that brought attention to the cathedral which was in danger if demolition, and saved it. Preserving history shows us where we were in relation to where we are. In many cases, such as in the US, it provides clear evidence of a deterioration of values and national character.

                          It's an incredibly beautiful structure architecturally, both inside and out, and you don't have to be Catholic, or religious to appreciate it's beauty.

                          • 2 votes
                          #11.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:09 PM EST
                          Comment author avatarFrankSteinExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

                          Catholics could have done what the jews did. Leave it destryed and cry next to the walls forever. Too fricking cheap to rebuild it. Christians are NOT like that. We GIVE not just TAKE TAKE TAKE TAKE LIKE_A_jew.

                            #11.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:29 PM EST

                            Can we even begin to imagine....850 years of history wrapped up into one building?... nope...not here... nothing made by human hands has existed that long here...

                              #11.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:18 PM EST

                              Frank.... what are you talking about? Lol? Catholics have the largest and most fruitful charities in history and do the most humanitarian good world wide surpassing FEMA (not hard), Red Cross and all the others. Hates Catholics all you want, but just know that their fruits are greater than any other Christian Church. And by the way, Catholics were and are the first original Christians. This is a article about the beauty of the past and the accomplishments of thousands of people into one build with the Grace of God as their strength, not an article about what the human aspect of an institution but the human ELEMENT.

                              • 3 votes
                              #11.4 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:03 PM EST

                              @frankSTEIN

                              Catholics could have done what the jews did. Leave it destryed and cry next to the walls forever. Too fricking cheap to rebuild it. Christians are NOT like that. We GIVE not just TAKE TAKE TAKE TAKE LIKE_A_jew.

                              I am a bit confused. The general wording of your comments seem to suggest that you consider yourself a catholic. The arrogance, boastfulness, prideful-ness and bigotry that you demonstrate say that you are anything but!!

                              • 1 vote
                              #11.5 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:20 PM EST
                              Reply

                              TO JAKENHYDE: Maybe those "poor" victims(not certainly in terms of money) can help defray some of the cost for

                              these new bells, with their hard earned "blood money."

                                Reply#12 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 4:24 PM EST

                                Amen. I'm so tired of seeing the Catholic Church a target for greedy parents putting their kids on display claiming rape. Totally disgusting and should be tried as such. BUT who cares right?

                                • 1 vote
                                #12.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:04 PM EST
                                Reply

                                Paris is a beautiful city of history and culture and Notre Dame is magnificent. I can only imagine how much more charming it will be with the sound of these bells ringing.

                                Bravo for France, the total cost of these bells is less than the cost of a single Predator drone loaded with Hellfire missiles and these bells are much less likely to kill innocent civilians.

                                • 4 votes
                                Reply#13 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:00 PM EST
                                Comment author avatarnodakExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

                                Will the bell help any of the childern that the prist raped.

                                • 1 vote
                                Reply#14 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:16 PM EST

                                Will rooting for the Ravens in the Super Bowl today help the families of the men Ray Lewis helped murder? Idiot.

                                And what the hell is a "prist" nodak? Didn't you see the word underlined in red to indicate that you misspelled it? Or do the red lines show up so often that you didn't realize what they indicated?

                                • 6 votes
                                #14.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:22 PM EST

                                Most of the cases are fraud from parents wanting money. Time for a reality check people.

                                • 1 vote
                                #14.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:06 PM EST

                                nodak <> Probably not! Will it harm any child a priest has raped? Probably not! Will it help or harm any priest who has been falsely accused of rape? Probably not. What is your point?

                                • 1 vote
                                #14.3 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 10:20 PM EST
                                Reply

                                Its ironic that the largest bell is named "Gabriel", that was the name of the angel that Muhammad supposedly got his revelations from and now France is well on its way to becoming a muslim state.

                                  Reply#15 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:24 PM EST

                                  Give me a break....there is plenty of mention of the Angel Gabriel... God's chief messenger, in Christian text

                                  • 3 votes
                                  #15.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:21 PM EST
                                  Reply

                                  This is to the whole of catholicism. Don't the Crusades, the horrors of the Inquisition and other activities involving forced baptism and confirmation, the overwhelming support for the Fascist terrorism during WWII and the moral epidemic of covering up priests' sexual perpetration of dozens of thousands children "Ring a bell"? If not, then a refresher course should be taken to learn of how the roman catholic church is the most abominable branch of Christianity and is no better than the whole of islam and of judaism. As a matter of fact, catholicism is worse because it is the mother faith of apostasy(meaning it was once in line with Christ's doctrine but has rejected that doctrine completely). Orthodoxy and protestantism are also apostate as they are off-shoots of catholicism. So, the rc church can make all the bells that they want, it won't make up for the wicked fruits of their evil labors.

                                  • 3 votes
                                  Reply#16 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 5:37 PM EST

                                  All things have done evil. Every Government, every charity (religious or not) has done evil. Given time, ANY institution will commit great evils, why? Because we are human. Hitler became atheist. Stalin was Atheist. The leaders in China are atheist and were when they killed over 100+ million people. To point out the Catholic Church for its flaws is ignorant. And about the sexual abuse, many of those are actually fraud. I worked with people on those cases and talked to judges who sentenced the priests. MANY of them (between 75-80%) of them are parents greedy for money and training their kids to say terrible things about another human being.

                                  So before you go bashing the greatest source of charity, healing, housing, love, comfort and humanitarian aid in the WORLD, learn your entire history not just the bad and educate yourself on the facts. Not just what the main stream media throws at the masses. Wake up and grow up.

                                  Sincerely,

                                  A Catholic tired of the BS from radical uneducated idiots

                                  • 4 votes
                                  #16.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:18 PM EST

                                  Josh, that was a pearl! You make wading through comments worthwhile. Bless you!

                                    #16.2 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 9:13 AM EST

                                    The Messenger - You seem to be a hater, Try focusing on the good, and get away from those negative vibes, they'll eat you up. The Crusades, the Inquisition?? Man aren't those old enough to die already. Many things have changed since then, read up and catch up to the times, we have cars now.

                                    Yeah, the child molesters, what a sin. Just hideous. Payment will be severe. That is the evil and weakness of humans, and it is a stain on the soul.

                                      #16.3 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 12:17 PM EST

                                      You are all right. I am a hater. I hate sin. I hate it when people, especially those who wear all types of false robes, claiming to be servants of God-priests unto the Most High and claim to love the Lord with their lips yet have their hearts far from Him. I hate apostate religions that claim to be the 2000-year successor of the Primitive Church established by Christ Himself or one of the 'reformed' churches trying to clean up what the one church that IS the church of the Abomination has done. Apostasy is what it is. It is the UNIVERSAL(when I looked up the word 'catholic' it means 'universal') falling away from that which is absolute truth. Since that wraps up what catholicism is all about(a falling away from the truth) then orthodoxy and protestantism MUST also be descendants of THE apostate religion. Therefore, any and all faiths in line with catholicism, orthodoxy and protestantism are also abominable faiths with no priesthood(authority to act in God's name) and no ordinances(rituals and ceremonies) sufficient for salvation and exaltation. That is why Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ HAD to RESTORE(not REFORM) all of the necessary truths, authority and ordinances that can save the human race through the Prophet(not pope, or reverend, or nun, or pastor, or cardinal, or whatever) named Joseph Smith, Jr. Because of the restoration of all the saving truths, authority and ordinances we now have a Church set up exactly like the one that Christ set up Himself with prophets and Apostles with Christ as the Chief Apostle. We don't have cardinals, or popes or other titles which have no direct link with anything 'apostolic'. We never will. We don't go around blessing bells, or icons or anything inanimate like the catholics do. We canonize scripture, not people. When a person is baptized and becomes a child of Christ, he/she automatically becomes a 'saint'. We don't have to go around trying to walk on water to have some overly ostentatious pope call us a saint. Also, don't you think that if a church or any religious organization wants to claim to be the only true one, shouldn't it have the Lord's name on it? I mean, if the name of a church is sans the Lord's name, then that should give you some inclination as to what that church is all about. Think about it, in the Greek language, the word 'presbyteros' from the word presbyterian means 'elder' so the church is about 'some elder'. Also, in Greek, the word 'episkopos' from the word episcopalian means bishop so the church is about 'some bishop'. Lutheranism is about some guy named Luther, not Christ. The first, second or whatever baptist church is probably about getting dunked in the water and that's probably that. So, if you want to become like the Saviour, Jesus Christ, then join the church with His name on it. If not, then it really makes no difference what you have chosen instead as all of the others will land you in the same hole.

                                        #16.4 - Thu Feb 7, 2013 3:41 PM EST
                                        Reply

                                        New bells at Notre Dame? We better get Katie Couric and Dr Phil on it right away. We have to get to the bottom of this.

                                        • 1 vote
                                        Reply#17 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:01 PM EST

                                        The building is a great work of art in itself a must see if your ever traveling too this destination.

                                        The rest is all bells and what not......

                                          Reply#18 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:02 PM EST

                                          Keep pushing money into your great idols, your bronze bells,, God forgive the idiocy AGAIN..

                                            Reply#19 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:25 PM EST

                                            They are reminders of people before us how they served GOD and set as a sinfully human example for the rest of us to follow. Idiot. The denominations that say we do idioitry are uneducated in the very thing they preach.

                                            "Jesus is our example". Yes true, but are you perfect and divine as He Is? Nope. So couldn't you RELATE to a Saint who walked the same path with the same sins? Of course. And no, praying to them is not worship. When Baptists or others pray (ask) angels or your loved ones for help or love who have passed on, why is that not considered worshiping? Hypocrites to the core and don't even realize it.

                                            • 3 votes
                                            #19.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:09 PM EST
                                            Reply

                                            Happiness is putting idiots like "The messenger" on ignore.... Cathedrals like Notre Dame or works of art like Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel are overt expressions of faith. You can persecute the failings of men all you want. It doesn't bother me when you point out the corruption of individuals who abuse power. We see it all around us in religion and politics. Bad individuals within the Church do not make everyone who calls himself/herself "Catholic" corrupt. That same Catholic Church has done more to feed the hungry, heal the sick and shelter the homeless than the rest of Christians combined.

                                            • 3 votes
                                            Reply#20 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 6:33 PM EST

                                            Amen. Thank you.

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #20.1 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:10 PM EST

                                            Quasimodo would be proud of your post.

                                              #20.2 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 8:57 PM EST
                                              Reply

                                              And the biggest Emmanuel is really big: (the ringer is like 1,160 lbs)

                                              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris#Bells

                                              Bells

                                              There are five bells in the Towers at Notre Dame. The great bourdon bell, Emmanuel, original to 1681, is located in the South Tower, weighs just over 13 tons, and is tolled to mark the hours of the day and for various occasions and services, ringing in a resounding E♭. This bell is always rung first, at least 5 seconds before the rest. There are four additional bells on wheels in the North Tower, which are swing chimed. These bells were meant to replace nine which were removed from the Cathedral during the Revolution and are rung for various services and festivals. The bells were once rung manually but are currently rung by electric motors. When it was discovered that the size of the bells could cause the entire building to vibrate, threatening its structural integrity, they were taken out of use. The bells also have external hammers for tune playing from a small clavier.

                                              In the night of 24 August 1944, as the Île de la Cité was taken by an advance column of French and Allied armoured troops and elements of the Resistance, it was the tolling of the Emmanuel that announced to the city that its liberation was under way.

                                              In 2012 as part of a huge project the four 19th-century bells of the North tower have been removed, melted down, and recast into a new set of 8 bells, due to be rehung in early 2013 back in the North tower. A 9th Bell called Marie is also being cast and will hang with Emmanuel in the South tower. These are designed to replicate the quality and tone of the Cathedral's original bells.

                                              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourdon_(bell)

                                              • 1 vote
                                              Reply#21 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:08 PM EST
                                              Reply

                                              Catholics have the largest and most fruitful charities in history and do the most humanitarian good world wide surpassing FEMA (not hard), Red Cross and all the others. Hates Catholics all you want, but just know that their fruits are greater than any other Christian Church. And by the way, Catholics were and are the first original Christians. This is a article about the beauty of the past and the accomplishments of thousands of people into one build with the Grace of God as their strength, not an article about what the human aspect of an institution but the human ELEMENT.

                                              All things have done evil. Every Government, every charity (religious or not) has done evil. Given time, ANY institution will commit great evils, why? Because we are human. Hitler became atheist. Stalin was Atheist. The leaders in China are atheist and were when they killed over 100+ million people. To point out the Catholic Church for its flaws is ignorant. And about the sexual abuse, many of those are actually fraud. I worked with people on those cases and talked to judges who sentenced the priests. MANY of them (between 75-80%) of them are parents greedy for money and training their kids to say terrible things about another human being.

                                              So before you go bashing the greatest source of charity, healing, housing, love, comfort and humanitarian aid in the WORLD, learn your entire history not just the bad and educate yourself on the facts. Not just what the main stream media throws at the masses. Wake up and grow up.

                                              And as far as "idol worship"

                                              They are reminders of people before us how they served GOD and set as a sinfully human example for the rest of us to follow. Idiot. The denominations that say we do idolatry are uneducated in the very thing they preach.

                                              "Jesus is our example". Yes true, but are you perfect and divine as He Is? Nope. So couldn't you RELATE to a Saint who walked the same path with the same sins? Of course. And no, praying to them is not worship. When Baptists or others pray (ask) angels or your loved ones for help or love who have passed on, why is that not considered worshiping? Hypocrites to the core and don't even realize it.

                                              harsh words when talking about other denominations, I'm sorry! I don't hate the other denom's, just very fed up with the attacks from others. They are not wrong, or evil. Just because you don't understand us does not make us evil! And yes, I have many friends in many different denominations

                                              Sincerely,

                                              A Catholic tired of the BS from radical uneducated idiots

                                              God Bless to my fellow Christians!

                                              • 6 votes
                                              Reply#22 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:22 PM EST

                                              Josh, as He said, without Faith it is nothing! That's how I calibrate anti-Christian dribble all the time. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit which can be denied and pushed away. We are so fortunate for accepting Him and following His Word and example!

                                              • 1 vote
                                              #22.1 - Mon Feb 4, 2013 9:20 AM EST
                                              Reply

                                              Someday,the church will regain its' reputation.I resent the sins of those who were sheltered instead of brought to justice.Does that make the haters feel better?

                                                Reply#23 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 7:55 PM EST

                                                Quasimodo, where art thou?

                                                  Reply#24 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 8:49 PM EST

                                                  I presume these are Flemish-tuned bells, not English-tuned bells.

                                                    Reply#25 - Sun Feb 3, 2013 9:01 PM EST
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