[Rationale divinorum officiorum]

signify preachers who ought to call the faithful to faith after the likeness of a bell, which was signified in the fact that the Lord commanded Moses to make a garment for the high priest having seventy-two bells that would ring when the pontiff entered the Holy of Holies. Therefore, the vessel itself designates the mouth of the preacher, according to that of the Apostle: "I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." The hardness of the metal designates fortitude in the mind of the preacher. Whence the Lord: "I have made your forehead harder than their foreheads." The clapper or iron, which, striking from within on both sides, renders a sound, figures the tongue of the doctor with which science is adorned, and which makes both testaments resonate. A prelate, therefore, without the science of preaching will be like a bell without a clapper, according to that of Gregory: "If a priest is ignorant of preaching, he is a voiceless clamor; he is a mute herald, for he is as a mute dog unable to bark." The striking itself denotes that the preacher must first strike his own vices through correction and only afterward approach the reproving of others, lest, contrary to the teaching of the Apostle, preaching to others, he himself be found reprobate. Whence the Psalm: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my justices and take my covenant by your mouth?" For often he inflames by the example of his own passion those whom he cannot move by the erudition of speech. The bond, however, by which the clapper is joined or tied to the vessel, is the moderation by which the tongue is tempered, which moves the tongue of the preacher to the touch of the heart through the authority of scripture. The wood upon which the bell hangs signifies the wood of the Lord's cross, which is therefore held from above because the cross was announced by the ancient fathers. The instruments by which the wood itself is bound or affixed are the oracles of the prophets. The iron band by which the bell is joined to the wood denotes charity, through which the preacher, affixed indissolubly to the cross, glories, saying: "Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The pin cavilla pin/peg affixed to the wood, by means of which the bell is struck, signifies the upright mind of the preacher, by which he adheres to divine commands and inculcates them in the ears of the faithful through frequent striking. The rope, however, hanging from it by which the bell is struck, is the humility or life of the preacher. The rope itself also shows the measure of our life. Furthermore, since the rope has its beginning from the wood on which the bell hangs, by which the Lord's cross is understood, it rightly designates Holy Scripture descending from the wood of the holy cross. Just as the rope is from three cords, so too does scripture consist of the Trinity: namely, of history, of allegory, and of morality. Therefore, the rope descending from the wood into the hand of the priest is scripture descending from the mystery of the cross into the mouth of the preacher; again, the rope extends down to the hands by which it is held, because scripture ought to pass through to works. The raising and lowering of the rope in ringing denotes that Holy Scripture sometimes speaks of high things, sometimes of lower ones, or that the preacher sometimes speaks high things for the sake of some, and sometimes condescends for the sake of others, according to that of the Apostle: "Whether we are carried away, it is for God; or whether we are moderate, it is for you." The priest draws the rope downward when he descends from contemplation to the active life; he draws it upward again when, with scripture teaching, he is raised to contemplation. He draws it downward when he understands scripture according to the letter, which kills; he is drawn upward when he expounds it spiritually. Again, according to Gregory: "He draws it downward and is drawn upward when he measures himself in it, namely, how much he lies in vices and how much he progresses toward doing good." But also, from the pulling of the rope, the bell resonates, the people are gathered for the exposition of Holy Scripture, the preacher is heard, and the people are united in the unity of faith and charity. Thus, a priest who recognizes himself as a debtor of preaching should not withdraw himself from moving the signs, for even the sons of Aaron clanged with trumpets. He moves the rope, therefore, who calls forth his brothers or the people by his office. The ring at the end of the rope by which the rope is pulled in many places is the crown of the reward or perseverance to the end, or it is Divine Scripture itself. Moreover, it must be known that the Pope decreed that the hours of the day should be rung through the churches. And note that for divine offices, the bells are commonly rung twelve times according to the twelve hours of the day, namely, at the first hour once, and in the last similarly once, because from one God are all things and again one will be all in all. At the third hour, it is rung three times for the second, third, and fourth hours which are chanted under them. Similarly, at the sixth, three times for the three, namely for the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh hours. Similarly, at the ninth, three times for the three. But at Vespers, which is the eleventh hour, not only once but multiply, because in the time of grace the preaching of the apostles was multiplied. Likewise at night for Matins, often, because it is often to be exclaimed: "Arise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead." Commonly, however, it is rung three times for the nocturns. First with a small bell squilla small bell/handbell, which signifies Paul preaching acutely. The second ringing signifies Barnabas associated with him. The third intimates that the Jews rejecting the word of God, the apostles turned themselves to the Gentiles, whom they imbued in the faith of the Trinity with the disciplines of the four gospels. Whence some ring four times. And note that there are six kinds of bells with which one rings in the church, namely: squilla handbell, cimbalum small bell, nola bell, nolula small bell, or a double bell, and a sign. A squilla rings in the triclinium (that is, in the refectory); the cimbalum, in the cloister; the nola, in the choir; the nolula or double bell, in the clock; the campana, in the bell tower campanile bell tower; the sign, in the tower, which, although it can be generally called a bell in the hour. They are therefore designated by various names, because the preachers designated by them are necessary for many things. Truly, throughout the whole of Septuagesima, under which Lent is contained, on non-feast days one should not ring or double, but only ring simply (that is, ring simply for the hours of the day or Matins). In well-ordered churches, however, it is rung twice for Prime: first for summoning, second for beginning. For the third, three times according to the number of hours that are rung under it, as is said before: one for summoning, another for gathering, the third for beginning. Similarly, it is done at the sixth and at the ninth, and the other bells are rung in the same order for Matins simply.