Bell ringers courses. Yaroslavl school of bell art. Full cycle of training
March 24, 2012 2012-03-24Bell ringer Alexander Gorokhovsky talks about the bell tower:
Did you know that before the October Revolution of 1917, which led to desecration and destruction Orthodox churches, there were 13 bells on our bell tower? It was a complete belfry, wonderfully made and set up. It suffered the common fate of almost all belfries in Rus': the Bolsheviks dropped the bells, however, without having time (or they did not succeed) to get to the large bell weighing about 25-30 pounds, cast at the Dimitri Samgin factory in 1848. Only along the edge of his skirt was a piece broken off; Luckily the crack didn't go any further and it still sounds great.
When I came to the church in the early 90s, it was interesting for me, as a musician, to participate with the priest in the restoration of the belfry. Only now, after these years, I understand with what difficulty, meagerly, bit by bit, we collected grandmothers’ rubles and offerings from parishioners. There was a catastrophic shortage of money, because the entire restoration of the temple had to start from scratch. And yet Father George himself is an excellent musicianI understood that the bells were our primary concern.
Then everything was new: where to cast, how to order? I remember we went to the light metals plant in Kuntsevo and agreed on an order. When we purchased and delivered the first pound bell to the temple, I suggested to the priest that we hang it with the one that had survived. But he said: “No, we will wait until they give us everything so that we can have a belfry right away.” And we ordered 4 more bells. In 1994, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, they were consecrated and raised to the bell tower.
Today we have 10 bells. I'll tell you the story of the last one, Blagovest. In 2006, during a common Easter meal, I told the parishioners the history of our bell tower, saying that we still did not have the main “tonic” bell.
And people responded quickly by starting fundraising. It would seem that the main thing is to collect the required amount. Nothing of the kind, thanks to the efforts of donors and philanthropists, this issue was resolved. But the difficulties were associated with acquiring exactly the kind of bell that we needed in terms of sound. As a result, we had a bell cast for 1280 kilograms at the Anisimov plant in Voronezh. By the way, it was at this plant that copies of the famous “Harvard” bells were cast (in fact, these are bells from the pre-revolutionary belfry of the St. Danilov Monastery in Moscow), and the Americans returned these bells to the monastery of the blessed Prince Daniel in Moscow.
... With God's help and tireless efforts, 13 years after the first bells we acquired, on the Trinity Day in 2007, the first ringing of Blagovest was heard in our bell tower. With excitement and hope, I watch how the art of bell ringers is being revived and developed in today's Russia. I regularly travel to Yaroslavl for the bell ringing festival and will take part in its program. It is clear that there is no limit to improvement, so we comprehend the wisdom of Russian bell ringing.
Easter bells
Bell concert on the Week of Myrrh-Bearing Women
First anniversary of the bell
Now in our church there is a school of bell ringers named after St. Paulinus. As you know, it was this saint who lived at the turn IV - V centuries introduced bell ringing into the Church. We are pleased with the successes of the students (among them both boys and girls), who regularly and in frost minus thirty at strong impulses winds, and in the summer heat they ring in the bell tower of our temple, and also wind up the ancient clock. Our guys also rang in other churches, as well as at various bell ringing festivals, for example, in the Church of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called in the village of Fedyukovo, Podolsk region.
Pupils of the School of Ringers named after St. Paulinus at the bell tower
By God's grace, the ringing of bells pleases the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and hamlets and calls them to prayer.
Categories: ,... It was a long time ago. Once, on the playground in the village of Kuznechiki, I heard from mothers about good preparation for school in a group early development children. I really wanted to include my son in this group, and my husband and I met with Ilona Stanislavovna and began to ask her to take us. She warned that she would continue to work at the Sunday School at the Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God in Shchapovo. “Where you go, we go,” was our answer.
I must say that at that time our family was far from the faith. Blessing eggs and Easter cakes for Easter - that’s all going to Church. But new times have begun. Everything was new in Sunday School classes. We wrote down the words of the prayer in a notebook and taught it to our son together. And how difficult it was to stand in the church for “the whole” 40 minutes before communion! After all, we didn’t even arrive at the start of the service.
The old Sunday School building comes to mind. How we fit in there, how we managed to spend holidays in a small room-classroom! But everything was done with such love, such sincerity that I wanted to come there again and again.
With all the mothers we are still in excellent relations, we support each other, we consult on many issues. And our teacher, Ilona Stanislavovna, is the sunshine of Sunday School. She taught and teaches our children kindness, understanding, mutual assistance, and love. And she answers all our, adults, questions, finds an approach to everyone.
Rehearsals for our holidays are a separate creative process. After all, preparing a script for the holiday, thinking through all the subtleties is only part of a huge iceberg, all the complexity is hidden from the eyes of the audience: gather all the participants, motivate adults to participate in the performance, make costumes, come up with fun games, nursery rhymes and so on. And at the same time, so that the kids don’t get tired, so that it’s great...
So, gradually, together with my eldest son, we came to the temple. When he was seven years old, we prepared together for confession. Now three of my children are studying in Sunday school, the eldest has already participated in the service - reading and singing with the choir. Now more teachers work with our children. Sunday school has become a part of our life.
I would like to sincerely thank Father George for making this training available to everyone. And a huge bow of gratitude to Ilona Stanislavovna for her truly titanic work. God bless them good health and many happy summers!
This is the tenth year that I have been going to our Assumption Church... For the first time I appeared in it, as they say, in company with my cousin. Then, throughout the entire service (it seemed endless), I, exhausted, thought only about when it would end. And when I left the temple, I didn’t feel anything in myself. I decided that it was not time yet, that I would come again when my soul truly demanded it.
Years passed, I became a mother. We baptized our firstborn only when he was three years old. And there was no understanding of why this was needed - everyone is baptizing, and so are we. Our eldest son was in his fourth year when our daughter was born. By God's providence, and I cannot explain it any other way, I learned from a new friend about the Sunday school at our Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I thought this was very helpful. The child will get ready for school, because I had absolutely no time for him - my daughter was very capricious, I had to be with her all the time. Meanwhile, the son was walking in the yard with his older friends and, as a result, began to swear...
I remember coming to ask how I could enroll in school. There was no one on the temple grounds. And then Mother Maria comes out (now deceased - the Kingdom of Heaven to her!), so calm, good-natured, and says: “You come at the end of summer, Ilona Stanislavovna will take the child, she will definitely take it, she takes everyone.”
Since September 2006 I started new life. So imperceptibly, somehow naturally, I began to visit the temple with my children. At first she gave communion only to children. This is how it was customary: on the twelve holidays, children from Sunday School went to communion. And then she began to take communion herself. This is a completely different state of mind. It’s wonderful when you feel the need and when you have the opportunity to come to church!
Over time, Sunday School became our second home, and we all became one for each other. big family. It is very important to understand that in any, even the most difficult life situation have someone to rely on. I also discovered my acting abilities. After all, at school we prepare performances for children. When you are tired of the endless worries of everyday life, you come to a rehearsal, you see your already so close people there, then you are distracted, come back to normal and feel that everything is in order. And at the celebration after the performance - the joyful faces of the children and the kindest, happy face of our Father George.
Now I have four children, I live in a different place, I go to another church, but whenever possible I go with my children to Shchapovo, to the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which became for me the beginning of a new, spiritual, bright life, my salvation and spiritual joy.
With all my heart I wish our parish and Father George, our kind and patient mentor, many prosperous years.
... Exactly ten years ago, a recruitment of children was announced at the Klenovsky House of Culture to prepare them for school. One of the initiators was a teacher from Shchapovo - Ilona Stanislavovna Simakova. Unfortunately, the group was not full, but I firmly decided that I would take my five-year-old son Misha to classes at the Shchapovsky Palace of Culture.
At the first parent meeting, Ilona Stanislavovna announced that classes with children would be held at the Sunday School at the Assumption Church, where, along with the basic subjects, she would introduce our kids to the Law of God and the fundamentals of the Orthodox faith. As far as I remember, my parents were not embarrassed by this, and they even made me happy. At that time I myself was not only an unchurched person, but, to put it mildly, “complete darkness.” So I thought that at least someone would tell me and introduce my child to “this science.”
I’ll say right away: my son simply fell in love with Ilona Stanislavovna. He said that she was like a mother - kind and attentive. I always looked forward to the day of classes and happily got ready to go. In those days, we had a tiny class in a one-story building at the temple. But what’s surprising is that they managed to hold classes, rehearsals, and performances there! Now, after so many years, looking through old photographs, I never cease to wonder: how was this possible?..
In Sunday School we lived in one big and friendly family, all parents were involved in this life: someone cooked food, someone sewed suits, someone cleaned and washed dishes, someone photocopied educational materials, someone was making arrangements for pilgrimage trips. And most importantly, we were all, as they say, “in the spirit of God” - everything was done with prayer and the word of the Lord. We all understood that our salvation in the midst of an all-consuming world was only here, at the temple.
I slowly became a church member. How small child, “learned to walk.” I felt in literally words, an information hunger that urgently needed to be satisfied. I started reading Orthodox literature. The Lord sent me believers who could answer my questions, I listened to lectures, visited holy places. If earlier I associated the word “father” with the fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower,” now I tried to take my father’s blessing to start any important business. I acquired not only knowledge. My life completely changed. Truly, the Lord makes children for himself from stones...
My boy grew up, shared what he learned at school, retold interesting stories Old and New Testaments. I studied with him. Two years flew by unnoticed, the question arose - where to go to study. We wrote an application to Podolsk Lyceum No. 26 and were waiting for an invitation for testing. At the same time, I asked Ilona Stanislavovna if she knew a good, “strong” school. She replied that there is such a school in Pleskovo, plus it’s Orthodox. However, it is very difficult to enter there - a serious competitive selection among children, a conversation with parents.
For our bilingual family, where dad is Muslim, this will be very difficult. Father blessed us, because nothing is impossible for God, and we decided to try to enroll there too. I don’t want to be verbose, I’ll just say that after the first round the teachers told me that the boy had good preparation. As a result, he was admitted to Plyoskovo, and passed the test well at the Podolsk Lyceum. Of course, we did not choose and with great joy accepted the gift from the Lord.
I want to say one more thing. Before coming to Sunday school (I believe that I, like my son, came there) I was a staunch supporter of one child in the family, who should be given a decent education and upbringing. In general, my head was filled with the standard selfish thoughts of a person raised as a pioneer and a Komsomol member - and this despite the fact that I myself grew up in a large family.
Only here, in Sunday school, did I see joy with my own eyes large families, understood the true value of family and the purpose of a mother. In 2008, at the age of 33, my second son was born. Exactly a year later, Ilona Stanislavovna’s third daughter was born. Our children were born on the same day – May 20th.
Misha, the eldest, now attended Sunday school not twice a day, like a preschooler, but on Saturdays, still in the same small classroom in the old building. And only in 2009, with the help of God, a new two-story building was restored: the space and beauty were breathtaking! Our big family increased every year, now the children were not crowded. Youngest son, Matveya, I started bringing him to school from the age of three. He walked the same road as the eldest. Those parents whose first-born children attended Sunday School now also brought their second and third children. And now the time has come for graduation from the preschool department, ahead of admission to secondary school. We are trying, with the blessing of the priest, again to Pleskovo. Not as easy as in the case of Misha, but they did it! Wonderful are Your deeds, O Lord, and great and sincere gratitude to my husband. Unfortunately, he did not become a Christian, but all 22 years living together he is my like-minded person, a wonderful husband and father.
Ten years have already passed, and other parents and I still remember how it all began for us then, what we, our children, were like... When we get together, the phrases are heard every now and then: “do you remember how we watched the play, standing in the doorway?..”, “do you remember how small and cozy our refectory was?..”, “do you remember how mine said in class that a defeated demon turns into a dirty, stinking puddle?..”, “do you remember , how did a television crew come and film a film about a measured icon with the participation of our children?..” Such endless “do you remember” will be enough for us for the rest of our lives, because they became the powerful foundation on which our churching took place.
My life was divided into two halves: before coming to Shchapovo and after. Now, by the will of God, I teach children the basics of the Orthodox faith at the Klenovskaya Sunday School and attend the folk choir classes at the church, sometimes the priest blesses us to sing at the liturgy and evening service. Outside the church, without prayer, I cannot imagine my life and endlessly praise and glorify the Lord for the fact that ten years ago he opened the road to salvation for me and my family, the starting point of which was the Shchapov Sunday School and a wonderful, sympathetic and sincere person - Ilona Stanislavovna.
Marina Kholmurodova, Klenovo
In 2015, with the blessing of the rector, Archpriest Valery Voloshchuk, a school of church bell ringers was opened at our parish of St. George the Victorious. The school is led by the parish's chief bell ringer, Olga Pavlovna Shevchuk. Olga Pavlovna graduated from the Moscow school of bell ringers, theological courses at the Don Theological Seminary, bell ringing courses at the Danilov Monastery (Moscow).
The bell ringer is like a connecting link between the temple and heaven. The ringing of bells precedes prayer in the church and continues it after the end of the service. The ringing of bells - the call of Christ - helps a person open his heart and remember God, even if he is not in church.
Anyone can enroll in the school of church bell ringers. Duration of training: 2 months. After graduation, a diploma or certificate is issued.
The training program includes:
- Theoretical classes on the history of bells, selection and placement of bells on bell towers and belfries, regulations of bell ringing, etc.
- Practical exercises on the bell tower of the Church of St. John the Warrior (7 bells) and the ground belfry (9 bells).
Registration for school: +7-951-849-88-58 Shevchuk Olga Pavlovna
Before the revolution, there were no schools of bell ringers and bell ringing skills were passed on from teacher to student according to the principle “do as I do” directly in the bell tower. But during the Bolshevik hard times, churches and bell towers were destroyed, most bells - destroyed, the continuity of bell ringers - broken.
The idea of creating a unique School of Bell Ringers arose along with the beginning of the production of bells at the turn of the 80-90s of the 20th century, but, for one reason or another, its opening was postponed and the school of bell ringers was born only in the 21st century.
The founder and director of the School of Bell Ringers was the famous Moscow bell ringer, master of bell ringing - Ilya Mikhailovich Drozdikhin.
When creating the School, in drawing up the methodology, we tried to convey the continuity of bell traditions, carefully preserved by enthusiasts of the revival of bell ringing - the now deceased bell ringers of the Rostov Kremlin, the Arkhangelsk bell ringer Ivan Danilov, the bell ringer of the Novodevichy Convent Vladimir Mashkov and the senior bell ringer of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Abbot Micah (T Imofeev) , whose efforts were not in vain.
In the revival of the traditions of bell ringing, great merit belongs to the ever-memorable His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, who blessed and always supported this godly cause.
Ilya Drozdikhin's school of bell ringers is located in the Danilovsky deanery of the city of Moscow - on the territory of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Saburovo. IN separate room In the clergy house, a small belfry of 7 bells was installed on the ground floor.
For obvious reasons, the first classes cannot take place in the temple bell tower, because The first, not yet professional, ringings of novice bell ringers can interfere with the conduct of divine services, and simply irritate the surrounding residents.
The training belfry is a small set with an evangelist weighing only 80 kg; for a church belfry, of course, this is not enough, but for training in a soundproofed room it is quite enough. The suspension of the bells of the educational belfry is close to the conditions that graduates will meet in a real bell tower; it has four ringing bells - a Moscow tradition; three ringing bells and one evangelist.
In addition to in-class activities, all students are provided with unique opportunity take several excursions to the bell towers of churches and monasteries in Moscow and the Moscow region.
The School of Bell Ringers graduates 120-150 certified specialists per year. The load was distributed over time through monthly enrollment, so each of the 12 intakes trains approximately 10-12 people.
Upon completion of the School and successful completion exam, all graduates are solemnly awarded an official diploma from the School of Bell Ringers, which indicates completion of professional bell ringing education and allows the bearer of this diploma to competently carry out canonical bell ringing in churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church. The School of Ringers tries to help its graduates in every possible way, both with theoretical consultations on proper hanging of bells, equipping the bell-ringer's place, and with practical assistance. During these works, not only masters are present, but also students who, gaining experience, will be able to further help in arranging the bell tower of their temple.
In addition to liturgical bells, it has become traditional to hold various festivals; one of such events is the annual Moscow festival “Perezvon”, held on the days bright week. This festival has been held since 1999 in various churches in Moscow and this year celebrated its 10th anniversary. The festival has established itself as a holiday not only for parishioners, but also for bell ringers, who meet and exchange experiences in the church bell tower, portable belfries and at the end of the day at a round table.
Bells - prayer in sound
Moscow Bell Center at the Church of St. Nicholas in Zayaitsky operates with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus' and trains highly qualified bell ringers for Orthodox churches. Sharikov Viktor Grigorievich- head of the center.
– Viktor Grigorievich, when did the first bells appear?
– The first non-church bells appeared long before the beginning of our era. The Bible says that one of the signs of the priesthood in Israel was the bells on the priest's robe. But why did bells become one of the main attributes of Christianity? There are different opinions on this matter. There is a legend according to which around 402-405. Bishop of the city of Nola, Saint Paul the Merciful, was returning from visiting his flock, got tired and decided to rest in the field. He dreamed of an angel with field bells in his hands. There was a wonderful ringing sound coming from the bells. The bishop was so amazed by what he saw in his dream that when he came to the city of Nola, he ordered bells from the foundries that were shaped like field bells. The dream was prophetic. As the legend testifies, after the work was completed, it turned out that all the bells were a success - they sounded great. Before this, bells already existed - riveted, forged, of various shapes - square, round, cone-shaped, but they did not ring. A miracle happened. It coincided that the city of Nola, one of the large cities in the province of Compana (or Company) of the Neapolitan state, was the center of the copper smelting industry. So, thanks to God's providence, the foundries of Nola began to cast bells, which then spread throughout the world under the name “companies”.
– What composition was used to cast the bell?
- The bells were made of bronze. The composition was found quickly, as confirmed by excavations, and was largely preserved: approximately 80% copper and 20% tin. But the shape, material and manufacturing method were different. Bells can be used in different ways in ringing and installed in various places: at the entrance or inside the temple, at the refectory, in the dome of the temple, etc. The main thing is not the material or form, the main thing is the symbol, the spiritual essence and prayer.
– Are there rules about what patterns should be on the bell, what phrases?
“At first they wrote words from the Gospel, later they began to set the date of manufacture, describe in honor of what event, with whose blessing, under what king the bell was cast. From the point of view of ringing, inscriptions, patterns, and icons only worsen its quality.
– When did the first bells appear in Rus'? 
– In the 6th–7th centuries, bells sounded in all corners of Europe. Pope Sabonian issued a special decree blessing the use of bells. Several centuries passed before bells appeared in Rus'. With the adoption of Christianity in Rus' they knocked and rang only the bell. At that time, the Christian church was divided into the eastern, led by Constantinople, and the western, led by Rome. Having accepted the Greek faith, we also accepted the ringing. And in the Eastern Christian Church they only rang the bell, which existed since the end of the 3rd century. First wooden beaters appeared, then metal ones. Bells eastern church considered to belong to the Latins. Father Anthony, one of the founders of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, upon his return from the holy land of Athos, left memories in which he mentioned that the bell is rung by angelic inspiration, and the bells are rung by the Latins.
Thus, bells were not used primarily for spiritual reasons. But there was another reason: their high cost. Bronze was considered a semi-precious metal, too expensive for widespread use. However, soon bells could be seen at the cathedrals of the grand dukes, at the metropolitan and lord's cathedrals - the bells became a sign of power. Bells appeared in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (then Holy Trinity Monastery) in 1420, thirty years after the death of Sergius of Radonezh, when the relics of the saint were uncovered and the question of his canonization arose. The successor of Sergius of Radonezh, Nikon, bought two bells in honor of this event, one of which has survived to this day and is now operational, almost 600 years later. Although the monk himself believed that monastic life should be quiet and modest, but the bells are too loud and pompous.
Since the 15th century, the time of the unification of lands around the Moscow principality, stone churches have appeared everywhere, monasteries are surrounded by stone walls, special attention is paid to the solemnity of worship, the rite of worship, and Znamenny singing is created. And the bell business begins to develop. At first foreigners were invited, later, from the 17th century, domestic craftsmen appeared.
– Is the beater used today?
– For centuries, the traditions of ringing have developed against the background of the use of beats and rhythmic riveting (emphasis) on them. Therefore, the basis of Orthodox ringing lies not in melody, but in the rhythm and interaction of the timbres of bells and beats. The beater can be used not only in church bells, but also for calling people together in emergency situations.
– What is the “Russian profile” of a bell?
– “Russian profile” is a special ratio of the diameter, thickness and height of the bell, which ensures its euphony (rich timbre) and melodiousness.
– How is sound produced from a bell?
– In the old days, there was a “chain” method, in which the bell itself was swung. This method has been preserved in some monasteries in our time. But more often the “tongue” method is used, when the ringing occurs by swinging the tongue and striking it against a stationary bell. The basis of ringing is not the notes, but the euphony of each bell. It is not allowed to replace the bell ringer with a phonogram.
-What are the bells ringing for?
– The most ancient obedience of the bell is to call everyone to the temple of God, proclaiming around the words of the Holy Gospel: “Come to Me, all you who are in need and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew, ch. 11:28). There are four types of canonical bells: blagovest, bust, perezvon and trezvon.
Blagovest carries good news about the beginning of the service and is carried out with measured blows on one of the largest bells or bells, the gospel begins with three rare blows, and then there are faster measured blows.
The bell is a death knell, it is carried out by slowly striking each bell and striking from the smallest to the largest.
Chime is a sad and solemn ringing performed twice a year (on Good Friday And Holy Saturday on the day of the Lord's Death on the Cross and His free burial) each bell was struck in turn or struck from the largest to the smallest.
Trezvon - the ringing of all the bells or bells - expresses joy and triumph. The trezvon is carried out, for example, after a wedding when the newlyweds leave the church, as well as after baptism when the newly baptized leave.
– There can be several bells on the bell tower. How are the roles distributed in the bell family?
– According to a strict hierarchy, the bells are united into three groups. The biggest ones with a deep voice are evangelists. The biggest and lowest-voiced one sets the rhythm for the rest. The smallest (2–4 bells) are ringing bells. The ropes from their tongues are tied in one knot for the convenience of the bell ringer. Their voices warble. The ringing (middle) bells are more impressive. The ropes from their tongues are located on a special post, usually under the ringer’s left hand.
– Where can I learn to be a bell-ringer?
– Now there are not enough bell ringers as well as bells. The most large number The bells were lost in the 30s of the last century. But even in our time, no less die for various reasons: theft, speculation, inability to work with bells, especially ancient ones. Bronze becomes brittle over time and is easily destroyed by a strong blow. Over the past 15-20 years, we have broken half of what we got. This is the first problem. Gradually it is being solved with the help of new bell foundries and benefactors, or sponsors, as we now call them. The second problem is the bell ringers. They have enough of them. In Russia, a senior bell ringer took students and taught them using the “Do as I do” method, without methods or textbooks. And now there are bell ringers who prepare their own shifts. 
When in 1995 we decided to organize the Bell Center, the main task that confronted us was the training of bell ringers, and intensive training at that. Within three months, students must master both theory and practice. In 2005 we have an anniversary - the bell center turns 10 years old. During this time, we trained 600 bell ringers. Every year we release two courses: autumn - for Christmas and spring - for Easter. Sometimes a summer course is held. Classes are structured as follows: weekly 2 hours of theory, 3 hours of practice with a teacher and 2 hours independent work. We are able to organize intensive training due to the fact that we have two bell towers that are not connected to the temple.
– How many girls study at your school?
– Usually a fifth or a quarter of all students.
– Are there any special requirements for applicants?
– There are no special requirements, but, of course, those who want to become bell ringers must be believers and churchgoers. In church, no one will allow you to ring the bell without a blessing. In the Charter church bells states: “The ringing is carried out by a bell-ringer over whom a special prayer has been read or who has the blessing of the abbot of a temple or monastery and carries out this obedience with due responsibility.” And the second condition is the desire to learn. Sometimes they ask if it is necessary music education? No, no musical education or perfect pitch is required. All you need is a sense of rhythm. If you dance or sing a little, that's enough. In addition, the sense of rhythm develops, if only there is a desire. We have developed our own teaching methods; we have a library, videos, audio cassettes, and CDs. Our teachers have higher musical education and extensive experience working in churches. We train bell ringers for Moscow, the Moscow region and other regions.
In many places in Russia, the tradition of ringing has been preserved. There are Rostov, Pskov-Pechersk and other traditions of ringing. Now there are schools of bell ringers: in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Novo-Petrovsky Monastery. Basically, these are schools at temples. Elective classes are organized in Novosibirsk, Saratov, and Krasnodar. Their students are studying bell ringing“for self-education”, they often do not believe in God. They finish the course, and then what?
– Can a bell-ringer become a famous person? are the names of the bell ringers?
– A bell ringer is not a profession, much less a prestigious one. A bell ringer is both an obedience and a calling. Therefore, very little information has been preserved. The bell ringer is the link between the temple and heaven. Its ringing precedes prayer in the church and becomes its continuation at the end of the service.
– Can anyone climb the bell tower?
- No, only with the blessing of the abbot. Children are allowed in at Easter and Christmas. But this is very dangerous. Although, of course, the memories last a lifetime. We took a different path: we organized a museum-lecture hall in which visitors get acquainted with the history and tradition of Orthodox bell ringing and the art of bell casting. Bells are like people, each with their own story, they can also be heard at lectures. At the museum belfry, everyone has the opportunity to ring the bells, as well as hear all types of canonical ringing.