Bells have called Christians to worship since the fifth century when St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, a city near Naples, Italy, used them to summon monks to Mass.

By 1311, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris, had eight bells in its north tower. Each bell was named, including Gilbert, Guillaum and Marie. The most famous named bell in the world? That would be “Big Ben,” the great bell in the clock tower of the British Parliament, in London.

Locally, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, dedicated January 6, 1901, was built with a bell tower, but bells were never installed, probably due to cost. In that era a finely-struck bronze bell, the preferred material, could easily have cost $2,000, or about $75,000 today. With proper care, bronze church bells can last hundreds, even a thousand years.

Modern technology, in the form of electronically-reproduced bell sounds finally allowed “the bells of St. Thomas” to ring sometime in the late 1980s or early ’90s. A large-scale renovation of the church in recent years saw the electronic system disconnected and it fell out of use.

Last fall, Sally and Pat Kirk, St. Thomas Aquinas parishioners, headed up an effort to return the bells to service. The original electronic carillon was shipped back to the manufacturer, refurbished, and put back in service, using speakers in the bell tower to project the sound.

The New Testament describes many angelic apparitions, including the one in which the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, saying, “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.”

This story is the basis for the Angelus, a prayer telling the story of the incarnation. “Angelus” is Latin for angel and the first word of the prayer, hence its name.

The restored bells remind the faithful to pray the Angelus three times daily, at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m., a tradition dating back to 12th century Italy. In addition, a peal of bells is sounded five minutes before the start of Mass on Saturday and Sunday.

New technology, using a smartphone app, now allows those who prefer to hear the Mass in Spanish, to do so, even though it’s said in English. Worshipers must have a smartphone and either head phones or ear pods. To use the service, first connect to the church wi-fi, connect headphones to your phone and scan a QR code to open the app. Then select a preferred language.

It’s also possible to simply follow along with closed captioning.

At present, the translation service, provided by Chicago-based Interprenet, is available at the weekly 10 a.m. Sunday Mass. There is also a Mass at noon the first Saturday of every month, said live by a Spanish-speaking priest. The demand for Mass in Spanish is growing in central Iowa as more residents speak Spanish as a first language.

Unete a nosotras para la Misa Catholica en Espanol!

Santo Tomas de Aquino, Webster City, Iowa

Todo lo que se necesita es su telefono yauriculares. O simplemente puedes seguirlo en tu telefono con subtitulos. Siga la guia del usuario para activar el servicio religioso.

Horarios de Misa: 1er domingo del mes a las 12 pm y otros domingos a las 10:00 h