Familiar ring: Old church bell soon coming back to St. Edward in Ashland

Linda Hall
·4 min read
This is a rendering of what the bell at St. Edward Church in Ashland will look like when erected sometime after Jan. 1.
This is a rendering of what the bell at St. Edward Church in Ashland will look like when erected sometime after Jan. 1.

ASHLAND − The Rev. Rod Kreidler has become somewhat of an expert on bells — the kind that ring from church belfries.

The St. Edward Catholic Church parish priest is particularly interested in the bell that will be installed in a free-standing tower on the church's lawn.

It won't be sounding on Christmas morning this year. And it's not likely to ring in the new year.

While the new bell has been a source of great anticipation this holiday season, it is not expected to be installed until sometime after Jan. 1. The church was waiting for a city permit to be finalized, leaving little time to get the bell in place before the holiday.

Churches have used bells for centuries

In promoting the placement of the bell at St. Edward, Kreidler traced the use of bells in a church setting back to the fifth century.

While he discovered a lot about bells in general, the individual history of the St. Edward bell proved to be a bit more elusive.

The original church was purchased from Old Hopewell Presbyterian in 1864. In several building changes over the years since the founding of St. Edward, Kreidler can affirm two things.

The bell from the old St. Edward Church will be placed in a free-standing tower on the Pleasant Street side of the church.
The bell from the old St. Edward Church will be placed in a free-standing tower on the Pleasant Street side of the church.

The bell was manufactured in 1924 by the Vanduzen bell foundry in Cincinnati; and by 1945, someone in Ashland acquired it.

Records of it were destroyed in a flood at the foundry, Kreidler said, and extensive examination of available documentation has so far turned up nothing.

When the new church was built in 2000, the bell was put into storage.

The old St. Edward Church is demolished in this October 2002 photo. The church bell that was saved from the cupola will be placed in a free-standing tower next to the church.
The old St. Edward Church is demolished in this October 2002 photo. The church bell that was saved from the cupola will be placed in a free-standing tower next to the church.

Kreidler, who came to St. Edward in 2010, wanted it brought back to life and made operational once again.

"I didn't like seeing it sitting on the ground," he said. "It should be rung."

Kreidler describes the St. Edward bell as a striker with a slightly different sound from a swing bell.

The clapper inside hits the bell, which stays stationary while the clapper moves, he said.

It's a distinction 99% of people wouldn't recognize, but it's just one of the things his study of bells has taught him.

In their long church history, bells served as an important part of the community, he said, alerting people to different events — funerals, weddings, even fires — based on a certain way of ringing them.

Bells were also rung as "a call to prayer and a way to bring us into prayer," Kreidler said.

The church served as the center of the community and kept the time.

"Along the way it became a tradition to name the bell," he said. "They used to call it baptizing the bell; now they call it blessing the bell."

Typically, a bell is named after a saint.

St. Edward Church at 501 Cottage St. will be installing its old bell in a free-standing tower on the church lawn.
St. Edward Church at 501 Cottage St. will be installing its old bell in a free-standing tower on the church lawn.

Bell symbolizes that life is much more than daily routines

The origin of the St. Edward bell isn't the only unknown surrounding it. Neither could any information about its name be found in the church's archives, and it hadn't been inscribed.

Kreidler said the name chosen — Mary, our Lady of Lourdes — is being given to the bell in honor of the church's former priest of 30 years, the Rev. James Cassidy, who had a great devotion to the saint, Kreidler said.

Kreidler looks forward to proclaiming the name of the bell and sprinkling it with holy water in an assemblage of St. Edward School students, parishioners and guests.

Kreidler's hope for the addition of the bell to St. Edward Church and to the community of Ashland is that it will function as a reminder that life consists of so much more than its daily routines.

"It's a piece that's needed in our community," he said, commenting on the bell's sacred context in the church setting. "There is a call for holiness, a holy call for sanctimony that we need to bring to our community."

The specific ways the historic bell will be used at St. Edward are still being decided, but it will certainly play a role in signaling Mass, calling parishioners to prayer and celebrating special occasions, Kreidler said.

He also would like it to be part of the church's Angelus prayer.

Establishing the bell at St. Edward is part of a larger capital campaign, he said, encompassing replacing the roof of the church and windows at St. Edward School.

A parishioner donated the $79,000 cost of the bell portion of improvements.

"It's a nice piece of history," Kreidler said. "I'm big on keeping history and keeping that memory."

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Old bell soon coming back to St. Edward Catholic Church in Ashland