Bells

Life in rural France is measured by church bells. From my bed at Laury's I could hear the hours and half hours chimed from two different village churches along the Lot. Last Saturday evening I heard bells coming from a different direction calling the villagers of Cadrieu to Mass. Their itinerant priest celebrates Mass the last Saturday of every month, and the bells ring to remind them..."This is the day...come!" In Conques I heard the bells persistently calling the Brothers to church for 7:30am matins and 7:30pm vespers. Watching them hurry into the church, their long white robes flapping wildly over their sandaled feet made me hurry as well. Slipping quietly into a back pew, my heart was thrilled by the sweet tenor voice that began to sing the liturgy the moment the bells became quiet. The bells that chime in my photo are from the church in the tiny village of Cenevieres. Protected by its 12th century chateau, the church and its villagers have been marking time, praising God, celebrating Holy Eucharist, giving thanks for births, marriages, and saints, and mourning deaths to the rhythm of these bells for centuries. Worshiping God and measuring life...always reminded by the bells.