When I was a little kid I used to listen to the shortwave radio tuned to WWV, the National Bureau of Standards time channel. The clock would tick, and then go bong…bong…bong… bong… bong…. I found it fascinating to hear something from so far away in one direction, and hear the regular tick and know that that was the exact time as measured in another direction, across the Atlantic at Greenwich.
A reader alerted me to this very cool use of technology for the sake of the New Evangelization.
I wanted to tell you a little about a project we’ve been working on in our local parish that, I think, is unusual and hits direct at the call for the New Evangelization that the Holy Father has been talking about.
We have an old church bell that we’ve updated to ring via modern technology. It uses an atomic clock for accuracy, a GPS system to verify the time zone it is located in, and then …
Every time it rings … be it the Angelus, the hours of the day, a funeral toll, or the De Profundis at the end of the day … the bell posts to Twitter, Facebook, and a blog. [This is very cool. Sorry… do people still say "cool"?]
- The site for the bell is just beginning
- Twitter is http://twitter.com/StLandryBell
- Facebook is http://facebook.com/StLandryBell
- And the blog is at http://stlandrybell.blogspot.com/
Our bell says “bong” or sometimes “BONG”, mostly.
This morning’s local newspaper has an article on it here.
A regional magazine is scheduled to release an article on it in the next week.
We included a nice insert in our parish bulletin to teach folks how to return to the Angelus prayer, the Regina Caeli, the De Profundis, and the Canticle of Simeon here.
The bell is going back to its original mission, which is to call people from their daily lives, to call them to prayer, but now when it rings, it is ringing worldwide.
I thought you might find this an interesting fusion of high technology … atomic clocks, GPS, computers, social networking, the internet … and the traditional prayers … Angelus, Regina Caeli, De Profundis, Canticle of Simeon … and a 98 year old bell.
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