Minneapolis, Minn., Dec 9, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The bells will ring this Christmas at the Cathedral of St. Paul.
There was fear in September that the five bells, which needed repair, would not be ready for Christmas. But the cathedral struck a deal with the French company Paccard Bells and Chimes Foundry, which made the bells and agreed to have the repairs done in time for Christmas, reported the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
A routine inspection had found cracks in the metal yokes that hold the bells, which weigh from 1,500 pounds to more than three tons. The yokes, which weigh up to 1,000 pounds, are being repaired today.
The cost of repairs is $40,000, and fund raising is under way.
The late Msgr. Ambrose Hayden, who served as rector of the cathedral for 26 years, led a fund-raising campaign to first install the bells in the cathedral’s 150-foot-tall south bell tower in 1986.
Since then, the bells toll every quarter-hour between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and before mass.
The cathedral’s Christmas Eve festival of readings and carols at 10:45 p.m., and the midnight mass at the St. Paul Cathedral will be broadcast live on local television, KSTP-TV, Channel 5.
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