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'''Bells''' are a distinctive part of Orthodox Christian divine services. Bells are used for a number of purposes throughout the liturgical cycle, such as a summons for the faithful to divine services and as an announcement to those not present in [[church]] of specific moments in the services.
In Orthodox church services bells are used at specific times during the services. Bell ringing is used to announce and summons the faithful to divine services, to express the joy of the divine services of the Church, and for those not present at the services announce the times of important moments in the services. Often the tolling of a bell is used to announce the death of important church and civil personalities.
In settings not pertaining to [[church]] services, bells are used to signal special occasions and announce assembly of faithful and citizens. In [[monasticism|monastic]] settings bells may be used each day to awaken the [[monk]]s and signal the daily routine of [[monastery|monasteries]]. Also, ringing of bells had been used often to alert inhabitants of towns and cities of approaching armies and attackers. A storied example of such a use is the large bell at St [[St. Sophia Cathedral (Novgorod)|Sophia Cathedral]] in [[Novgorod]], Russia that was used to warn of the approach of Ivan the Terrible’s army to the city. Angry at its use the tyrant had the bell punished by having one of the ears, used to hang the bell, cut off so that it could no longer be hung and rung.
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