BROOKLINE, Mass. — A little before noon Wednesday, Father Jonathan Gaspar climbs a winding staircase to the loft of St. Mary of the Assumption Church. It is one of many parishes across the state and country participating in a bell-ringing tribute to those who died of COVID-19 this year.
Gaspar, pastor of the Brookline parish for the past couple of years, spills the beans on a secret he’s not keeping -- but something many might not want to hear. St. Mary of the Assumption has no bells. It has a computer -- that plays bell-like sounds.
That is actually pretty par-for-the-course with churches these days, as digitized versions of bells cost far less, and require less maintenance -- not to mention less muscle-power to operate. With one finger, Gaspar demonstrates what will be playing at noon: a funeral toll.
Which consists of a single, somber C-noted gong, repeated every 10 seconds or so.
The computer offers a five and ten-minute version of the toll. With 12,000 Covid deaths in Massachusetts and more than 330,000 nationwide, one could argue there isn’t a funeral toll long enough for the noon tribute.
Gaspar programs in 10 minutes.
“Bells are rung in our churches to remind people that God is present even in the midst of suffering,” Gaspar said. “In the midst of a pandemic you have people praying for the lives who have been lost and for their families.”
Gaspar controls the bells using a remote. At the appointed hour, he triggers the program and the tribute begins. It is stark and sobering -- as is the scene across the street from the church where residents wait in the cold at a COVID-19 testing site.
It is a reminder the virus still haunts us.
Massachusetts seems certain to end the month of December with more than 350,000 cases of COVID-19 -- with more than 125,000 new cases added this month alone. A number made even more shocking considering it took the first 200 days of the pandemic for the state to reach its first 125,000 cases, according to the Department of Public Health.
One of those who got infected in those early days was Ty Moore, who works near St. Mary of the Assumption Church.
“I’d heard word that one of my friends I worked out with had it, so then my taste and smell went away,” Moore recalled of his illness last September.
He also suffered body aches and coughing -- but eventually recovered.
“It’s always on your mind because it’s the life we live now,” Moore said. “It’s just part of living. So you walk out of the house and it used to be wallet, keys, phone. Now it’s wallet, keys, phone, mask.”
And, apparently... it’s bells. Of remembrance.
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