Why the bells rang at 7.30pm all over France tonight

St Jean de Sixt church

For those of us living in France, village church bells are part of every day life. Mine start at 8am and chime every half hour until 10pm. On Sunday mornings, we have the ‘get to church’ melodic bells at 8.30. At midday and 7pm, the extra-long bells tell everyone to stop working for lunch or dinner. Confusingly, the wedding and funeral bells sound the same as the stop working bells.

Tonight, the bells rang out for ten minutes from 7.30pm on the dot for a completely different reason. Today is l’Annonciation on the Christian calendar, nine months before Christmas.

The bells normally don’t ring out for l’Annonciation, but this year is an exception. People, regardless of religion, are invited to put a candle in their window, and spend a moment thinking of those most affected by the Covid-19 outbreak — or to simply feel the solidarity of the French population through the church bells during this extraordinary moment in our lives.

Since church-goers are not currently allowed to go to church, it also gives them a chance to pray from home at the same time as the rest of their congregation.

The date also signifies the arrival of light in the darkness and represents hope. Regardless of faith, we probably all appreciate that sentiment right now.

And just half an hour later, villagers here in Saint-Jean-de-Sixt and in many other villages all over France, clang pots, clap and blow horns in support of the medical staff looking after the ill. Unlike tonight’s exceptional church bells, this has been a nightly event for the past week and looks set to continue for some time yet.

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I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.