IN THE Visayan towns of the South, church bells toll out the news of what is taking place in the parish. They announce not only religious services, but also weddings and funerals. I know this for a fact because I had ranged far and wide in the Visayas and Mindanao for 10 years.
When the people hear the bells tolling with a big kalem-bang once and followed by the small bells ringing kalang, kalang, kalang, a barangay fiesta draws near. Otherwise, if the big and small bells toll fast simultaneously, then the people would know that man-made disasters like fire is at hand or a natural calamity like a tidal wave.
Likewise, the church bells toll the difference between a wedding and a funeral in a distinct way. If the bells speedily toll tikangkang-tikangkang-tikangkang, then a wedding ceremony is going on. But, if the bells slowly and sadly toll tikongkong-tikongkong-tikongkong -then, there is a dead person on the way to a burying ground.
Moreover, we are told that the church bells of 17th century England are like those in the Visayan island in tolling the news about what is happening in the community where John Donne, author and Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral was ailing with the plague that was killing people in London by the thousands.
We are also told that when John Donne heard the bell announcing death after death, he whispered, “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. In other words, the bell tolls for you and me, connoting that all of us will face death when our time is up. It is appointed for men to die once, and after that, to face judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27).
Thus, it is safe to assume that when the bell tolled for John Donne, it did not arouse dread in breathing his last. Indeed, when the bell tolls for the Christian there is no more fear of dying for it joyfully announces the resurrected Christ victory over death whose sting He removed, (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).