the new bells

Dear parishioners, I am writing to you with the desire to make you part of a project of capital importance for our Parish, and that will undoubtedly be a great historical event for our people.
End of the civil war, in which much of our heritage was destroyed, and that years later he slowly recovered with great sacrifice on the part of all, I want to highlight that among what was recovered were our bells from the bell tower of the Parish Temple. Set that was completed in its entirety over almost eleven years. Well, the first bell to reintegrate was called Santa Úrsula in 1940, the second called La Purísima in 1946, the third Our Lady of Mercy in 1948, and the fourth and last Saint George in 1951. That is to say, does now 83 years of the first and 72 of the last.
if we look back, in the year 2014 the Santa Úrsula bell broke longitudinally due to lack of the necessary maintenance and care. What caused a small group of young people to arise spontaneously in our town with the concern that the legacy of our ancestors would not continue to deteriorate due to lack of care. And his initial interest was focused on the care of our bells. A small group apart from the maintenance of our heritage aspired to found in our locality the "Gremi Bellaners de Parróquia Mare de Déu de la Misericordia de Banyeres de Mariola".
They went to great lengths to keep the bell tower in top condition, with hard days of work to clean and collect all the waste from the companies and operators who over the years had carried out maintenance work on the electrical installations, the montages for television and radio broadcasts of our social life, etc. And they were involved in preventing the springs and mechanisms of the bells from suffering breakdowns, that could continue causing breaks in the bells as had already happened with the Santa Úrsula.
Hence, in recent years in festive celebrations only three of the four existing bells ring, and it is only at burials and funerals when the four o'clock strike. Being able to hear the detuning that the broken bell causes in the ensemble.
But the will of this small group of neighbors was cut short and led to their disappearance due to disappointment at the lack of support. But not before trying to get some entities, how the Confraria de Sant Jordi assumed the missing piece to complete its commitment of service to our people. Since over the last few years they have been incorporating into their obligations, the transept and altar of the Parochial Temple, the Hermitage of Saint George, the images, the processional platforms and the float, etc. They only needed to assume the Bell of San Jorge. But these attempts to involve our local entities did not bear any fruit.
Still despite this, the concern for our bells continues to be present in our neighbors, and in the last months, There have been a few members of the Cofradía del Corazón de Jesús y del Santísimo Sacramento del Altar together with some volunteers who have spontaneously made our bells ring manually in important events.
And Divine Providence acted and wanted that, after months of study and work, last 28 May 2021 the current directive of the Confraternity of Sant Jordi, start his project to incorporate the renovation of the bell of San Jorge into his tasks of service to our community.
But building a new bell and keeping a broken one was not a reasonable approach for our bell tower, much less for our town.. Because if our bells already had a very metallic sound and without sound harmony, due to the low quality of the material used previously and its wear in the area hit by the clappers, and by the iron counterweight. We believe that this hodgepodge of sounds should not be offered to Banyeres de Mariola.
Confraria de San Jorge could carry out their project that excites them so much, and more when they are about to conclude their term in charge of it, but expanding it so that our town and our parish could enjoy the best set of four new bells and with the best possible sound harmonization that we could achieve. Since our bells accompany us to all the neighbors throughout our lives and in all our personal events, family and local.
The new bells will be cast in high quality new bronze. We recover the traditional Valencian wooden counterweight. And to make the whole more harmonious, the expert Dutch campanologist Gideon Bodden has designed the profile and calculated the dimension of the new bells.. The foundry will be carried out by Abel Portilla, one of the best bell casters in all of Europe with international fame, who has his workshop in the Cantabrian town of Gajano. The disassembly work of our hoods and the assembly of the new ones, adjustment and modernization of turning mechanisms, ringing, badass, and the construction of the wooden counterweights will be carried out by the company Electro Recamp from the neighboring town of Atzeneta d'Albaida. And the company Grúas Rigar de Valencia will be in charge of the difficult task of lowering and raising the bells.
The new bells and their dedication have been adapted to our current festive reality, both parochial and local. For this reason the main bell will continue to be called Mare de Déu de la Misericòrdia (1.142 kg), the second will continue to be that of Sant Jordi (571 kg), the third ceases to be called Santa Úrsula and is renamed Santa María Magdalena to give greater prominence and importance to our patron saint (340 kg) and the smallest is no longer La Purísima and will now be called Santa Lucía (240 kg) due to the importance and great festive roots that this celebration has in our town.
Except for last minute unforeseen events, the current hoods will be dismantled at the end of February or beginning of March. And we plan to mount the new bells on Sunday 16 of April, on the eve of our local holidays. And that they can be officially released the following week during our patron saint festivities in honor of San Jorge Mártir.
further, We consider that we have to be very respectful with the old bells, because they are part of everyone's heritage, and that our elders with great sacrifice and effort managed to leave us. These will be located in the municipal cemetery, for what, in the Eucharistic celebrations of each 25 of April, Saint Christ Day, sound in remembrance and homage to our ancestors along with our traditional arquebus salutes, and of the 1 of November, All Saints' Day, Please join our prayers for all our deceased relatives..
So far the exhibition of this magnificent project for our parish and our town.
And finally, I would like to tell you that the project was presented last January to Mr.. Mayor, fully to your liking. And confirming days later the full support of our consistory to the same. To which the Confraria de Sant Jordi have also unconditionally joined, the Brotherhood of Santa Lucía and the Brotherhood of Santa María Magdalena who assume the commitment that the bells of their devotions become a reality.
Our desire is that this project be a project of the entire Parish and the entire town. Therefore, we invite you to collaborate with your contributions to be able to cover the cost of the bells., and especially the main Bell, Mother of God of Mercy, which is the one that represents all the people of Banyeres de Mariola.
Because, apart from the contributions that can be made personally to a server to maintain their confidentiality, Two mailboxes will be available from today at the entrance of the Parish Temple so that you can make your donations.
I want to thank you in advance for your invaluable collaboration in this project that benefits us and represents all of us..
THANK YOU SO MUCH.

 

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Belfry of the Our Lady of Mercy Parish Temple.

 

Bell Our Lady of Mercy.

 

 

Saint George bell.

 

Saint Ursula Bell.

 

The Immaculate Bell.

 

 

Saint George bell.