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unusual facts about Altar bell


Sanctus bell

The small hand-held Altar bell (or bells) which have colloquially assumed the same name.


Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

That it is a religious allegory of Catholicism, with bells representing the sanctus bells, the cockleshells the badges of the pilgrims to the shrine of Saint James in Spain (Santiago de Compostela) and pretty maids are nuns, but even within this strand of thought there are differences of opinion as to whether it is lament for the reinstatement of Catholicism or for its persecution.


see also