Saint Patrick's Day Tower Bells
Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 11:58 a.m.
Trinity United Methodist Church, 137 Main St., Montpelier, Vermont

Michael Loris plays the unrestored 1908 ten-bell chime and the 1872 bass (or bourdon) bell 

A Solemn Start
1. Ukraine Has Not Perished - The Ukrainian national anthem, followed by tolling 12 o'clock noon on the heaviest bell (2,552 lb.), celebrating its 150th birthday this year.

Traditional Tunes
2. Jim Jones (Australian folk tune). "Come and listen for a moment, lads, and hear me tell my tale, / how across the sea from England I was condemned to sail. / Well, the jury found me guilty and then the judge, says he, / 'Oh for life I'm sending you, Jim Jones, across the stormy sea. / But take a tip before you ship to join the iron gang, / Don't get too gay in Botany Bay or else you'll surely hang. / Or else, you'll surely hang', says he, 'and after that, Jim Jones, / oh, it's high upon the gallows tree the crows will pick your bones.'" His crime? Poaching.
3. An Irish Lullaby
4. Bedlam Boys
5. Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral (Irish Lullaby)
6. Irish Girl
7. When Irish Eyes are Smiling
8. The Last Rose of Summer
9. That Tumble-down Shack in Athlone
10. Saint Patrick's Day (Jig)
11. Irish Washerwoman (Jig medley)
12. Clancy Lowered the Boom
13. Saint Patrick's An Dro
14. Macnamara's Band
15. Danny Boy
16. Matt Casey Formed a Social Club (The girl with the strawberry curl)

A Solemn Closing
17. Healing Bells - The final piece was written in 2020 by two Dutch composers; it is based on the Ukrainian folk song of the same name. The bells alternate between sad (and being sick with Covid) and making crashing noises symbolizing the destruction of the virus. It ends quietly, sounding the death knell of the pandemic.

Additional bell recitals planned for 2022 include Palm, Easter, and Pentecost Sundays; Memorial Day, Independence Day, foliage season (TBA), Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and for the 12th consecutive year, the Advent and Christmas seasons.

(photo by Amanda Frank, www.unsplash.com)
​
This year’s Ash Wednesday service with imposition of ashes and communion will be both in-person and online (TUMC’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TrinityUMCMontpelier)
The liturgy for the service is adapted from Thom Shuman’s “You Mark Us as Your Own: An Ash Wednesday evening service in a time of pandemic” published by Wild Goose Publications, www.ionabooks.com