Loading...Every year at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School the “Chocolate Bells” are rung at 11:11 a.m. on Armistice Day, a yearly remembrance of peace and a reminder of the unusual way the bells in the St. Andrew’s Chapel came from New Jersey to Tennessee more than 90 years ago. This year is especially significant as the bells will ring at 11:11 on 11/11/11!
Before World War I ended, the women in a small Episcopal church inMorristown,N.J., began collecting money to send chocolates to American soldiers overseas. When the war ended, they decided to allocate the balance of their “War Time Chocolate Fund” to some other worthy cause. Through one of their parishioners, they heard about St. Andrew’s School, an Episcopal boarding school inSewanee,Tenn., which had recently completed building a chapel but lacked money for bells in the belltower. The churchwomen sent the money for three bells as an Armistice Thanksgiving and asked that the bells be dedicated to three archangels— Uriel, Raphael, and Michael. In return, the school agreed to ring the bells for 11 minutes on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at 11:11 a.m. every year in memory of those who died in World War I and as a prayer for peace. This is the 91st year the bells have rung out over the fields and forests of the 550-acre mountaintop campus on this day of celebration.
When Armistice Day arrives, students gather to meet at the appointed hour and walk to the chapel for the ceremonial ringing. International students are often a part of the group, and they are always intrigued with the story. Over the years many of the school’s German exchange students have been among the ringers.
Built in 1913, the picturesque St. Andrew’s Chapel is the institution’s oldest extant structure and dates to the earliest days of the school. Designed by a prominentPhiladelphia,Pennsylvaniaarchitect who based his concept on thePresidioChurchinMonterrey,California, the edifice is a striking example of the Spanish mission style of architecture rarely found in this part ofTennessee. The focal point of the chapel’s interior is the historic reredos, an ornamental wood screen located behind the altar. The walnut and carved-oak reredos features hand-painted panels depicting 12 Christian saints encircling a portrait of the Madonna and child. The reredos is a copy of the altarpiece painted by the Italian painter Cario Crivelli for the San Domenico Chapel inAscoli Picenoin east centralItaly. The original is now in the National Gallery inLondon,England.
For more information about St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School visit //www.sasweb.org.
Picture: The St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Chapel in Sewanee, Tenn. is home to the “Chocolate Bells,” purchased at the end of World War I with money originally raised to send chocolate to American GIs serving overseas. Students Marianne Sanders and Tinashe Zimbwa ring the bells on Armistice Day 2010.
ABOUT ST. ANDREW’S-SEWANEE SCHOOL: St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School is a college preparatory boarding and day school inSewanee,Tenn.The school’s 550-acre woodland campus inSewanee,Tenn., serves as both learning lab and recreational center for 250+ students from around the world.
