St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Church Ann Arbor, MI Founded 1981 ~ A Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad The Bells of St. Vladimir's

St. Vladimir's has at present six bells.  Five of these bells comprise a set struck in Belarus in 2003 especially for our parish and generously donated by one of our kind parishioners.  These five bells make up a musical chord.  The sixth of these bells adds to the chord as well, but was struck in Russia before the Revolution, and thus holds a place of special significance in our bell tower and for our parish.  Our bell tower (including the cupola) was constructed in traditional Russian style by our St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco Brotherhood.

The bell is known as the "singing icon" of the Russian Orthodox Church, and is integral to Russian Orthodox worship.  Bells are rung at the most spiritually and theologically significant portions of the Divine Services, both joyous and sorrowful.

We have recently (December 2004) ordered a seventh bell which will be our "Blagovest" - the bell of Good News, so called because it marks the beginning of all the Divine Services.  This bell will add to the musical chord of our bell tower and is the largest bell (approximately 200 lbs.) that we can fit in our bell tower.  This bell will complete our set of bells for the time being (until we build a bigger church that will necessitate bigger bells!) and was donated to the parish by our St. Xenia Sisterhood, St. John Brotherhood, St. Herman Youth Group, and several anonymous and generous donors.  The Blagovest bell is to be struck in the same foundry as our 5-bell set, and will be dedicated to the Mother of God.  The opportunity to help pay for this largest bell still exists - please contact our Treasurer, Zhanna Skalitzky, if you are interested in helping purchase this important and historically significant bell. 

St. Vladimir's has two principle "Zvonari", or bell ringers: Alexander Poplavsky and Lukas Meyer.  Neither of these young gentlemen resembles the infamous bell ringer Quasimodo in any way except for their love of bell ringing!  We thank them (as well as the others who occasionally ring the bells when the Zvonari are not present) for their diligence in beautifying the Divine Services of our parish.  This page is meant to be a resource for our bell ringers in addition to the information provided above for our parishioners.  Please see the links below for more information on Russian Orthodox bells and bell ringing.  If you would like to learn to ring the bells at St. Vladimir's please contact Fr. Gregory.

Blagovest Bells - St. Vladimir's Bell Supplier
Everything you wanted to know about bells and more

Complete Typikon of Belling Ringing of the Russian Orthodox Church
How and when to ring bells for the Divine Services