more articles like this

Mission Bells
updated: Sep 24, 2012, 9:13 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

What is happening? Part of the charm of living within hearing distance of the Mission is the 6 am clanging of the bells. Haven't heard them lately and I'm awake.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 323547	2012-09-24 09:26 AM
They're working. Sometimes the fog will muffle them, however. I'm only about a block away and love to wake up to the call of the bells.
COMMENT 323549	2012-09-24 09:28 AM
Too loud, I complained along with our neighbors, they said they would turn them down. Not everyone likes the racket.
COMMENT 323550	2012-09-24 09:33 AM
I grew up 2 blocks from the mission and my daily WEEKDAY goal was to be up in time to hear them. I miss that!
COMMENT 323556	2012-09-24 09:45 AM
You might be able to hear the Call To Prayer five times a day soon!
EDHAT ONLINE	2012-09-24 09:55 AM
bell story - link video
COMMENT 323576	2012-09-24 10:15 AM
Love the beautiful sound of the bells. I just can't believe people who move into the Mission neighborhood and complain about the bells.....like moving next to a school and complaining about the noise of playing children, or moving under the flight path at the airport and complaining about the plane noise. I too am wondering how the neighbors in Goleta are going to handle the call to prayer.....that's a different story since the neighborhood was there before the mosque.
COMMENT 323580	2012-09-24 10:21 AM
The Christian churches (Catholic, Orthodox) have prayers at specific times too. I think that there are nine of them. They used to be signalled by bells. You can look it up under "Divine Office". The Call to Prayer is beautiful, especially when done by a live person instead of a recording. It is good to hear the people summoned to honor God!
COMMENT 323584	2012-09-24 10:27 AM
I recently moved to this area and would like to know who to complain to to completely silence this auditory nuisance.
COMMENT 323592P	2012-09-24 10:55 AM
The sound of the bells at our Santa Barbara Mission i-s charming and welcome, even, though I'm an atheist neighbor of this area.
COMMENT 323599P	2012-09-24 11:12 AM
I'm about as atheistic as one can get but I still love hearing the bells. I've lived in Mission Canyon 44 years next month and the bells are part of the special ambiance of the area. My goodness, it's less than a minute a couple times a day and now and then for weddings and funerals.
COMMENT 323602	2012-09-24 11:20 AM
I'd rather hear the mission bells than multiple garbage trucks roll by Wednesday morning using the lifting arm to dump the trash. That is really annoying after the truck makes the 2nd pass the other way down the street.
COMMENT 323612	2012-09-24 11:48 AM
I am blown away that people are complaining about the mission bells. They have been ringing there daily forever. Why would you choose to live near the mission if you can't stand the sound of the bells? They aren't even that loud, certainly not loud enough to wake you up if you're asleep.
COMMENT 323614P	2012-09-24 12:09 PM
You will not be hearing the call to prayer 5 times a day in Goleta. Read the Independent article about the proposed Muslim center. There will be no minaret and no call to prayers. And, no, I am not Muslim. Personally, I am opposed to organized religion of all stripes. But, I do like the sound of the bells at the Mission. Also, having spent a little time in Turkey, I liked the sound of the call to prayer too.
COMMENT 323615	2012-09-24 12:55 PM
I live near the Catholic church in Montecito. The bells in the morning add immeasurably to the area's charm. They remind me of holidaying in Tuscany!
COMMENT 323644	2012-09-24 03:14 PM
612: I'm guessing the comments above regarding the "noise" are in jest (at least 584 is - read the last 5 words again, pure snark; 549 could go either way). And if they aren't, I'm in your boat - get over it. It's been doing that forever, and everyone nearby knows it. Not like it's a horrible noise, either. I'm another atheist who loves hearing them and I don't know why a "call to prayer" would be any different. I love the courthouse chimes, too. Like the OP I don't always hear them - the fog definitely muffled them this morning, as I was up at 6. I'm near Oak Park/SBCH. Side story: my friend was visiting and was freaked out by the choppers Sat night (she didn't know about the helipad, thought the cops were looking for someone) - everyone in our house who normally lives there slept right through it. So I find it hard to believe 6am bells chiming are disrupting anyone's life if the locals are sleeping through the choppers after a few months.
COMMENT 323733P	2012-09-24 06:06 PM
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, OP here - I don't need a Miracle Ear after all. Mission bells rang clearly tonight.
SUMMERTIME	2012-09-24 07:39 PM
What a shame - complaining about the Mission bells, so sad. I hope the neighbors that complained are not my neighbors - Puesta Del Sol & Miradero Ln....
FLICKA	2012-09-25 09:48 AM
The Mission bells have not been ringing forever. The Mission wasn't built until 1786, just since then. Why would anyone choose to live nearby and then complain? There are plenty of places to live in SB out of hearing distance.
COMMENT 323904	2012-09-25 10:10 AM
What a shame- complaining about the noise from the trash truck. That sound reminds me that we are at the pinnacle of our advancement as a modern society, where we can consume at will and leave our trash for others to come pick up and store for centuries in a local canyon. In other words, music to my ears.
AUNTIE S.	2012-09-25 12:43 PM
I can't agree more with you, 576. Why move someplace (any place) then complain about the environment around you? I used to live on E. Mission St. and loved waking to the bells. Complainers - move someplace else - say, next to the railroad track(?)
ACF	2012-09-25 06:28 PM
I live very close and I've heard them recently.
COMMENT 325998P	2012-09-29 04:32 PM
We live a couple blocks away and LOVE the bells!! You've got to be kidding me if you want to get rid of them.....

45% of comments on this page were made by Edhat Community Members.

*** 2 comments were deleted from this thread by the Edhat Board Nanny for violating Edhat Comments Board policy. Click Here to see them.