A tintinnabulum (roughly "little bell" in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

) is a

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

mounted on a pole, placed in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

to signify the church's link with the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. It consists of a small gold bell within a golden frame crowned with the papal tiara and Keys of Heaven. If the Pope were to say Mass within the

, the tintinnabulum would be used to lead the very special

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

down the shrine's aisle. However, these symbols are not stipulated in the 1989

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

directives.

Background

The tintinnabulum is one of the three physical signs that indicate that a church is a lesser basilica. The other two signs are the

umbraculum The umbraculum ( it, ombrellone, "big umbrella", in basilicas also conopaeum) is a historic piece of the papal regalia and insignia, once used on a daily basis to provide shade for the pope (Galbreath, 27). Also known as the pavilion, in modern ...

(conopaeum) and a display of the papal symbol. In the Middle Ages it served the practical function of alerting the people of Rome to the approach of the Pope during papal processions. The word is attested in the ''

Appendix Probi The ''Appendix Probi'' ("Probus' Appendix") is the conventional name for a series of five documents believed to have been copied in the seventh or eighth century in Bobbio, Italy. Its name derives from the fact that the documents were found atta ...

'' as "tintinabulum", castigated by the author as an incorrect

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...

form of the Classical "tintinaculum".

Gallery

Tintinnabulum_san_francisco.jpg, Tintinnabulum in the Basilica of San Francisco

References

External links

Items of Papal Significance

Church's 'rich history' reflected in insignia
Bells (percussion) Early musical instruments Basilicas (Catholic Church) {{catholicism-stub

Background

Gallery

Further reading

References

External links