After spending 78 years in the U.S. the Danilov bells have returned home to their monastery in Moscow. At a special ceremony held on Friday the bells were blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Aleksy II.

Top state and Russian Orthodox Church officials were present at the ceremony, including President Dmitry Medvedev.

Thousands of worshipers also turned out. Patriarch Aleksy II blessed the bells and after that the Danilov monastery’s chief bell ringer, Father Roman, was able to ring the bell.

“Here on the ground their sound is different. They’ll ring much better once up in their original belfry. But still it is joy and tears for me,” said archdeacon Roman, chief bell ringer at the Danilov monastery.

It was a rainy day in Moscow but the weather couldn’t spoil the beautiful and emotional ceremony. Many people, who watched the event, had tears on their eyes.
 
In 1930 all eighteen bells were sold and taken to Harvard University in the U.S.

“We’ve been waiting for this day with prayers and hope for years and decades. Now this moment has come,” Patriarch Aleksy II said.

The college has received replicas in return for the originals. A delegation from Harvard has traveled to Moscow to wish the bells well, and the monastery now plans to teach Harvard students the art of bell ringing.

“It takes people to ring bells and to maintain the tradition of bell ringing. I think it’s very important that these traditions and these musical techniques be continued,” said Benjamin Rapoport, head bell ringer at Harvard University.

On their return home the Danilov bells have passed through the cities of Novgorod, Tver, and Saint Petersburg.

To read RT's feature series on the Homecoming of the Danilov Bells, please follow the link.