Peace
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Updated
February 20, 2008
On the twelfth of September 1683, the Turkish army was finally turned away from
the city of Vienna. Among the things they left behind were the cannons with
which they had bombarded the city through the long siege. The people of Vienna
decided that those cannons could be put to a better use. So they melted them
down and used the metal to cast a great bell. Then they mounted that enormous
bell in the tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral in the heart of the city.
It rang for more than two hundred years calling people to the worship of God. The cannons of war became a bell of peace. It was a unique and dramatic way of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
It rang for more than two hundred years calling people to the worship of God. The cannons of war became a bell of peace. It was a unique and dramatic way of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.