The question isn't for whom the bell has tolled shortly before midnight in downtown Mount Pleasant, but why.

One of three bells in the tower of the Sacred Heart Catholic church in this central Michigan community rang, without human provocation, last Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, usually between 11:30 and 11:40 p.m.

"One woman said it was wonderful, the most peaceful sound she's ever heard. Others were not so happy about having to listen to a bell in the night," explained Parish Deacon Jim Damitio, who also is an accounting professor at nearby Central Michigan University.

After the first night, church authorities thought they had turned off electricity to the automated bell-ringing system, but the lone bell rang again. Finally, the circuit breakers were completely pulled and the bell fell silent.

Dispatchers at Isabella County's central emergency call center said they took a "handful," of calls on all three nights, notifying the church each time. A dispatcher said callers weren't irate, just bewildered.

"Now, members of the parish are asking why the bells didn't ring (on Sunday). We are hoping they won't until after the repair people come up next week from Ohio," Damitio said.

The problem may be an electrical short or crossed circuit involving the 40-year-old church building's underground irrigation system that is set to turn on in the middle of the night. But, Damitio said there might be a higher power involved.

"I believe that we live as if reality is 90 percent of what we see and 10 of what we don't see. But, the truth is reality is 90 of what we don't see. It means sometimes things go on that have nothing to do with the sprinkler system. Sometimes there are benevolent spirits moving us to consider something we don't see."