The monks say they are waiting to hear Harvard’s opinion about returning the bells before beginning extensive fundraising in anticipation of the costs of transporting the bells out of Harvard and into the bell tower in Moscow.

“We are very grateful now because all this time Harvard kept the bells and they were not destroyed,” Father Roman says.

Though they haven’t journeyed across the Atlantic to visit Harvard and hear the bells ring in person, Father Innokentiy and Father Roman say they can attest to the beauty of the bells’ sound—from hearing them on the Lowell House web site.

Sitting in Father Innokentiy’s office beneath brightly colored icons, the monks lean in to look at their Sony computer screen.

With a click of his mouse, Father Innokentiy rings one of the virtual bells and the monks listen intently.

“It’s not an ordinary thing even for Harvard to have such splendid bells,” Father Innokentiy says quietly.

—Staff writer Anne K. Kofol can be reached at kofol@fas.harvard.edu.