From CTS:
The CTS worked in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Blind to produce an order of Mass for the new English translation in Braille.
This is the first time CTS have produced a Braille book. We sent the text of the new translation of the Mass to the RNIB who converted it into Braille. We hope that this will increase the participation of blind and partially-sighted people in the Mass and allow them to experience and understand the dignity and beauty of the new translation which began to be used this week.
With exactly the same content as the CTS Mass card, this Braille booklet is selling at £2.95 – just enough to cover costs – and we hope that it will prove a valuable resource alongside everything else we have produced, to help with this momentous event in the history of the English-speaking Church. Alongside the Large Print Mass book, and our other large print books, it forms part of our desire to make provision for those with this particular impairment, so that they too have the opportunity to pray and read the scriptures.
The Catholic Church has a long and proud history of provision for the blind and partially-sighted, going back centuries; this is highlighted in Lumen – A Catholic Guide to Civilisation:
“Valentin Haüy (d. 1822), founded the first school for the blind. A student from this school, Louis Braille (d. 1852), simplified their system of raised writing to create the Braille system, which is now used worldwide.”
It is fitting then, that the text of the Mass is now available in a format first devised at a Catholic school. See our website for more details.
Loading ...
Valentin Hauy’s school for the blind was visited by Louis XVI on 26 December 1786 who promptly gave it his patronage. Equally remarkable was an institution founded by a Catholic priest, L’Epee, which cared for deaf-mutes, previously outcasts from society. He invented the first lip-reading system.
Both these institutions were wrecked by the Revolution as relics of absolutist charity and clerical superstition and the children were returned to the goodwill of the citizenry at large (in other words to beggary and persecution).
Good. People need this. Is there a similar resource for the US and other English-speaking countries?
Unfortunately almost NO blind people learn braille anymore. “…Only 85,000 of the 1 million legally blind people in the U.S. use the venerable system. ” Its all ‘audio books’ these days and clever computers. Studies show that ‘braille illiterates’ earn less, are far more prone to drink, drugs, poverty, poor relationships, score lower in almost every area of life than those who regularly read in braille. Literacy – whether through the fingers or through the eyes is a vital element of a full, rich life. The Catholic blind once had a far richer spiritual life – for sure!
“Is there a similar resource for the US and other English-speaking countries?”
The Xavier Society for the Blinds in New York:
http://www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org/
Sorry – “…for the Blind …”
The sad thing is that I did preview and still missed it.
I read in the ordinary way (by sight), however I have often wished that I could read by the Braille Method also. It would come in handy, when my husband wants the lights out, and I still have the Legion of Mary prayers to say.
now if only they had this for the EF… not that i mind making my own missalette every week, it’s actually kind of fun, but not all blind folks are as priveliged to have the resources available to them that i do.
Xavier Society for the Blind in New York provides Mass Propers each month (at no charge) in Braille, large-print and audio. We just completed the new translation of the Bible in all formats as well (the Braille Bible is 45 volumes of interleave Braille – both sides of the page). And we’re doing pew cards for the changed bits for the new Mass wording. More info on the website, and for any who are visually impaired or otherwise unable to handle traditional print, the opportunity to register. We have limitations on being able to send audio and print to other countries, but there is no restriction on Braille. http://www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org