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NCDP Pastoral care and support services for the Deaf community
Welcome to the webpage of the National Chaplaincy for
Deaf People. On this site you will find information and news about the NCDP. You will
learn who the chaplains are and what they do. You can also find information
about how to contact the different members of the Chaplaincy team.
Dublin Deaf Choir
The Dublin Deaf Choir signs the words of hymns at special masses for deaf people. In collaboration with ACCORD, a Pre-Marriage Course for deaf couples is organized every year. A group of deaf parents organize a popular family Mass once a month, deaf families travel from far and near to attend this celebration.
Archbiship Diarmuid presenting members of the the Deaf Choir with the Cedar Award for
their work of Parish Outreach and for their contribution to promtoing Deaf Awareness
in the Dublin Diocese.
The Dublin Deaf Choir performs in all kinds of situations.
Their main function is to lead the community in prayer and
song at liturgical celebrations where deaf people attend, to help
them to sign together and be actively involved in the celebration.
It is wonderful to see deaf people taking part in liturgy in this way
and for hearing people it brings a new dimension to the liturgical
celebrations. Everyone benefits and everyone enjoys the celebration together.
The main events have been the celebration of the Eucharist, celebration of
Reconciliation, Weddings and Funerals. Most recently in June ‘08 the choir
performed with four other international deaf choirs in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
In the Chaplaincy, we have what we like to call our "Parish Outreach". This is where we go to a parish outside of
the deaf community and celebrate the Eucharist for the local community. Many times the deaf themselves will come
to us to ask us to go to their home parish and to celebrate Mass there with the Deaf Choir. This can be a
very moving experience for many people. Because we work and live in the world of deaf people we sometimes
forget how beautiful the language of deaf people is. It is only when we move out from our deaf community
that we realise the effect sign-language can have on the hearing community. Parish Outreach has two functions
for us in the Chaplaincy.
It allows us to go to the parish church of the deaf person and meet with deaf people
in their local community. This is very important. But it also affords us the opportunity to raise the level
of deaf awareness. Many people do not have the experience of working or living with people from the deaf
community, so it is a great opportunity for us to be together worshipping as a community in praise of the
God who made us. It is true to say that when you put music and words together in Liturgical song you have
an explosion of emotions. But now, when you include sign-language you are introducing a third important dimension, movement.
As I see it, you have three elements :
• You have the musical sound of the piece which for me as a hearing person
can pierce the very core of my being and take me on a roller coaster of
emotions like; joy, sorrow, inner peace, love and so on.
• You also have the words which can lead us to a place we have never
gone to before and help us to understand things we find difficult to
understand. Again, words, like poetry that can pull at our heart strings.
• Now, the Dublin Deaf Choir introduces a new element which is movement.
Not only do we feel the words and music in our heart, mind and soul but we
experience it in our body as we gently move with the rhythm of the piece we are signing.
When you put the three elements together they tap into the very core of our being and
transform us into the wonderful people that we are. All of the above is so important
in our world today. It is so important in our liturgical celebrations. The Dublin Deaf
Choir brings great joy to many people. This is their gift. This is their ministry.
It is what they are called to do as a choir. They have a very special ministry to lead
all people to a deeper spiritual life and to help us understand something of the mystery
of life and love given to us by God. The presence of the Dublin Deaf Choir enhances every
liturgical celebration they are present at. They raise the level of our spirituality to a
level that no other groups of people are capable of doing. Thank God for the gift they are
to all who are blessed with their presence.
