ASL Catholic
Find ASL Catholic prayers, signs, resources, and churches all throughout our community website. Catholic ASL has a lot of roots dating back centuries ago. Read the post. Our Sunday School classes teach Catholic American Sign Language religious signs. Our Deaf church community in Orange County California welcomes you and so does our ministry team! How to sign Catholic in Sign Language. Interpreters. Worship. Access. Disability.
ASL Catholic
ASL Catholic Media is one of the prominent dispensers of content. It is respectable Christian sign language media source. Another resource that is collaboratively being done to disseminate the Catechism in sign language is ASL Youcat. ASL Youcat is worth reviewing, studying, and watching to learn about the Faith. Saint Stories in ASL are also available to watch with English and or Spanish subtitles. For those who doubt the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist visit Al Alvord’s youtube channel. Deaf Philly has a phenomenal Sunday Vlog that reflects on the gospel. Another fan favorite is Fr. Mike Depcik’s website and YouTube channel.
Covid-19 created an online Deaf ministry springtime in all Christian denominations. There are great websites out there and we want to bring them to you here. But, we want to do our part and contribute to the worldwide community as well. We are going to do our part in the little corner of the world that we live in and connect. We want to connect everyone to Jesus Christ.
One of our big contributions to the United States church and abroad is our ASL Catholic mass finder. Churches are added as soon as they are fact checked that they do Catholic Deaf ministry. If you know of any that are not listed in our database please contact us.
Sign Language
The Diocese of Orange supports Catholic American Sign Language for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and those with disabilities. We have a large community that overwhelmingly fluent in ASL. We are here for those parents needing to learn the language to communicate with their child. Whatever we can do to assist and advocate for our Deaf parishioners we will do our best, all-the-while advocating for Jesus Christ.
We have dedicated interpreters for our liturgies. If you would like to request an ASL interpreter for diocesan faith matters please do so here. If you would like to join our interpreting team please contact us. We are very supportive to ASL students and ASL interpreting students.
Tags: ASL CatholicChurch
Church is a polarizing word to speak these days. Why? It implies being God-fearing. The word Church means that we honor and serve God. Following His laws and not the human laws concocted without justice to God makes us enemies to the world. We are those who honor God in church worship by attending mass and receiving the sacraments. Our Deaf Catholic Church empowers those who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, hearing, and with disability. We gather for worship every Sunday and as often as we can as a community. In our Catholic-Christian tradition you may find a local church service using our custom ASL mass finder. Other Catholic Churches with Deaf ministry have their church times listed. We are doing our best in our new online presence and we are just getting started. Visit our in-person church service to find out how you can be involved.
In Orange County California we are a constantly growing Deaf and Hard of Hearing Christian community. Our services are in American Sign Language (ASL) and our ministry is to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone particularly in Sign Language. We do this by first praying that the Holy Spirit may equip us with love and truth to spread his love.
Church
“Catholic vision assigns symbolic meaning to the various parts of the church building, as it does to pretty much everything else in the world. The roof symbolizes charity, which covers a multitude of sins; the floor symbolizes the foundation of faith and the humility of the poor; the columns represent the Apostles, Bishops, and Doctors; the vaulting represents the preachers who bear up the dead weight of man’s infirmity heavenwards; and the beams represent the champions of ecclesiastical right who defend it with the sword. The nave symbolizes Noah’s Ark and the Barque of St. Peter, outside of which no one is saved. The direction of the East represents the Heavenly Jerusalem, and the direction whence the Messiah will return in glory; West represents death and evil.”- Catholic Encyclopedia
The above diagram is how early Catholic-Christians saw church worship. But, it is also how we view it as well. It is an universal belief, hence the word Catholic means universal. Our Church worship and church services have stayed the same.
Added Church theology
The layout of the church despite what configuration you see today has a lot of theological layers and meaning. The Narthex in the ancient Jewish understanding were for the gentiles. The gentiles were not circumcised nor were part of the chosen people. But they could be parts of God’s people if they got circumcised. This ritual was their way of acceptance, per God’s decree. Today the idea is the same except that baptism is the entry point. This is why generally, baptism fonts are in the back of the church.
The word “nave” should resound. It is where we get the word navy. It is boat or ark. Once we enter the church we embark through the oceans and winds of the world. God protects us. This journey is toward heaven. Generally, there is a demarcation via steps that signify the line where the lay faithful and priest separate. This is for an important purpose. Why? Well, lets look at a funeral liturgy. The deceased is placed at the steps before the altar. The steps to the sanctuary represent the separation but vicinity of earth and heaven. It is only Jesus Christ who ascends to heaven to intercede for us. Furthermore, the priest of Jesus Christ ascends to the altar in the person of Christ to offer the mass for the soul of the deceased. More catholic bytes to be continued…
Ministry
Ministry in the Deaf Catholic-Christian world is wanting. You do not have to be an ordained minister to be someone of leadership. Approach your pastor and work out a pastoral plan. Fluency or competency in American Sign Language is a must because language is sacred.
Proclaiming Jesus Christ in (ASL) Sign Language is a way to heaven. Connecting with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community is an open market. Awareness of the lack of Deaf leadership leading other to Christ is one thing. Doing something about it is another. Hand yourself over to our Lord. His bride the church needs more workers in the vineyard.
You can support others spiritually. Attending mass, bible studies, and church events broadens your education. So, free your calendar and go to a ministry event. Sketch together a program with your pastor and see to it that it is on the parish calendar. “Build it and they will come” is an outreach motto. Today, ministry is live, online, and in-person. Whatever it takes to win a soul for Christ is mission at-hand.
Ministry
Seeing the field as it were involves getting out and knowing the community. ASL socials, potlucks, or meetups is required. This is the social fabric of the Deaf community. Other event listings involve Deaf expo’s and conferences. These are key because it reveals what people are flocking toward.
People come out of the wood-work to see and experience what they feel they want. Sadly, what they are looking for is Jesus. Time and time again we humans are disappointed when we turn toward something material to satisfy a spiritual craving. The harvest is here. IT is time to form small and large groups to discuss life with God.
Smell like the sheep
The best Catholic-Christian solution to experience God is in the mass. All of salvation history is revealed in the mass. It is all there. Doubt this? Every action and word spoken or signed within the mass ties to a past, present, and future reality. The mass is an unbloody Calvary, an unbloody sacrifice.
In your present or future ministry small group when you spend much of your time talking about the mass, you are almost there. Moreover, when your flock is so interested and want to know more and more about the mass, you are doing something right. Why? because they are being fed on how to receive grace. They are being filled with knowledge and love that God wants to give them. You are being you and an interpreter of sorts.
Our Lord in his sovereign plan to gather all unto him bestows gifts to us so that we can be his instruments. Being a minister formally or informally is part of his pastoral plan. Consult your diocesan and parish pastor to come up with a way forward. Pastoral plans today involves working together with leadership to suit the faithful and the said minister.
Tags: ASL Catholic, OC Deaf
ASL
ASL is an abbreviation for American Sign Language.
Here is an article written by John Burger on 6/19/19. Source link. The text is below .
Even the developer of American Sign Language studied under a priest.
There is a rich history of Catholic priests being involved in efforts to help the deaf understand and the speech-impaired communicate.
National Geographic magazine outlines that history in the article “How monks helped invent sign language.”
When Pedro Ponce de León, a 16th-century Spanish Benedictine monk, began working to help the deaf-mute communicate, he was working against a millennia-old assumption: it was believed that language could only be learned by hearing the spoken word.
“Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, for example, asserted that ‘Men that are deaf are in all cases also dumb,’” National Geographic writes. “Under Roman law people who were born deaf were denied the right to sign a will as they were ‘presumed to understand nothing; because it is not possible that they have been able to learn to read or write.’”
Ponce de León wasn’t entirely original in his work, it must be said. Native Americans used hand gestures to communicate with other tribes and to facilitate trade with Europeans, National Geographic points out. And Benedictine monks had used them to convey messages during their daily periods of silence.
But Ponce de León adapted the gestures used in his monastery to “create a method for teaching the deaf to communicate, paving the way for systems now used all over the world,” the magazine says.
Other pioneers in developing sign language include:
Juan Pablo Bonet, a Spanish priest and linguist. In 1620 he published the first surviving work on the education of people with a hearing disability. “Bonet proposed that deaf people learn to pronounce words and progressively construct meaningful phrases,” National Geographic says. “The first step in this process was what he called the demonstrative alphabet, a manual system in which the right hand made shapes to represent each letter. This alphabet, very similar to the modern sign language alphabet, was based on the Aretina score, a system of musical notation created by Guido Aretinus, an Italian monk in the Middle Ages, to help singers sight-read music. The deaf person would learn to associate each letter of the alphabet with a phonetic sound. Bonet’s approach combined oralism—using sounds to communicate—with sign language.”
Charles-Michel de l’Épée, a French Catholic priest. In 1755, he established a more comprehensive method for educating the deaf, which culminated in the founding of the first public school for deaf children, the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris.
“Students came to the institute from all over France, bringing signs they had used to communicate with at home,” says the magazine. ‘Épée adapted these signs and added his own manual alphabet, creating a signing dictionary. Insistent that sign language needed to be a complete language, his system was complex enough to express prepositions, conjunctions, and other grammatical elements. Épée is known as the father of the deaf for his work and his establishment of 21 schools.”
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a minister from Connecticut. When Gallaudet wanted to teach his nine-year-old, hearing-impaired neighbor to communicate, he went to France to train under Épée’s successor, Abbé Sicard. Three years later, in 1817, Gallaudet established the American School for the Deaf in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut. “Students from across the United States attended, and just as at Épée’s school, they brought signs they used to communicate with at home,” National Geographic says. “American Sign Language became a combination of these signs and those from French Sign Language.
One cannot but wonder if these men were inspired by Jesus’ healing of the deaf-mute man, as well as their hope that all would be able to receive the Gospel message.”
If you want to learn ASL check out our resource page.
Eucharistic Miracle Rosana Italy
“Bishop Luciano Giovanntti wrote a letter explaining the Eucharistic miracle in Rosano, Italy. On Easter Sunday, April 4, 1948, a group of people praying noticed a tear drop that ran down from the eye of a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The statue was life-size and was donated by a devout person during WWII. It featured Christ’s face with an expression that invites all to prayer, and Christ’s Heart was in the center of His chest with the crown of thorns. A few months later in June, some nuns and others witnessed blood flowing from the statue again, and it continued from 1948 to 1950. Mother IIldegarde Cabitza, the head nun of the community, also witnessed it, and they decided to move the statue to a secret room at the monastery archives. This is also where all the finger towels and purificators that were soaked with the Blood from the statue were kept. Later the Bishop of the diocese of Arezzo learned about it, and the Holy Office sent Fr Luigi Romoli to interview the nuns. He disagreed with the nuns about keeping the statue in a secret room. On November 14, 1950, Holy Office ordered the statue out of the secret room and later in 1952 it was sent back to Rosano. The community of nuns in Rosano experienced the events with joy and great devotion.”- Al Alvord Youtube post
Christian
To be a Christian today is a bold choice. It is bold because it is a choice and a way of living to honor God and his creation.
Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. Some may ask why are Christians hated today and why were they hated at the time of Christ? What follows is a very brief summary of the tie of religion and the quest for power.
Very brief history of early Christianity
Lessons from our history note that emperors and rulers relied on religion to unite peoples. If they captured this aspect of life above all, as well as other facets, they had a kingdom. I.e. look at the early roman persecutions before 300 a.d. At this time, the emperor and lords demanded that everyone worship and offer sacrifice to a pagan idol. Simply said, the authorities indicate to which idol the people are to worship. If they worship it, they are part of the emperor’s kingdom. If not, the sword awaits them. Mind you, Christians were at this time not a publicly accepted form of religion. They were considered trouble makers and dividers. Why? Well this notion of Jesus Christ raising from the dead that prophecies and scriptures tell of, took place and is spreading.
As Jesus and the promised land of heaven echoes throughout regions and foreign lands, it makes every king shiver. Why? Because Jesus is not an acceptable form of worship. This means that whole hosts of people rejected offering sacrifice to strange idols. It means that their kingdom was not united. It means those who followed Christ were slaughtered wholesale. No different today whether be it a physical, political, emotional, or psychological death. Anyway, continuing on, as the persecutions continued it was the bishops, priests, and deacons who met the sword first before the rest of the faithful. Why? because these were the leaders spreading the faith. The rationale behind this is, If they kill them, they kill the resistance within the kingdom, and if they kill them and all other Christians, they have a united kingdom.
How was Christianity officially recognized?
How was Christianity officially recognized? Briefly, the emperor Constantine was outnumbered 5:1 in battle. One account suggests that in his sleep Christ revealed to Constantine that “with this sign” you will conquer. That sign being, the sign of the cross. So, Constantine ordered his troops to put the Sign of the cross on their shields and so forth. Just like in the Old testament, the Lord of hosts delivered his people from death and won victory. Part of the agreement between our Lord and Constantine was that he would ratify the Christians in the kingdom. Constantine was baptized on his deathbed. He is considered along with Charlemagne as a Christian Civil defender. These two people are recognized in bronze statues in the breeze way of the facade in St. Peter’s basilica in Rome.
More Christian history to be continued…
Our Catholic Deaf Community shares the same faith as those who gave their lives out of Christian witness. We aspire that in Orange County California we may spread the faith to peoples that know not Jesus Christ. To join our Deaf ministry crusade contact us.
Orange County Deaf Church
Orange County Deaf Church in the Catholic-Christian tradition was founded years before 1976. This is because before the Diocese of Orange was erected, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles covered all of Orange County. Once our diocese was officially launched the Deaf attended the same churches but under a different bishop. The faith, community, and ministry all being the same. We continue handing down the faith tradition from one generation to the next in American Sign Language (ASL). Our faith community is a beacon in California and in the United States. We continue to thrive despite all odds and adversities thrown at us.
Orange County Deaf Church
We value belonging in our faith community. Our communal relationship with one another is what matters. Moreover, our relationship with Jesus Christ is paramount. Being in a melting pot of cultures, we are a mixed cultural community yet with the same Lord and shepherd leading us. Jesus Christ holds us together as one people after his own heart. He gives us his welcome and fellowship. This is why we have and continue to have a stable and strong Deaf community.
Our focus on faith
Our faith in the Lord is second to none. We believe that the gift of faith is unique and must be preserved all our life long. No matter the external obstacles or persons who wish ill to try our faith, do we ever cling to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Our Lord is good to reveal what happens to the good and just. He tells us that in psalm 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” RSV
We thank our bishops for supporting our Catholic Orange County Deaf Church. We salute them for funding this website through the pastoral services appeal. The pastoral services appeal raises money needed ministries and operations throughout the diocese. Without the generous benefactors throughout the diocese this new site would not have been able to happen.
With many people visiting our site and contacting us constantly we plan to address your questions, comments, and ideas for the future. The sky is the limit as to our Deaf outreach ministry. We are here to bring Jesus Christ to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in our diocese and beyond. If we are only able to introduce Jesus Christ in our online ministry to then lead others to their nearest Deaf church, mission accomplished.
Tags: Diocese of Orange, OC DeafWhy go to mass?
Why go to mass? A question we have likely uttered ourselves and still utter. ASL Catholic Media answers this common question. Children may say the same thing but may have less conviction about it. The aim in this videos is to end the grumblings of amongst teenagers and adults once and for all. The rationale should deter contrary thoughts that arise. Ideally so that we and they come to mass as frequent as we can. ASL Catholic Media delivers such videos in mother tongue of the Deaf, in sign.
Why go to mass? The video above shares three important reasons.
Moreover, we go to mass to render our homage to God. We give him his just due. What? Two words for thought “Exitus” and “Redditus” Exitus is latin for coming from. Redditus is latin for returned or restored. In short due to the fall of adam man is unable to give to God proper homage. Thus all of humanity could not give God the honor he desires back. The paschal mystery of Jesus Christ thus restores man’s ability to give proper honor to God. It is only in Christ that man can do this. When we go to mass and give God his proper homage while being in the state of grace, we receive new life in us. We receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (grace) upon consuming our Lord’s body, blood, soul, and divinity. Thus common with God, the full circle is accomplished. #something to scratch your head about.
California
We are continuously in contact with California Deaf Ministries all over the state. California Deaf Worship centers are in high demand because generally a lot of people are turning back to God including the Deaf. Below you are able to find Southern California Deaf Ministries. We hope you find the right Southern California Deaf Church.
Find a Deaf Church in California
Los Angeles, CA
Holy Angels in Vernon: Sunday 8:30am ASL w/ (Spoken English translation) & 11am ASL w/ (Spoken Spanish)
Oakland, CA
St. Joseph Center for the Deaf
Orange County, CA
Christ Our Savior in Santa Ana: 12 noon ( in old worship space)
Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove Sundays 9:45am English (ASL interpreted-live) & 11:30am Spanish (ASL Interpreted)
Sacramento, CA
San Bernardino, CA
St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside: Sunday 10:15 am English (ASL interpreted) Catechetical class 8:45am
Our Lady of Hope in San Bernardino: Sunday 9:30am
St. Martha in Murrieta: Sunday 9:00am
Sacred Heart in Rancho Cucamonga: Sunday 10:00am
Sacred Heart in Palm Desert: Sunday 8:00am
Our Lady of the Desert in Apple Valley: Sunday 9:30am (Interpreter in Sign, Tactile/Tract, & Oral ((760-964-1089 (V/VRS)) or ((760-242-4427 (CRS/VRS))
San Diego, CA
St. Rose of Lima, Chula Vista Sunday 9:00am PST (ASL Interpreted)
St. Gregory the Great. San Diego Sunday 9:00am PST (ASL Interpreted)
San Francisco, CA
Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf @ St. Francis Xavier Church (, San Francisco Sunday 10:30am in ASL
San Jose, CA
Stockton, CA
Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Please let us know if you are aware of any other Deaf Churches in California by contacting us. If your Southern California Deaf Church is not listed on our map finder, let us know. Many wish to have a fresh list of Southern California Deaf Ministries available to choose from. California Deaf Worship locations sometimes change so please contact us if have any new input.
You can also find Deaf Events in Orange County and Los Angeles here.
ASL and Interpreting students are welcome in our congregation. We ask that if you are interested in being part of our community that you be a practicing Catholic. This condition being met enables you to interpret and assist in Deaf ministry if you are called to it. Livescan, fingerprinting, and a thorough background check is required for volunteers per diocesan policy. It is a lot of work to volunteer but it is worth it.
OC
Welcome to the Orange County Deaf Catholic Community website. OC Hard of Hearing and Deaf events are listed for your convenience. We are one of the biggest CA Deaf communities and we are still growing! California Deaf residents state that they find our community warm, full of zeal, and strong. Why? OC Deaf ministry is strongly supported by our Bishops, priests, and deacons. There are a myriad of priests that serve our community and we are very grateful to them.
Our new website has many unique features. An awesome feature is the ASL mass finder. We are continually adding more churches to the map as we come aware of them. Try it when you travel and when you want to recommend a church to friends or family. Simply enter the city or address that you are staying and press enter. A list of the nearest churches will display.
OC Deaf Church
Our Orange California Deaf community is multicultural. We have a mix Korean, Mexican, Filipino, Anglo, and Vietnamese Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons. Currently there is a demand for Spanish masses before or after the Deaf religious program occurs. This benefits family members who speak Spanish and do not know American Sign Language. What is a blessing is that we are able to do that at our parish. So, please consider joining us if that is question in the back of your head.
Opportunities for ASL students and student interpreters are available to serve the Orange County Deaf community. Students can enlist to receive service hours for school or college. We kindly ask that such students be practicing or baptized Catholics. If any such student has been away from the church they may find our confession schedule to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.
Deaf ministry opportunity
ASL hymn videos are a big hit on the internet. As of yet our community is preparing to reach into this wonderful evangelizing opportunity. Our observations and feedback indicate that the Deaf love interpreted music videos. The ratio to ASL music video hits to an ASL catechetical video is well over 500:1. For example one ASL catechetical video may reach one to two thousand views, while an ASL music video will get fifteen to thirty thousand. That is astronomically different. We feel that emphasis in this ministry will attract more Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons to our faith community. This is so to lead all souls to Jesus Christ.
One of our ministerial goals is to be the leader in Orange County and California. We thank all OC Hard of Hearing and Deaf parishioners. Moreover, we thank any and all California Deaf residents who visit us every week. Feel free to check our Deaf OC and CA Deaf events calendar.
