They let their fingers do the talking at Our Lady of Ransom parish in Philadelphia. Fr. Anthony Russo, C.Ss.R., celebrates Mass for the deaf and hearing impaired one Sunday a month, as well as one Sunday a month at suburban St. Charles Parish. The servers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and ushers are deaf; It is the hearing worshippers who require interpreters. After Mass, the community socializes over coffee and snacks; they network, plan holiday parties, fundraisers, and banquets. "These activities and a welcoming spirit provide a strong sense of community to people with impaired hearing. Often the deaf, after spending the week in the hearing world, will drive from the far reaches of the diocese for Mass and to socialize with their deaf friends." Fr. Tony coordinates a team to serve the deaf community in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia: 25-30 full-time catechists, a deacon and his wife, volunteer catechists, interpreters, prison ministry volunteers, Eucharistic ministers, a DRE for people with disabilities, and another priest. Diversified services This special apostolate provides pastoral care including missions, retreats, marriage prep., prison ministry, and visits to the sick and homebound. They provide religious education to deaf children throughout the archdiocese. Formation and discussion groups for deaf adults meet in homes and church settings. Fr. Tony continues a Redemptorist tradition in that they have served the hearing impaired and deaf Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since the 1940s. Sean Murphy, a deaf youth, signs a song at a Deaf Apostolate Mass in Philadelphia. It all began when as a seminarian at Mt. St. Alphonsus in Esopus, N.Y., Fr. Steven Landherr, C.Ss.R. became fascinated with sign language from a book, at a time when few such books were available. Fr. Dan Higgins, C.Ss.R., a missionary in the Midwest who lived out of a suitcase, prepared that book, including a thousand photographs illustrating sign language. This book led Fr. Landherr to Philadelphia; the archdiocese had opened a school for the deaf there, but it lacked full-time clergy to serve this ministry. Fr. Landherr was a pioneer in his efforts to preach missions to the deaf and to encourage other dioceses to reach out to a group of people who had been isolated. In 1967, while Fr. Landherr was seriously ill, Fr. Tony was undergoing ear surgery. Their Superior asked Fr. Tony, who professed his first vows in 1960, to take over the deaf ministry. Since sign language classes were not commonly available at that time, Fr. Tony arranged to study with a deaf man who was willing to show him the signs, until he could arrange classes with two professional teachers. "When Fr. Landherr began with the deaf apostolate in 1941, Mass was celebrated in Latin, so he did Benediction," according to Fr. Tony. "After Vatican II, my challenge was not vernacular, but sign language. How to communicate was a cauldron of controversy; eventually American Sign Language was accepted and acknowledged. After I was reasonably proficient, I celebrated Mass using American Sign Language." Because of the dedication of Fr. Tony, Mass is celebrated at Our Lady of Ransom in a very special way. The community hear the Gospel and share the Good News with their brothers and sisters in joy and celebration. Their sense of God and the gifts of hope and faith are re-enforced through sign language. The rituals of the Church and the receiving of the sacraments are a part of the soul of the Church. All of the Church's heritage is alive in this wonderful community of believers who celebrate their faith in communion with God and each other.