Service celebrates 200th anniversary of Braille inventor

Around 450 people gathered on Saturday at St. Martin-in-the-fields Church in London to celebrate the bicentenary of Louis Braille, the Frenchman who created the Braille alphabet used by blind and partially sighted people around the world.

The service was organised by Torch Trust, a Christian organisation which helps those dealing with loss of sight by providing practical care, support and Bibles and Christian literature in Braille.

The service was conducted using a Braille order of service and many of the readings and prayers were given by blind or partially sighted individuals, with sermons and texts written in Braille.

The sermon was taken from John 9, which tells the story of Jesus healing a man born blind from birth.

Rev Helen Patten who delivered the sermon using Braille notes said, “Blindness need not be a barrier to serving God and other people.”

Patten also spoke out against the often unintentional, prejudice faced by blind people today, comparing it to the prejudice of the people in the time of Jesus, who assumed that being born blind was the result of sin.

Louis Braille was born in the French town of Coupvray in 1809. At the age of three he was blinded following an accident in his father’s workshop. He went on to invent the Braille alphabet which was officially adopted by France two years after he died at the age of 43. The system went on to become the main alphabet used by schools for the blind in the US, Europe and even further afield.

In 1952 Braille’s body was removed from his home town of Coupvray and was placed in the French Pantheon, which houses French heroes such as the philosophers Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the writer Victor Hugo.

Braille for much of his life was close friends with the village priest where he lived.

In a biography of Braille, Jean Roblin wrote of him, “He radiated happiness and joy … Despite his blindness, despite continued ill health, despite the ill will of others which delayed recognition of his work, in the face of adversity and of accumulated disappointment, he remained kindly, cheerful and faithful to his friends and to his ideal … To those around him he brought material and spiritual aid with apostolic fervour and with a zeal that was saintly in its discretion."

During the service, Rev Patten said simply of Braille, “He never recovered his physical sight but his spiritual perception gave him the light to guide his life."

Torch Trust is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and will be opening a special exhibition entitled “Come to your senses” at Spring Harvest.

Dr Gordon Temple, chief executive of Torch Trust said, “Our exhibition is a really hands-on and novel way of giving people insights into engaging Spring Harvesters with the challenging experiences of blind people – both in their practical, everyday life and in their spiritual lives.”