Malachy Fallon, the first lay executive director of the Xavier Society for the Blind, “happened to be at the right place at the right time” when he began his role in 2016, he says. After more than 31 years of working in finance, Fallon was pursuing a master’s degree in nonprofit leadership at Fordham University (his third degree from the school) when he learned that the society was looking for a new executive director who understood business, nonprofits, and the Jesuit mission.
The Xavier Society for the Blind, originally called the Xavier “Free Publication” Society, was founded in 1900 by a blind teacher of blind children named Margaret Coffey, along with Jesuit Father Joseph Stadelman. Coffey provided $350 of her own resources—the equivalent of about $13,000 today—to buy a stereograph machine that could produce braille resources for the students she taught and others like them. “She realized these children didn’t have the same materials or textbooks that sighted classmates had,” Fallon says.
Xavier Society began in a room of what is now Xavier High School in New York City and provided resources free of charge. It continues to do so today thanks to the generosity of foundations and donors—many of whom are patrons of their services.
Fallon is not blind, nor does he have any close connections who are, but he does think of his devout Irish Catholic mother as he does his work to make religious materials accessible to all. At a certain time every day, she would sit down, make herself a cup of tea, and take out her prayer book that housed all her memorial and prayer cards.
“It was very important she had that time, and that book in front of her was very important,” Fallon says.
The Xavier Society provides several different services for people who are blind and visually impaired. They send out a braille version of the Mass propers (the readings, responses, and prayers for Sunday Mass) to about 800 people every month and also offer individual books of the Bible in hardcopy braille or the entire Bible for download as a BRF file (which can be read on an electronic braille display). In keeping with the mission of their founder, textbooks for OCIA and CCD remain a priority for them as well. Their braille magazine, The Catholic Review, is distributed three times per year with a selection of articles from popular Catholic publications, and they also have a library of spiritual reading available. Individual patrons are also able to request new books.
Since Fallon became executive director, the organization has reintroduced its large print offerings. Fallon said these services are particularly important for people who have declining vision as they age and haven’t learned braille. They now offer both the Bible and the Mass propers in 22-point font.
“[When] we go into a church, the missalette is usually right there in the rack in the back of the pew in front of us. I remember as a kid going to my local parish, oftentimes an usher, as you were sliding into the pew, [handed you] a missalette. So we take that for granted,” Fallon says. “People who are blind or visually impaired wouldn’t have those materials if not for Xavier Society.”
Another way the organization has expanded its services under Fallon’s leadership is in changing the format of their audiobooks. They previously provided them on discs, but he decided they ought to switch to the cartridges used by digital talking book players, since the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled has distributed them to more than 500,000 people.
“I realized if we were able to get our content available on those cartridges, we were able to reach a larger audience,” Fallon says.
It took about a year for them to switch their technology, and Fallon says they have seen an increase in patrons using them since then. Yet a challenge they continue to face is their aging patron base. While they have added many new patrons, many of them have also died in recent years. Still, they have seen some growth in their total reach, expanding from around 2,400 patrons about five years ago to today serving nearly 2,700.
“There are more people that can be served that just don’t know about us,” Fallon says. “We can’t just put up a print ad in a diocesan newspaper, because the people we serve literally aren’t going to see it.”
Fallon says he has learned a lot about the challenges and advantages that being blind or visually impaired brings to everyday life and the practice of one’s faith. He recalls one story—similar to others that he hears often—about a blind woman who wanted to lector at her parish and had a hard time convincing her pastor that she could do it. The braille resources from the Xavier Society made it possible for her to do so, yet when she wanted to read at the Easter Vigil, her pastor still pushed back, saying that the dim lighting at the service might be challenging—not realizing, of course, that light is not necessary to read braille.
“When you think about it, it really doesn’t make sense,” Fallon says. “There is no reason anyone should be excluded from actively participating. . . . Our materials are provided so people can learn about, develop, and actively participate in their faith.”
Fallon recalls another moment of learning that occurred during their annual St. Lucy Mass, celebrated by Father Jamie Dennis, a blind priest from the Diocese of Owensboro in Kentucky, which brings together their patrons to worship. That year, the Mass was being held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, and when Fallon expressed to one of the patrons that he was inspired by the fact that they all traveled through the crowds of bustling Manhattan at Christmas time in order to come to the Mass, the patron responded, “You shouldn’t be inspired. We’re just doing what everybody else does.”
“It really made me realize just how important the work of Xavier Society is,” Fallon says.
Quick takes:
How many books are in the Xavier Society’s library?
The Xavier Society has 1,521 audiobook titles and 1,386 braille titles in their library, which are searchable online.
Who can request services from the Xavier Society?
Anyone who is legally blind, visually impaired, or has a physical disability that prevents them from turning pages in a physical book can register for the Xavier Society’s services. Due to U.S. copyright laws, individuals must provide documentation of their disability before they are able to receive resources.
How can you register?
For information on registering for services, those interested can call 212-473-7800 or visit xaviersocietyfortheblind.org. All materials are provided free of cost, and there is no fee to register.
This article also appears in the May 2025 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 90, No. 5, pages 45-46). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
Image: Courtesy of Malachy Fallon
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