No matter what the state arts council says, Monsignor Louis Marucci believes in his music and is proud of his accomplishments.

Six months after he was ordained a priest in 1987, Marucci was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

A year later, he was paralyzed from the neck down. With therapy, he regained the use of his arms.

The late James McHugh, former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden, asked Marucci, a harpist, and his brother, Carl, also a priest and professional pianist, to form a group to spread a message of joy and hope.

Inspired, the Maruccis formed Jubilate Deo Chorale & Orchestra in Camden. Jubilate Deo comes from the Latin words meaning "rejoice in the Lord."

During the past 10 years, the group has grown to 80 professional musicians. Seventy chorus members, all volunteers, were recruited primarily from Camden and Gloucester counties.

From audiences, the reviews have been great, says Marucci.

"We got a standing ovation from a New York audience," says Marucci, when the group sold out Carnegie Hall. "It was an electric crowd, a steady stream of applause."

The reviews from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts were a bitter disappointment.

In its rejection last year of the group's request for funding, the council branded the chorale as "fair to poor."

The orchestra was "fair." The choice of inspirational music was "uninspired."

Arts council members, declining to discuss individual groups, say the grant review process is fair.

"I don't think the council likes us," says Marucci. The group's application for $48,866 for general project funding and $59,990 to provide musical programs for 45 schools was rejected.

The rejection limited Jubilate Deo to six six performances last year, drawing 13,000 people. The group's educational program for the schools was canceled.

"We're the only arts organization that consistently sells out all its performances," says Marucci. "We must be doing something right."

His experience with Jubilate Deo has helped him cope with his own illness, he says. During the Christmas season in 1992, he suffered a setback and became paralyzed again from the neck down.

"I got a therapeutic pass from the hospital to attend my own concert," he says. "They were trying to wean me off the ventilator. I could get six hours off without having the attacks I was having."

He told no one he would be attending the performance. Sitting in the back of the theater, strapped to his wheelchair, he says, "I just attended and experienced it. It just drove home for me the reality of what we do.

"It seems to me that the difference between happiness and sadness is not in our circumstances, but in our attitude," he says.

"There's a saying: `For heights and depths no words can reach, music is the soul's own speech.'

"I think music is the medium that penetrates the human heart. And I can integrate a strong message of hope into the lives of people that are feeling despair. That's what we do."

As for the arts council's rejection? He doesn't plan to appeal.

"It isn't worth the time," he says.