Pupils and staff of Lourdes Secondary celebrated the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes on Friday the 8th of February with the Most Reverand Archbishop Philip Tartaglia. Mass for S1 and S6 was concelebrated by the Archbishop, Monsignor Gilmartin and school chaplain Father John Carroll.
Invited guests included Head Teachers from our associated primaries, our Student Council and members of the Parent Council. The Archbishop spoke of his “closeness” to the community of Lourdes Secondary and encouraged pupils to “listen to Jesus”.
After Mass, the Archbishop joined invited guests and S6 Caritas pupils for a celebratory lunch. A number of liturgical and fun events took place throughout the day to mark this important event in the school calendar.
The second week in December saw two retreat days for our senior pupils here in Lourdes Secondary: S6 – Monday 10 December and S5 – Friday 14 December. School chaplain, Fr. John Carol planned and delivered two days of fun and reflection on the theme “You’ve Got Mail!” Pupils were given the opportunity to work together and reflect on the challenges of being a young adult in Scotland today and compare this to the challenges of living as a member of a faith community both in Lourdes Secondary and in their own neighbourhoods. One of the highlights of the retreats 
was the opportunity for pupils to write short notes of encouragement and support to one another which were used as part of short prayer service. As always, the pupils were creative and entertaining in their presentations and managed to re-enact the parables of Jesus with a modern, 21st century twist encouraging one another to be the “Good News” of God’s love today. Well done to all those who participated and shared in both retreat days and a huge thank you to Fr. John for all his work for both days and for all his support and help throughout the year.