Lourdes Direct: Volunteers Working Hard

27 August 2008

One of the most important aspects to Lourdes for many people is giving their time and expertise to help others.  We bring you two podcasts direct from Lourdes to give you an idea of what the many volunteers from the Clifton Diocese are doing here at the French shrine.

We spoke with Maria - a young parishioner from The Sacred Heart in Tisbury.  She’s on her first pilgrimage to Lourdes and working very hard as a handmaid.  She explains what her daily Lourdes routine is like and tells us what inspired her to join the pilgrimage.

Our second podcast features Sadie Vile who is an organiser for the Catholic Association.  She lets us know how you can volunteer and become involved in helping fellow Catholics, some of whom are seriously ill.

cliftondiocese.com caught up with Maria and Sadie while they enjoyed a short break in a Lourdes café.

Bishop Declan is leading the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes this week (Friday 22 August to Friday 29 August).  He is joined by many Catholics from the West of England marking the 150th anniversary of Lourdes becoming a place of pilgrimage.

cliftondiocese.com is bringing you regular podcasts and pictures from Lourdes - so people back home can feel that they are part of the pilgrimage.

You can listen to our podcasts in the multimedia panel on the right. 

cliftondiocese.com has brought you - direct from Lourdes - news of the pilgrims’ arrival.  We also have a podcast from Bishop Declan encapsulating the Lourdes story and a further audio experience of the sounds of the opening Mass.  Video and podcasts from the torchlight procession and the Clifton Diocese Mass are also online. 

Throughout the year a series of podcasts entitled ‘Lourdes Lives’ has been published weekly on cliftondiocese.com.  ‘Lourdes Lives’ features local people who have visited Lourdes talking about their, sometimes life changing, experiences.