Title:MILITARY PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES, FRANCE, 14 JUNE TO 16 JUNE 1958 [Allocated Title]
Film Number:NAT 1623
Other titles:SHAPE FILM LIBRARY [Allocated Series Title]
Summary:View of Lourdes from the military camp overlooking the city. Lourdes railway station: train enters and Monsignor Patrick J Ryan arrives. Marshal Juin bestows the Cross of the Legion of Honour on Monsignor Ryan. Troops and others arriving for the military pilgrimage fill the Grotto Plaza at Lourdes from all directions; among those arriving are Cardinal Feltin (accompanied by Marshal Juin) and other cardinals. An altar is set up, before the church, in the plaza.
Opening ceremony of the pilgrimage: priest leads the singing, and a special mass is celebrated. Cardinal Feltin addresses the troops, and sits on the dais in front of the church. Holy Communion: the celebrant is helped by soldiers while chaplains take communion to civilians and troops in the crowd. After the ceremony, the troops march out of the plaza. Sick and wounded soldiers are brought by fellow troops up to the front of the grotto, where Monsignor Ryan and US troops celebrate a special mass; soldiers saying the rosary. Troops and civilians enter the grotto itself, where candles and the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary are seen. Visitors drink Holy Water from the fountain. Final sequence shows a night-time candle-lit procession through the Grotto Plaza; the church is illuminated.
Description:
Alternative Title:SHAPE FILM LIBRARY [Allocated Series Title]
