Pilgrimage To Lourdes (1969)

Titles read: ’EXTRA!’. This item is in colour. Various shots of children in a classroom, licking Green Shield stamps and sticking them into books. They hand piles of books to a nun sitting at a table. Commentator explains that hundreds of Catholics and Catholic organisations collect the stamps so that children can be taken on a pilgrimage to Lourdes - the stamps pay for the charter of an aeroplane. Several shots at unidentified airport show handicapped and disabled children being helped onto the plane. L/S of the plane taxiing before takeoff. Several shots of the town of Lourdes in France. Shot of crowds at the grotto, looking at statue of Mary. Several shots of disabled children with their families, making their way through the town to the grotto - several are in wheelchairs. Some have white sticks (for the blind) and crutches. Shots of people in lines, making their way to the grotto. Soundtrack of people singing ’Ave Maria’. People collect holy water in little bottles shaped like Mary