Patron saint of Louisiana

Q Recently, while listening to Catholic Community Radio, a prayer was addressed to Our Lady of Prompt Succor to spare us during this hurricane season.  Who is Our Lady of Prompt Succor and why do we pray to her?  

A This question was actually addressed last year in The Catholic Commentator, but I thought it would be appropriate to cover this issue again.   

“Prompt succor” is French for “quick help.”  For more than 200 years, the Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans have shared their devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor with those who pray to the mother of God for “quick help” in moments of pain or need and deliverance from dire situations.   During hurricane season, many prayers are offered to her seeking her protection from these storms.  One such hurricane prayer follows:

“Our father in heaven through the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us during this hurricane season from all harm. Protect us and our homes from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”  

In 1727, French Ursuline nuns founded a monastery in New Orleans and began to organize schools in the area.  In 1803, short of teachers, Sister Andre Madier requested more sisters from France.  She wrote her cousin, Sister Michel Gensoul, who was running a Catholic boarding school for girls in France. The matter was referred to Bishop Fournier of Montpelier, France.

Because of oppressions during the French Revolution he was short-handed, so he declined to send any sisters.  Sister Michel, however, was given permission to appeal to the pope. At this time, Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon, and it seemed unlikely he would even receive her letter of petition. Sister Michel prayed: “O most holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain for me a prompt and favorable answer to this letter, I promise to have you honored at New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.” 

She sent her letter March 19, 1809.  Against all odds, she received a response on April 29, 1809. The pope granted her request, and Sister Michel commissioned a statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor holding the infant Jesus. 

Sister Michel and several postulants came to New Orleans on Dec. 31, 1810. They brought the statue with them and placed it in the convent chapel in the Vieux Carré.  Since then, Our Lady of Prompt Succor has interceded for those who have sought her help.

In 1812, a great fire threatened the Vieux Carré and the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans.  As the convent was being evacuated, a nun brought a small statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor to the window facing the fire and Sister Michel prayed: “Our Lady of Prompt Succor, we are lost if you do not come to our aid.”

The wind changed direction and turned the fire away.  The Ursuline Convent was one of the few buildings in the French Quarter that was saved from destruction.  

Our Lady interceded again at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Many faithful, including wives and daughters of the American soldiers, gathered in the Ursuline chapel before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor and spent the night before the battle in prayer. They asked Our Lady to grant an American victory over the British.  

Andrew Jackson and his 200 men from around the South won a remarkable victory over a superior British force in a battle that saw few American casualties.  

The Ursulines credited Our Lady of Prompt Succor for the British defeat.  Jackson agreed; he wrote a letter to the bishop of New Orleans calling for all citizens to give thanks for “the great assistance we have received from the Ruler of all events.”

For more information google: History: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor and catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-prompt-succor.  Most of the above information was taken from these websites.

Our Lady of Prompt of Succor is the patron saint of Louisiana, the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the City of New Orleans, and Catholics in Louisiana continue to pray to her to save them once again whenever a hurricane threatens.  

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor is located on Nashville Avenue in New Orleans.  It houses the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor that came to New Orleans in 1810. 

Deacon Hooper is a deacon assistant at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs. He can be reached at [email protected].