Spotlight On A Saint: Our Lady Of Prompt Succor

Published: September 23, 2004

Devotion to the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor originated as a result of the desire of a French Ursuline nun, Mother St. Michel Gensoul, to join the Ursuline nuns in New Orleans in their work.

The bishop, whose permission she needed, was reluctant to lose her services to the people of his jurisdiction in France, and told her that she must get permission from the pope. This was an extremely difficult task because of the political upheaval in early 19th-century France.

But Mother St. Michel wrote to the pope and prayed to the Blessed Virgin for a “quick and favorable” answer to her request, promising to have Our Lady honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

Within only six weeks, Mother St. Michel received the reply for which she had prayed and in the spring of 1810 began her journey to New Orleans. She brought with her a statue of Our Lady which she had commissioned under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in thanksgiving for her answered prayers. This statue now stands above the main altar in the Ursuline Chapel on State Street in New Orleans.

Our Lady interceded again at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Many faithful, including wives and daughters of 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 for victory by Andrew Jackson’s forces over the British, which would save the city from being sacked.

Jackson and 200 men from around the South won a remarkable victory over a superior British force in a battle that lasted 25 minutes and saw few American casualties.

Every year thereafter, on the anniversary of the battle, a Mass of thanksgiving has been offered in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

How She Can Help You

To this day the devout of New Orleans still gather in front of the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor to pray before an impending hurricane threatens the city.

Though Our Lady is intertwined into the history of New Orleans, ask her to pray for all those threatened by the cruel winds of hurricanes, in Georgia, in the Southeast, and throughout the world.