Our Lady of Prompt Succor over Main Altar, Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, New Orleans, LA. Copyright ©2023 Constance F. Anderson, Photographer. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
In June 1983, Poland's Solidarity labor movement seemed crushed beyond hope. Pope John Paul II bravely traveled to his native land to become its great unifier. Consoling his fellow countrymen, he publicly prayed for the patroness of Poland's intercession. "Mother of Jasna Gora, you who have been given to us by Providence for the defense of the Polish nation, accept this call of Polish youth together with the Polish pope and help us to persevere in hope." As they faced imminent national danger, the Holy Father movingly exclaimed, "It is the saints and the beatified who show us the path to victory that God achieves in human history."
We know from historical events that Our Lord answered St. John Paul's and the Polish peoples' prayers. Yet how many of us know that, more than two hundred years ago, similar heroic prayers and actions helped save the very young United States of America?
In her book, A Century of Pioneering: A History of the Ursuline Nuns 1727-1827 (published by The Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans, 1993), Sr. Jane Frances Heaney, O.S.U. tells the fascinating story of the miraculous events surrounding the Battle of New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson, who was a deist before the Battle, underwent a profound spiritual conversion, recognizing that the American victory was caused by "a signal interposition of heaven."
Although the War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, word of the treaty had not reached the British troops advancing to Louisiana. Five months earlier, the eastern United States was reeling from British attacks, including the burning of Washington, D.C. Our nation was also on the verge of total economic collapse.
On the night of January 7, 1815, New Orleans faced an invasion by a highly trained, vastly superior enemy army. Rumor had it that General Edward Pakenham, commander of the British troops and brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, was confident of an easy conquest. General Andrew Jackson, leader of a hastily gathered force of Americans, Creoles, free men of color, buccaneers, and Indians, vowed to burn New Orleans to the ground before he let the British take it. Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, the Ursuline superior, made her own vow: to have "a Mass of thanksgiving sung every year if the Americans were victorious."
Crowded into the tiny church, the Ursulines, their student boarders, and their mothers, gathered with women and children from New Orleans, imploring help from the Mother of God, under her title "Our Lady of Prompt Succor." Initially, the Americans were driven back by the British. At 6 o'clock on the morning of January 8, the British attacked again while the women fervently prayed at Mass at Ursuline's chapel.
In a miraculous turn of events during an even more miraculous time - Holy Communion - a messenger arrived from the battlefront, shouting, "Victory is ours!" Immediately following the Mass, the Te Deum was sung by the grateful congregation, praising God's Lordship and His saving help in their time of distress.
The Battle of New Orleans. Artist: Edward Percy Moran. C1910. From Library of Congress, LOT 10043. at https://lccn.loc.gov/92510337. (accessed December 27, 2023). General Andrew Jackson stands on the parapet of his makeshift defenses as his troops repulse attacking Highlanders.
Jackson was quick to recognize the presence of a much greater saving power than his. Sr. Jane Frances describes the American commander as "not a particularly pious person." Nevertheless, he asked Father Louis William Duborg, the diocesan administrator, to order "a service of public thanksgiving to be performed in the Cathedral in token ... of the great assistance we have received from the Ruler of all Events, and of our humble sense of it."
The Ursulines shared in the celebration when General Jackson and his staff came to the convent to thank the nuns for their prayers." They were delighted to receive the triumphant general and donated funds for a banquet in his honor.
People across the United States were elated, including Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1801-1813), who believed the conflict helped reestablish our country's national feeling and character. Echoing St. John Paul’s words, the Battle of New Orleans revealed the "path to victory that God achieves in human history." Our Lady's "quick help" came in response to heroic men and brave women who "persevered in hope."
For over two hundred years, a Thanksgiving Mass has been offered annually in the Ursulines' chapel in New Orleans. Nine days of prayer, which precedes the feast, begins on New Year’s Eve. As Catholics start the New Year with a Mass dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, we might recall how Our Lady gave her love to a broad spectrum of our fellow citizens during a time of urgent national crisis.
Joined with Americans from all walks of life, let us pray, "Be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor now and at the hour of our death ... Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us!"
St. Louis Cathedral with Jackson Square on sunny day in New Orleans French Quarter, Photographer: Chad Zuber. Credit: Shakzu - stock.adobe.com. Image Licensed: CF Anderson, QH Productions, 11/30/2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
NOTES
1.Bernstein, Carl and Marco Politi. His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time. Doubleday, 1996.
2. Chambers, Henry E. A History of Louisiana: Wilderness, Colony, Province, Territory, State, People, Vol. 1. The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925.
3. Heaney, Sr. Jane Frances O.S.U., Ph.D. A Century of Pioneering: A History of the Ursuline Nuns in New Orleans 1727-1827. Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1993.
4. Prayer to Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Patroness of Louisiana. National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, 2635 State Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.
CONSTANCE "CONNIE" F. ANDERSON
Connie Anderson recently retired from professional work in teaching; educational, commercial, and Catholic television; free-lance film-making; and fundraising. A Baton Rouge, LA native, she and her husband, Larry, are the proud parents of two adult children and grandparents of one recently adopted grandson. Connie, a St. Robert Southwell Writing Group member for the Word on Fire Institute, is interested in handing on her Faith through stories about Louisiana’s rich Catholic family traditions.