Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Hasten to Help Us

In June 1983, Poland's Solidarity 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 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.” (His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time, pp. 379-380.) 

As they faced imminent danger, the Holy Father exclaimed, "It is the saints and the beatified who show us the path to victory that God achieves in human history." (His Holiness) 

We know from history that Our Lord answered the prayers of St. John Paul II and the Polish people. 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? 

Miraculous Events in New Orleans

In A Century of Pioneering: A History of the Ursuline Nuns 1727-1827, 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, underwent a profound conversion, recognizing that the American victory was caused by "a signal interposition of heaven." (238-239)

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 economic collapse.  

On the night of January 7, 1815, New Orleans faced an invasion by a highly trained, ruthless 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 motley 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, Ursuline’s superior, vowed to have "a Mass of thanksgiving sung every year if the Americans were victorious." (Heaney) 

The Ursulines' Prayers

Crowded into the tiny chapel, 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.  

In a miraculous turn of events during Holy Communion, a messenger arrived from the battlefront, shouting, "Victory is ours!" Immediately following the Mass, the Te Deum was sung, praising God's Lordship and His saving help. 

Jackson quickly recognized the presence of a much greater power than his. Sr. Jane Frances describes the commander as "not a particularly pious person." Nevertheless, Heaney reports, Jackson 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 Jackson and his staff came to thank the nuns for their prayers. They delightedly received the triumphant general and enthusiastically donated funds for a banquet in his honor.  

Elated people across the United States, including former Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin (1801-1814), believed the conflict reestablished our country's national feeling and character. Echoed later by St. John Paul II, 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." (Bernstein and Politi) 

For more than two hundred years, a Thanksgiving Mass has been offered annually in the New Orleans Ursuline Chapel. Nine days of prayer, which precede the feast, begins on New Year’s Eve. During times of crisis, Catholics might recall how Our Lady has quickly given her love to a broad spectrum of our fellow citizens. 

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!" (Prayer to Our Lady of Prompt Succor)