Our Lady of Prompt Succor - History

History

French Ursuline nuns were the first to arrive in Louisiana. Establishing a convent in 1727, the nuns founded what is the oldest school for girls in the territory of the modern-day U.S., Ursuline Academy, which educated the children of European colonist, Native Americans, and those of the local Creole people, slave or free. Spanish sisters came to assist the growing school in 1763 after Louisiana fell under Spanish control. In 1800 the territory came back under French possession, and most sisters, fearing the anti-clerical sentiment of the French Revolution, fled to Havana, Cuba.

Coming short on teachers, Mother Saint Andre Madier requested sisters from France to come to America to aid the struggling convent in 1803. She wrote to her cousin, Mother Saint Michel Gensoul, who was running a Catholic girls boarding school in France at the time. The Catholic Church was suffering the wrath of the revolution under Napoleon. Mother Saint Michel, knowing that the Church was in distress in both her homeland and abroad, was prompted by the Holy Spirit to approach Bishop Fournier of Montpelier to request the transfer. Bishop Fournier felt unable to afford the loss of another nun, as many had been killed or fled during the revolution. Bishop Fournier responded to Mother St. Michel, "The Pope alone can give this authorization. The Pope alone!"

Pope Pius VII was prisoner of Napoleon at the time, and it was highly unlikely that any form of communication could be made with him. Mother St. Michel knew the unlikelihood of the Pope even receiving her letter. Mother St. Michel prayed before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and said, "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." Sending her petition on March 19, 1809, Mother St. Michel received a letter from the Holy Father granting her request on April 29, 1809. Mother St. Michel commissioned a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus. By request, Bishop Fournier blessed the statue and the Mother St. Michel's work.

Mother St. Michel arrived in New Orleans with the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on December 31, 1810 with several postulants. The statue was placed in the monastery chapel and is venerated by the people of New Orleans.