The Ursulines: Then and Now

The current Our Lady of
Prompt Succor ("Quick Help") in
the Ursuline Chapel courtesy of
the Ursuline Academy's Website.

            Upon reading the article on the Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans, and how they came to be, I became very curious.  I recognized the name of the church very soon, and chose to research it.  In class, we learned that Our Lady of Prompt Succor, a small statue of the Virgin Mary is the “Patroness of Louisiana,” claimed to be a miraculous lifesaver by the Ursuline Sisters.  They claimed that it saved their land from a great fire that destroyed the French Quarter, through their prayer to it.  It is also said that the Ursuline Sisters prayed to the statue during the Battle of New Orleans at Chalmette Battlefield, where they soon were told that the British were retreating and New Orleans was safe. 

            Oddly, this name rang in my head; I knew I had heard it before.  After some research, I found that the Ursuline chapel in Uptown was in the news last April due to their belief that they had seen a vision of Jesus on a pillar.  I remember this going very viral last year, when soon after this news broke, from local news to the Today Show to Good Morning America, many other accounts claiming to have seen a vision of Jesus emerged.  I find it interesting that something so pivotal from the past has remained to be important today.  For example, the Ursuline Sisters were opened the first military hospital in the United States, opened an orphanage, and gave girls a quality education, all almost unheard of at that time.  Now, they remain prevalent again, through the media, affecting the world around them.  I think it is interesting that they still have such a cause and effect on New Orleans and the United States. 

            If you would like to see what the 275th anniversary of the Ursulines coming to America Mass at Ursuline Chapel was like, watch this video!