I moved to New Orleans in 2017 to assist with Campus Ministry at Cabrini High School. It was a wonderful job. New Orleans is so friendly and Catholic. The downside of living there is the long hurricane season and the prospect of an evacuation.
Many years ago, when the Ursuline Sisters were missioned to New Orleans from France, they brought a small statue of Mary under that title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. It is believed that through the intercession of Our Lady under that title, a fire that was about to destroy their convent was averted and through her intercession that the Battle of New Orleans was won. After the battle General Jackson went to the convent to thank the sisters for their prayers.
Every hurricane season I sought the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Patron of New Orleans and Louisiana. After living in the Big Easy for over four years we had only encountered one small hurricane. That is until IDA struck! I had no evacuation plan and decided to stay put. During the hurricane, water came in through the windows onto the carpet and flooring, but no furniture was damaged. The electricity went out, a small part of the roof and air conditioning flew off the large Esplanade Apartments where I was living. After three days the smell was awful.
It was decided that I evacuate to New York. My wonderful boss, Johnny, volunteered to drive me to Pensacola, Florida. He had coordinated my flight to LaGuardia. During the three hour drive it was awesome to see so many electric [utility] trucks heading to New Orleans to restore the electricity. Fortunately, I missed the flight, because it was the night of the big storm in New York.
Johnny booked me into the Clarion Inn and rescheduled my flight to New York. The flight included a transfer in Atlanta. When I got to my gate in Pensacola I was greeted by Kelly, the daughter of my friend Chalon. She was going to be on my flight to Atlanta. Kelly took me under her wing and when we got to the large Atlanta airport, she escorted me to my gate. I felt like I had been touched by an angel.
My next flight included another miracle. When I boarded the plane with 250 passengers I sat next to Ann. Ann is the cousin of Madeline, one of our new staff at Cabrini High School. We had wonderful conversations and she, too, took me under her wing. Ann would not let me out of her sight until I had picked up my luggage and had met up with my driver in New York. I had once again been touched by an angel.
I had so many people praying for me. The Lord heard every one of their prayers. Yes, prayer works.