Ok, Irma is coming. Jose is coming right behind her. Please pray this Hurricane Protection Prayer. Catholic parishes in Lake Charles say this prayer regularly during hurricane season, roughly June 1 through November 30. Look at the track of Hurricane Harvey. It went up the coast of Texas, headed for Louisiana and then: nothing. It turned aside. We were spared in Lake Charles.
Doubters: you can believe what you want to believe. I’ll believe what I want to believe. I believe we should all swallow our pride and ask for Divine Protection. Ok?
“O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your orders and returned to its former quietude. You are still the Master of the land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control: the Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awaken from its seeming lethargy, and overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.
During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies, whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son on our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area, and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem, where a stormless eternity awaits us. Amen.”
Penned by The Most Reverend Maurice Schexnayder, Bishop of Lafayette, in 1957, following Hurricane Audrey.
Please join the parishes in the Lake Charles diocese in saying this prayer. Share with everyone you know, especially those in the regions in the path of Irma, and anyone near the Gulf of Mexico.
PS: If anyone has a better image of this holy card, please share it. This is a cell phone picture I took.
PPS: Do any of my Lake Charles friends know: When did the Diocese start saying this prayer? How many hurricanes have hit Lake Charles since 1957? I know we had Rita in 2005, but none since then. Locals, please add to my knowledge here!
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