May 11, 1991 saw the saga of a little girl, now an elegant lady, a statue given in honor of the little girl at a time when she was gravely injured.
It was on that Saturday afternoon that a statue of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” came to find its new resting place in St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in the community of Gheens in Central Lafourche. Parishioners of the church and family members of the little girl gathered for a Mass to once again dedicate the statue and hear the story of its coming into being.
The story begins just after the turn of the century – 1903 to be exact, when the little girl, May Ayo, was taken to Gheens by her mother, Alida Lepine Ayo, the wife of Dr. Jack Ayo, from their home in Raceland. Mrs. Ayo and her daughter journeyed to Gheens in a horse-drawn carriage for a visit to a dressmaker. While Mrs. Ayo was being attended to by the dressmaker, the infant May remained in the yard in the charge of a young nursemaid.
Suddenly, possibly frightened by a snake, horses in the yard reared. The action of the horses frightened the nursemaid who dropped May on the ground and ran. In the panic which ensued, one of the horses stepped on May’s face. The blow from the horse left May on the ground unconscious and hemorrhaging from the eye, ear, nose, and mouth.
May was quickly taken to the home of her paternal grandmparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Ayo, who lived in Gheens. Dr. Ayo, May’s father who practiced medicine in Central Lafourche for many years, believed his daughter was critically injured and could not survive what , in those days, would have been an arduous trip to New Orleans for the medical care needed to treat the injuries.
Dr. Ayo called some of his doctor friends in New Orleans who were specialists and asked them to come to Gheens to treat his injured daughter. The New Orleans doctors hastily made the trip, but upon examining the still unconscious May they rendered a most unwelcomed prognosis.
The doctors saw that all of the bones on the left side of May’s face were crushed and her eye had been severely damafged. “All you can do is make her comfortable. It would be a miracle if she lives,” the doctors said.
May’s mother, who had a great devotion to our Blessed Mother, must have believed in miracles. It seems she definitely believed in the power of prayer. Mr. Ayo called the family together, including May’s two older brothers Jack and Hubert, to pray for their sister.
The family prayed before the picture of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” which hung in May’s grandparent’ home. The prayers asked the Blessed Mother to petition her son, Jesus, to save May’s life. Alida, May’s mother, then made a promise that if May lived, she would place a statue of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” in the family’s church parish in Raceland.
Whithin hours, the hemorrhaging stopped and May spoke her oldest brother’s name, “Jack.” In just a few days, May’s face was normal and she could see out of her right eye. May was healed. A real Miracle had taken place in Gheens!
The little girl whom some doctors believed would perish did not. She grew up and later married Harvey Peltier and moved to Thibodaux where she had five children, 25 grandchildren and, on the day the statue was re-dedicated, 45 great-grandchildren.
“Our Lady of Prompt Succor” has also been credited with other miracles in South Louisiana as a result of prayer and the religious devotion of area residents. In January 1815, a large contingent of British troops threatened to overrun New Orleans by defeating a small American army directed by General Andrew Jackson. Many of the women of New Orleans fled and sought refuge in the Ursuline Convent. There, in the chapel with the Ursuline nuns, prayers were offered to “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” and on the next morning, January 8, notice was received that General Jackson and his forces had defeated the British, thus saving New Orleans from almost certain destruction.
Prayers to “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” have been credited with saving the Ursuline Convent and surrounding area from a fire that consumed much of the city in 1812. One of the sisters placed a statue of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” in a window of the convent before fleeing the fire while another nun prayed aloud, “Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to your help or we are lost.” Just then the wind changed and the convent was saved from the fire.”
Once it was evident that May’s life had been miraculously saved, her mother, Alida Ayo, went immediately to the pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Raceland to offer the statue she had promised. But, there she was told St. Mary’s didn’t have room for another statue. Mrs. Ayo then went to Lockport to make the same offer. The Priest at Holy Savior Church replied similarly as had the Raceland Priest – there is no room for another statue. It appeared her promise would be unfulfilled.
After a few years, Alida Ayo thought of offering the statue to St. Anthony’s, the small mission church in Gheens. That offer was graciously accepted and the statue was happily put in St. Anthony’s. It seems that Gheens was where “Our Lady of Prompt Succor’ wanted to be – hence the refusal by the other churches was in her plans.
Although the statue had found a home in Gheens, turbulent times were still ahead of it.
In the 1920’s a severe storm destroyed St. Anthony’s church. Miraculously, only the statue of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” was left standing. Mrs. Lillie Sampey Louviere, who lived near the church, took the statue into her home for safekeeping. The statue had a prominent place in the Louviere home where family prayers were said and many favors were granted. Mrs. Louviere returned the statue in 1933 when the church was finally rebuilt.
About 1945 the statue was again ousted from St. Anthony’s. A priest judged there was no longer room for it in the church and gave the statue to Mrs. Esther Matherne, Mrs. Louviere’s daughter.
Mrs. Matherne cared for the statue with much love and devotion. Many rosaries were said at the foot of the statue. Often, members of the Matherne family would carry the statue to the front porch of the family home and prayers were said there.
In 1989 members of May’s family learned from Deacon Moore and Aline Barker that a statue of “Our Lady of Victory” had just been returned to the church by Mrs. Matherne. Mrs. Matherne had felt that the statue should be in the church.
May’s family members traveled to St. Anthony’s at the invitation of Deacon Moore and spoke with Mrs. Matherne. Then the story of how the Matherne family had come to be in the possession of the statue was relayed and how it had been taken care of. Mrs. Matherne said she had always thought the statue was “Our Lady of Victory.”
The statue was photographed and the pictures were sent to the National Shrine of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” at the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans. There, it was verified that the statue was indeed “Our Lady of Prompt Succor.” Statues of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” and “Our Lady of Victory” are quite similar, so it is easy to understand the confusion over the identification.
Time had taken its toll on the statue, so May commissioned Mrs. Mary Robichaux Boudreaux of St. Charles to restore it to its original beauty. It has been given a prominent place in St. Anthony’s Church. May and her family are convinced that “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” has come home at last and wants devotion to her spread throughout this community.
No one knows why the Blessed Mother chose the Gheens community to have her son perform one of his miracles, but we rejoice in the fact that she wants to be here among us. We pray that devotion to our Blessed Mother under her special title of “Our Lady of Prompt Succor” will spread in a special way in Gheens and the surrounding area.
