Bishop Glen John Provost will be the celebrant of the “Mass to Avert Storms” on Sunday, May 31, the day before the beginning of the 2026 Hurricane Season. The annual Mass will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Life Center. The church hall is located at 5250 West Creole Highway, Cameron, LA 70631.
Immediately following, a vehicle procession will journey a short distance to the Historic Shrine of Our Lady Star of the Sea, 135 Our Lady Road, in Cameron, where the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto, blessings, and the Prayer for Protection during Hurricane Season will be recited. The Shrine has been granted the privilege of inserting the invocation of “Star of the Sea” in the Litany.
The Shrine enjoys, with papal approval, the same spiritual privileges as would a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, one of the four major basilicas in the Eternal City. The pilgrimage provides a plenary indulgence with the fulfillment of certain requirements, including recent confession, reception of Holy Communion, prayers for the Holy Father, and the recitation of the Creed.
This “spiritual bond” was granted — at the request of Bishop Provost — by His Eminence, Santos Abril y Castelló, the Cardinal Archpriest of the Basilica and His Eminence, Emmanuel Cardinal Montero de Castro, the Cardinal Apostolic Penitentiary following Bishop Provost’s 2012 ad limina visit to the Holy See.
Bishop Provost has asked that during the Hurricane Season of 2026, the faithful of the Diocese of Lake Charles pray the following prayer, composed in 1957 by the Most Reverend Maurice Schexnayder, Second Bishop of Lafayette, following Hurricane Audrey:
Prayer for Protection
during Hurricane Season
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of 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 awake from its seeming lethargy, 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 in 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.
