CAMERON PARISH — A “Blessing of the Coast” took place at the Historic Shrine of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cameron by His Excellency, The Most Reverend Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, on Sunday, May 31, 2026.
The blessing followed the annual “Mass to Avert Storms” — this year on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity — in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Life Center in Creole to pray for protection from storms during the 2026 Hurricane Season (June 1 – November 30).
At the Shrine, those gathered sang Immaculate Mary before Bishop Provost led all in praying the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto before he sprinkled everyone with holy water.
The same year Bishop Provost was installed as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Lake Charles in 2007, it was the 50th anniversary year of Hurricane Audrey when more than 500 people were killed on June 27, 1957.
“I remember it very well and the devastation that you experienced here in Cameron Parish. I was 8 years old at the time,” he said. “When I came to the Diocese, I was immediately requested to visit the burial sites of those who had died in Hurricane Audrey,” he recalled. “You know better than anyone else what that catastrophe meant.”
The communities of Oak Grove, Holly Beach, Grand Chenier and Little Chenier bore the brunt of Audrey’s fury and were almost completely wiped off the map, according to a newspaper report. More than 400 were killed in Cameron Parish alone.
“I visited all the mass graves in the region where the victims were buried and offered prayers for the repose of the souls of those who had died,” Bishop Provost shared.
In the years following Hurricane Audrey, The Most Reverend Maurice Schexnayder, second Bishop of the Lafayette Diocese, commissioned Enrico Randi to sculpt a shrine honoring the deadly storm’s victims. The seven-foot marble statue depicts a young woman with her left arm around her daughter’s shoulders as they stare out into the Gulf of Mexico. The shrine was consecrated on October 6, 1963.
“As you know, the images of Mary and the child are based upon images of people who were killed in Hurricane Audrey,” the bishop remarked.
At the request of Bishop Provost in 2013, the Shrine of Our Lady Star of the Sea 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.
“We gather together on this day to invoke intercession of our Blessed Mother, Our Lady Star of the Sea, for protection during the upcoming hurricane season,” the bishop remarked as he thanked Rev. Jerish George, Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Creole and St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Big Lake, for his hospitality. “May God protect us through this hurricane season and may our Blessed Mother’s prayers accompany us for that purpose.”
Prayer for Protection
during Hurricane Season
By The Most Reverend Maurice Schexnayder
Second Bishop of Lafayette
Written in 1957 following Hurricane Audrey
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. Spares us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seems 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 storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
