in 1815, three years after the disastrous fire. General Andrew Jackson's 6,000 American troops faced 15,000 British soldiers on the plains of Chalmette. On the eve of the Battle of New Orleans, New Orleans residents joined the Ursuline sisters at their convent in the French Quarter to pray throughout the night, imploring the help of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. On the morning of January 8, the Very Rev. William Dubourg, Vicar General, offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed. Cannon fire could be heard from the chapel. The Prioress of the Ursuline convent, Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, made a vow to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung annually should the American forces win. At the very moment of communion, a courier ran into the chapel to inform all those present that the British had been defeated. They had become confused by a fog and wandered into a swamp. The Mass ended with the singing of the Te Deum. An annual Mass of Thanksgiving has been held January 8 ever since. The 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans occurred in 2015, and commemorative events were held. Pontifical approbations On 21 September 1851, Pope Pius IX authorized the devotion and celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Prompt Succor and the singing of the yearly Mass of Thanksgiving on January 8. On 21 June 1894, Pope Leo XIII approved the Canonical Coronation of the wooden image with an accompanying Papal bull from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and was carried out by Archbishop Francis Janssens on 10 November 1895. The gold and precious stones for the crowns were donated by the people of New Orleans. On 28 April 1897, same Pontiff issued a papal document erecting the Confraternity of Our Lady of Prompt Succor elevating their status to the rank of Archconfraternity. On 13 June 1928, Pope Pius XI declared the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor as the Patroness of Louisiana. The request was granted from a petition by the Archbishop of New Orleans, John William Shaw; Bishop of Alexandria, Cornelius Van de Ven; and, Bishop of Lafayette, Jules B. Jeanmard. The papal decree was executed and signed by Cardinal Camillo Laurenti of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Interpretation According to Michael Pasquier, promotion