Half-century of prayer: Our Lady statue turns 50

Local Catholics will gather Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of a Morgan City landmark and the prayers for protection it represents.
The Confraternity of Our Lady Star of the Sea will meet Sunday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, exactly half a century after the statue representing her was erected in the Brashear Avenue median near the Spirit of Morgan City shrimp boat.
The day begins with a rosary at 10:15 a.m., followed by a Mass at 11 a.m. and a meal with guest speaker Paul Mclean at St. Joseph Hall.
According to the confraternity, the group began in 1970 with a group that met in members’ homes to pray the rosary. Eventually they moved their gatherings to Holy Cross Catholic Church.
The flood of 1973 prompted the group to pray to Our Lady Star of the Sea for protection. Feeling that their prayers were answered, they became the Our Lady Star of the Sea Rosary Group.
Members decided to commission a statue of Carrara marble to be placed on Brashear Avenue.
Leo Streva organized a raffle, Mayor C.R. Brownell lent his support and Larry Bergeron prepared the foundation and pillar on which the statue would rest.
The statue of Our Lady by Salvi Giorgio of Carrara, Italy, was erected July 27, 1975 and dedicated by New Orleans Archbishop Phillip M. Hannan.
On Aug. 22, 1979, Houma-Thibodaux Bishop Warren L. Boudreaux named the rosary group the Confraternity of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Pope John Paul II gave his apostolic blessing to members of the confraternity on Dec. 22, 1979.
Each May 23, the confraternity prays a nine-day novena for protection during hurricane and flood season.