Photos courtesy Susan Hingle

UPTOWN -- It is anything but Ordinary Time on State Street.

On a normal week, the chapel at Ursuline Academy sees modest traffic. Yet on this Holy Week there has been an extraordinary bustle of pilgrims to this National Shrine of Our Lady Prompt Succor.  Here, the sacred prayer of the Lenten Triduum is made holier by a collection of shadows the Faithful identify as a visage of Jesus. Others may be tempted to identify it as the reflection of a chandelier.

It was a student who tipped off the commotion.  While praying in the chapel, she asked God to give her a sign.  It seems that the end of her prayers brought her attention to a previously unnoticed shadow at the bottom of a sanctuary pillar. One need not stretch to see a bearded face in that shadow, the pilgrims reason.

The face of Jesus in miraculous form is a phenomenon that spans Christian history and geography.  When Saint Veronica encountered Jesus along the Via Dolorosa en route to Calvary, she wiped the sweat from his face with her veil. As the Gospel of Matthew tells it, the image of his face was emblazoned on the cloth.

Since the sweaty Veil of Veronica, Jesus has appeared in other unlikely places—a piece of toast, Walmart receipts, crumpets and freshly laundered socks.  It does not seem so far-fetched, then, to imagine that Jesus would pay homage to a New Orleans chapel during the Lenten season.   

I was on the steps of the chapel when Shane Nicoll and Ricky Bozeman caught my eye. Clad in construction hats, the duo stood out in a sea of church clothes and school uniforms. I learned they were working on the fitness center at the school next door. This was Bozeman’s second pilgrimage, Nicoll’s first. 

 “I got married in Kenner, and a week after I got married there was a picture of Mary with blood coming from her eyes,” said Nicoll. “The Vatican came and confirmed it; that was a miracle.” 

That was in 1996.  Nicoll’s history with miraculous icons means that he is awaiting confirmation from religious authorities before he will call the shadow Jesus.  The pair spent only minutes in the chapel.  Their response, in unison, “WOW.”  This double wow may not have come from the Vatican, but is sure sings a miracle. 

Others needed less confirmation, letting the image speak for itself.  Sue and Bob Moreci of Metairie caught word of the shadow from their daughter.  The couple was in town for grandparents’ day at St. Christopher, and brought their 6-year old grandson to see the image. 

“It makes you feel so close to Him,” said Sue.  “It gives me a sense of peace.” 

Perhaps that peace is why Sue was more content than I was to have walked away without a decent photo from inside the dimly lit chapel.  “It doesn’t seem to come out.  I don’t think he wants to be photographed.” 

That may be the case, but Susan Hingle of Chalmette snapped a few.  She left work in Jefferson Parish to visit the chapel, and sat with me on the steps afterward. 

Her experience, in a word, “Overwhelming, but not in the dreadful sense.” 

In a lifetime in the Catholic tradition, this is the first time that Hingle has seen anything like this.

“And this week of all weeks.  I’ve got goose bumps.”