Late August 2005
The largest and third-strongest hurricane in American history made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina arrived with 175-mile-per-hour winds, a 20-foot storm surge, and destruction spread across 90,000 square miles. By the time she made landfall, her winds had weakened to 125 miles per hour. The death toll reached 1,836. Louisiana bore the worst of it. Mississippi lost 238.
Diann, her daughter Tayler, and their dog Angel made it out. This is their story.
Diann
Diann’s home was completely destroyed — submerged under nine and a half feet of water. The water stayed in her house for over three weeks.
For those first three weeks, Diann, her daughter Tayler, and their dog Angel evacuated to Alabama to stay with family. From there they made their way to Santa Fe, New Mexico, moving in with her Nanaine — French for “godmother.” Santa Fe became home for the next nine months.
Diann made two trips back to New Orleans to handle personal business. She needed to apply for a federal grant to rebuild and fill out the paperwork for a FEMA trailer. Once she got clearance, they moved back. The trailer sat in her driveway while the house was restored.
The Holy Encounter
Diann, a single mother, was devastated — so devastated that all she had left was prayer. She visited the Eucharistic Adoration chapel at her local parish regularly. The chapel had sustained significant water damage from Hurricane Katrina, and as a result, the paint was scaling off the statue of Mary.
After Katrina, Diann returned to the chapel for private prayer. She had been sitting and praying for about fifteen minutes when she looked up at the statue of Mary and, with tears in her eyes, cried out, “I’m lost. I don’t know what to do. I need help!”
Suddenly, she heard a distinct, soft voice say, “Make me pretty again.”
Diann looked around the chapel to find where the voice was coming from, but she was completely alone. Just as she began to wonder whether she was losing her mind, the soft voice repeated, “Make me pretty again.”
“Mother Mary,” Diann whispered, “are you speaking to me?”
A third time, she heard it: “Make me pretty again.” (1 Samuel 3, John 20)
She prayed quietly, “Mother Mary, I truly don’t know what to do. What would you like me to do?”
Then she heard a single word — repeated three times: “Michael. Michael. Michael.”
She remained in the chapel a few more minutes, sitting with the mystery of what she had received. She knew this had been a holy encounter, something that had lifted her into a new spiritual awareness. Yet she left with a heavy heart, unable to understand what the name Michael meant.
She turned it over and over in her mind — Michael, Michael, Michael — until suddenly, a revelation broke through: Three Michaels. Oh! Michaels — the craft store!
Without wasting a moment, she drove straight there. She found an employee and asked where she could find supplies for painting religious statues. For eight dollars, Diann walked out with everything she needed.
Special Permission
Diann knew she needed special permission to carry out this commission from God. She contacted the president of the men’s group at the parish for guidance. His first question was direct: “Have you ever painted before?”
“No, sir,” she answered honestly.
He told her he would need to check with the pastor first. By the providence of God, permission was granted. Diann had no idea what she was up against — but she was obedient to the words spoken to her.
Doing Work Unto the Lord
The statue of Mary was moved to a back room, and Diann got to work — talking to Mary, as she always does. When she finished, she stepped back and considered the cloak. The original color was slate gray, and something about it felt too dark. Then she heard it: “Blue.”
“Oh, I can do blue highlights!” she responded.
She completed the work through much prayer. From there, she moved on to the crucifix — touching up and repainting Jesus’ legs, chest, and Crown of Thorns, then adding gold highlights to His hair.
The Blessing
Diann had already been taken advantage of by two unscrupulous out-of-town contractors, losing $14,000 by trusting strangers with her property. Then, within a week of completing the repainting of Mary and the crucifix, she was approved for a $150,000 grant through the Road Home program — established by President Bush to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives. The grant she received was the largest amount available. Not everyone was so fortunate.
Catholic Charities
Through Catholic Charities, volunteers from Kansas City and California came to her rescue. These generous souls removed all the mold and stripped the house down to its original studs — her beloved New Orleans Colonial Cottage reduced to bare bones. The work took three days. But Diann’s beautiful 100-year-old floors had warped severely, and it took her a full year to find an honest contractor. By then, the floors had dried out on their own — and the original one-and-a-half-inch antique heart pine floors were saved. One more blessing added to the rest.
Giving Back
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Diann wanted to give back. She began driving through her neighborhood, seeking out damaged religious statues in need of care. Working from the table in her FEMA trailer, she lovingly restored them one by one. To date, she has restored more than 100 statues — each one offered freely as a gift to the homeowner.
Eucharistic Adoration
At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the Eucharist as His body and blood.
Catholics practice Eucharistic Adoration to draw closer to Jesus. And where Jesus is, Mary is never far — for it was from her that our Lord received His flesh. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus took His human nature entirely from Mary, and in His outward appearance, He bore her likeness.
Mary was immaculately conceived — preserved from all stain of original sin from the first moment of her existence — because she was divinely chosen to be the Mother of God. She has been fittingly compared to the Ark of the Covenant: just as the Ark carried the presence of God, Mary carried God Himself within her womb.
Eucharistic Adoration draws us into that same mystery. In the silence before the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord reaches out to us — not through words, but through presence. The fruit of that encounter is peace, and something deeper still: we begin, slowly, to become more like Him.
A Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament
Dear Lord, may we all learn to adore You. Allow us to hear Your still, small voice. May we be obedient to the gentle promptings of Your most precious Mother, Mary. Amen.
