CHURCH POINT, La. — A little girl from the Lafayette area could be on the path to being recognized as a saint. If she is, she would become the first from Louisiana.
“Just pray for us, pray for this cause,” said Fr. Taylor Reynolds of the Diocese of Alexandria, “because at this point it’s in Rome’s hands now.”
Charlene Richard
Charlene Richard was born in the small town of Richard in 1947. At the age of 12, she was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia. Her parents were told she would not survive. They asked the hospital’s chaplain to tell her.
“He went and told her that she was going to be dying,” said Nanette Reiners, President of the Charlene Richard Foundation, “and every day after that day, when he would go to visit her, she would always ask who she was going to suffer for that day. So she offered her suffering for other people.”
Richard died in 1959. Word of her deep faith and desire to help others, even from her deathbed, quickly spread. People began saying that when they asked her for help, their prayers were answered.
Reiners described a pregnant woman who, through a scan, found out her fetus had two severe brain abnormalities.
“She came down to Richard and prayed and went to Charlene’s grave,” she said.
When the woman’s baby was born, she said a new scan showed no signs of the abnormalities. She will be sharing her story at an annual memorial mass for Richard at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard (1463 Charlene Highway) on Monday. The ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m.
Outside of the mass, thousands of people go to the church to visit Richard’s grave each year. Decades ago they began asking whether she may have been a saint.
“For such a young girl, she was very wise,” said Reiners, “she faced her sickness with a faith beyond the abilities of most adults.”
Typically, the Church will consider someone for sainthood if they have performed at least two documented miracles. The Dioceses of Lafayette and Alexandria began gathering evidence of Richard’s in 2020.
“We’ve gotten documents, we’ve talked to witnesses, all kinds of research,” said Fr. Reynolds. He said the final report was more than 1,900 pages long.
They sent it to Vatican City and, in June, got official word that it had been approved.
Now, the Church will decide whether to declare Richard “venerable.” If they do, they will decide whether to beatify her. Then, they will wait for another miracle in her name and, if it appears, she will be considered for sainthood.
Her supporters think she has a good chance. “She’s known all around the world, I’ve mailed prayer cards to probably every state in the United States. I’ve mailed some to other countries like Brazil, Singapore,” said Reiners.
There are 11 American saints already, though Richard would be the first from Louisiana.