Servant of God Charlene Richard

Born: January 13, 1947
Death: August 11, 1959
Cause for Canonization Opened: January 2020
Declared Servant of God: January 11, 2020

Servant of God Charlene Marie Richard, born in Louisiana in 1947, is lovingly known as “the Little Cajun Saint.”. Described as an “average child,” who could sometimes be “troublesome,” Charlene lived an ordinary childhood — second eldest of ten children, known for playing basketball for her middle school, attending Mass regularly at her home parish of St. Edward Church, and her devotion to Our Lady and the rosary. At age 12, Charlene was diagnosed with terminal acute lymphatic leukemia and hospitalized at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Passing just two weeks after diagnosis, she offered her daily aches and pains for the conversion of specific souls or for the healing of family and friends. After her death, letters recounting unlikely conversions, impossible healings, and answered prayers flooded the family’s mailbox. In 1975 there was a renewed devotion to her intercession and her gravesite is one of pilgrimage for families seeking comfort or healing.

Read her story of “ordinary” life and extraordinary faith here. 

Resource:

• Prayer for the Canonization of Servant of God Charlene Richard