A Cajun Saint

I went over to St. Leo's Church last night in Leonville, Louisiana to hear some folks talk about Charlene Richard. Charlene was a young girl from Richard, Louisiana (a tiny little community) and she died nearly 50 years ago.

She was diagnosed with advanced leukemia and didn't last very long in the hospital at the age of 16. But her maturity and piety during this painfully illness touched everyone around her. Each day, she chose to offer her pain up as a prayer for others who were sick. When the hospital priest would visit her in her room each day, she would ask, "Who am I offering the pain up for today, Father?"

After her death, there was a lot of talk about her being a saint.

Catholics pray to God. But Catholics also pray to saints to intercede for them. You see, we don't believe that saints perform miracles but we believe that they are with God and can intercede on our behalf to him. Sort of a "Can you ask the Big Guy for a favor?"

Many people began to pray to Charlene for help. And many say they've received help.

Some people think of saints as being perfect individuals who lived these incredible lives. But Catholics talk about the "communion of saints" --- the joining of the good (and not necessarily perfect) here alive with the good who have died before us.

The local bishop has started an investigation into whether or not there is merit in petitioning the Church to declare Charlene a saint. Part of this process includes finding people from all over the world who have been touched by her.

Surprisingly, people from across the country and across the world have visited Charlene's grave and asked for information about her.

In the last year or so, an orphanage in Thailand has had a guest house built there for missionaries and medical helpers to stay in while they are there helping. The facility is called Sarnelli-House and the guest house is the Charlene Richard House.

It was built with donations from Cajuns here in Louisiana and is funded by donations. It takes about $500 per month to run the house. That is staffing and all expenses. It costs about $40 a day to take care of the average child there. Many have to take AIDs medication every 12 hours.

Most communities won't let families with AIDs use the common village well. So some of the money goes to putting in wells to help those families.

Anyone wanting to help can make donations to:

Family Thais Outreach of Acadiana, Inc (FTOA)
307 Keeney Avenue
Lafayette, LA 70501

The children there know about Charlene and pray for her help. Most of them suffer from diseases like AIDs and tuberculosis. It is run by an American, Father Mike Shea, CSsR. And they need more than just prayers. They need our help just to live.

I don't know if Charlene will be declared a saint. But in her short life, her memory and influence is seen even as far as northern Thailand.

More information about her life and what has happened since is found at http://www.charlenerichard.com. There, you can write for free prayer cards as well as order a book about her life.