The United States Council of Catholic Bishops voted today to advance the causes for sainthood of three Servants of God. Among these is a young girl from Louisiana named Charlene Marie Richard.
Charlene was born in Richard, LA in 1947. Adults who knew her considered her to be smart, but otherwise unremarkable. In May of 1959, after reading a book about St. Therese of Lisieux, she asked her grandmother whether she, too, could become a Saint by praying like Therese.
After Charlene reported appearances of a tall woman in black who vanishes and her teacher saying that she was not herself, she was taken to a doctor and diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia. She was hospitalized. The hospital chaplain was given the task of informing her that she was going to die. Though the illness was painful, she remained cheerful and offered up her suffering to God. The chaplain, a newly ordained priest named Joseph Brennan, was impressed by her faith and visited her daily.
While dying, Charlene prayed for others to be healed or to be converted. Fr. Brennan and Director of Pediatrics, Sister Theresita Crowley, reported that those for whom she prayed recovered from their illnesses or became Catholic. She died on August 11, 1959, just two weeks after her diagnosis. She was just 12 years old.
Belief in Charlene's sanctity started spreading in Louisiana shortly after her death and by 1972 prayer cards with a picture of her and a prayer for her canonization were in circulation. By 1989, hundreds of people were visiting her grave each week and a booklet had been published with testimonials of people who believed that they had benefited from her prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment