Meet the ‘little Cajun saint’ beloved by a Louisiana community hoping for her canonization

The Vatican is continuing to investigate the cause for canonization for Servant of God Charlene Richard, a young Catholic girl from Louisiana who offered her suffering from leukemia up for the sake of others before her death in 1959. 

Every year, pilgrims make the journey to St. Edward Catholic Church Cemetery in Richard, Louisiana where Richard — known locally as the “little Cajun saint” — is buried, to ask for her intercession. One such pilgrim in 2024 was Sophie Stansbury, an expectant mother from New York whose unborn daughter had been diagnosed with life-limiting and severe brain abnormalities, according to outlet KPEL965. In November 2024, when she was 33 weeks pregnant, Stansbury traveled to St. Edward’s and prayed for Richard’s intercession. She had also prayed a novena to the Servant of God in October. 

On December 27, Stansbury announced on Facebook that she had delivered her baby and that an MRI scan showed that there were “no signs of the predicted abnormalities,” according to KPEL965. The parents named the baby after Servant of God Charlene Richard.

Richard was born in 1947 and was the second oldest of ten children, according to an article by Colleen Schena for the National Eucharistic Revival. As a Catholic growing up in Louisiana, she lived an “ordinary” life, as many would put it, going to school, playing basketball, attending Mass often, and praying the rosary daily. However, when she was 12 years old, she was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia; and in the face of this deep suffering, she displayed extraordinary charity, according to Schena. 

Following the diagnosis, Richard went to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. There, the hospital chaplain introduced her to the example of redemptive suffering given by St. Therese of Lisieux, who died at 24 years old from tuberculosis.

According to Schena, Richard was deeply inspired by this example and offered her sufferings “for the conversion of specific souls and for the healing of family, friends, and members of her community.”

Father Korey LaVergne, pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church, told Louisiana First News in a July 10 interview that from Richard’s prayers, people “were either healed physically, spiritually, emotionally.” 

Richard died Aug. 11, 1959. After her death, her family continued to receive many reports of miraculous healings attributed to Richard’s intercession. 

If canonized, Richard would be the first saint from Louisiana. 

“She was just a Cajun girl who loved God, who loved her family, who loved her friends, and just did everything the best she could,” Fr. LaVergne said.

Speaking to Louisiana First News about the lengthy canonization process, Brian Pedraza, the theology director at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University in Baton Rouge, also spoke about how meaningful such a canonization would be for the Louisiana community.

“Just to have somebody that is one of our own people,” he said, “that would be incredible.”

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