Family credits 'Little Cajun Saint' for healthy 'miracle child' born after dire diagnosis

(OSV News) -- A young Catholic family in New York state is crediting their newborn baby's apparent healing in the womb from a potentially fatal diagnosis to the intercession of Charlene Marie Richard, a devout Catholic girl who died of leukemia in Louisiana -- and is now on the path to possible sainthood.

The news was made public recently in social media postings by St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard, Louisiana -- the Catholic parish in which Charlene Richard was raised. OSV News confirmed the news directly with the parents. OSV News is not identifying them at this time in response to their temporary request for privacy as they adjust to life with their newborn.

According to St. Edward's social media posts, which conveyed information the family shared with the parish, the baby's parents began seeking Richard's help after receiving a devastating diagnosis at the baby's 20-week ultrasound. The scan showed the baby had severe ventriculomegaly, in which the brain's ventricles are swollen due to cerebrospinal fluid. The baby also had pontocerebellar hypoplasia, a term covering a group of conditions that lead to impaired brain development, intellectual disability and mobility issues.

The St. Edward's posts revealed the family learned their baby's diagnosis meant one of two things: "a severely disabled life or early infant death."

Known locally as "the Little Cajun Saint," Charlene Richard died in 1959 at the age of 12, offering her final days of suffering from acute lymphatic leukemia for various individuals and their intentions. Witnesses, including hospital chaplain Father Joseph Brennan, testified to Richard's cheerful demeanor and steadfast faith as she faced death at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette. Thousands have since visited her tomb and sought her intercession.

Richard's cause for sainthood was opened in January 2020 by Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette, Louisiana, and endorsed by the U.S. bishops the following year.

After having been told that abortion was "the merciful option" given the severity of the baby's prognosis, the New York Catholic family prayed a novena to Richard. St. Edward's post then relayed it was afterward, at an Oct. 28 follow-up ultrasound, the parents learned that one of the baby's two brain abnormalities "was completely resolved."

According to St. Edward's post, the mother said, "Inspired by what we found, I flew down to Richard, LA to ask for Charlene's help one more time." She added, "I met (there) some of the loveliest people who I now call family, and we all prayed at her gravesite."

Then, upon the baby's birth Dec. 27, the parents discovered they had "just a healthy little girl." According to the information in St. Edward's post, the results were confirmed after 15 hours in the neonatal intensive care unit. A head ultrasound and MRI "showing no signs of brain abnormalities."

St. Edward Parish posted a picture of the baby, whom the parents named "Charlene Marie" in honor of the "Little Cajun Saint." It relayed the family's thanks to Charlene Richard and to everyone who prayed for "our little miracle child."

OSV News has contacted Father Korey LaVergne, St. Edward's pastor, and is awaiting a response to its request for comment on the apparent healing.

Richard is currently deemed a "Servant of God." A cause for sainthood typically requires two Vatican-approved miracles, one for beatification and a second for canonization.

Any cases submitted as potential miracles would undergo scrutiny by a medical commission, convened by the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints, with specialists -- both believers and non-believers -- examining the evidence for a scientifically inexplicable healing.

Previously, Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis, president of the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations in France, explained to OSV News that such assessments are governed at every stage by seven criteria, which were developed by Cardinal Prospero Lambertini (later Pope Benedict XIV) in his 18th-century work "On the Beatification of the Servants of God and the Canonization of the Blessed."

The first task is to establish a correct diagnosis, one that, as part of the second criteria, must have a severe prognosis, said de Franciscis.

Four criteria demand that a cure be sudden and unexpected, complete, instantaneous and lasting, and lastly, the cure must have "no known possible explanation," he said.

Whether or not the Vatican ultimately concludes the apparent healing qualifies as a miracle attributed to Richard's intercession, the joy of baby Charlene Marie's healthy birth is shared by the larger community, said Mary-Rose and Ryan Verret, co-founders of the Lafayette, Louisiana-based Witness to Love marriage formation ministry.

"So many people were praying here (for the family), especially children," Mary-Rose Verret told OSV News. "For months, our children have been praying every day on the way to school for the little baby from New York who came to Charlene's grave. And to be able to show them a picture of the baby and say, 'The baby's completely fine,' ..."

The answered prayers are both "a recognition of the Holy Spirit," and "the enduring gift of the saints and miracles in the church today," Ryan Verret said. "It's a beautiful story to tell."