RICHARD, La. (KLFY) -- The Vatican has officially accepted and approved the investigation into the life of Charlene Richard, “the Little Cajun Saint.”

Charlene, a Richard native, died from acute lymphatic leukemia when she was just 12 years old. She is most known for offering her suffering up for others and their prayer intentions. 

Reverend Korey LaVergne of St. Edward Roman Catholic Church, where Charlene is buried, said this is a step forward in Charlene officially being declared a saint in the Catholic Church.

“It’s kind of a feather in the cap of the Acadian people because even though she's not declared formally a saint yet, this is a big step,” LaVergne said. “When you think about the Vatican, all the libraries and the archives, her story is now in that library with the story of Mother Teresa, with the story of St. Augustine, with the story of St. Thomas Aquinas, all these saints of the church.”

“Now, there is a little 12-year-old Cajun girl. Her story is in that library now,” LaVergne said. “And so as long as the Catholic Church is here, her story will be preserved. And the story of the faith of the Acadian people.”

LaVergne said he was updated earlier this summer, nearly a year after the Church opened Charlene’s cause. 

“After they opened it, they examined all those documents over a thousand pages…” Rev. LaVergne said. “Now, the Vatican formally begins their investigation into the life and the heroic virtue of Charlene.”

Rev. LaVergne explained that in the investigation, a nun specializing in the causes of saints will go through years’ worth of investigations into Charlene’s life. She will then draft a position of the church detailing who Charlene was and her heroic virtues. 

“So, she's putting together that position now to present to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints,” LaVergne said. “They’re going to sit down and read that position, and then they'll vote saying, ‘Yes, we think there's something meaningful here. The Holy Spirit's working.’ Or they'll send it back to say, ‘You know, look for more information or get clarifications.’”

If the Church proves her virtue, a miracle through her intercession will also need to be proven to move forward. 

“A miracle is a standard used by the church to say that something that has no explanation was done by the power of God,” LaVergne said.

During that next step, anthropologists, doctors and other specialists are asked to give a reasonable explanation for the unexplainable happenings that the faithful attribute to Charlene’s intercession.

When asked what miracles are listed in the pages sent to the Vatican, he said, “We can’t share the details, not because we keep it a secret, but because we don’t want to interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit.” 

However, the thousands of people that visit her grave each year could tell you. 

“We have so many stories of people writing in, sharing to us that say, ‘I prayed for this healing, and it happened.’”

Once a miracle is verified, she will be named “beatified.” 

“Once they're beatified, it's not like they're 90% a saint or like 99% a saint,” LaVergne said. “It's not like, ‘Oh, we're not sure.’ It's that we have a well-found belief that they are in heaven. But then we want to give the Holy Spirit the chance to confirm what we already hold to be true.”

The Holy Spirit would then confirm through another miracle. That miracle has to occur after she’s beatified. Then, she would be recognized Church-wide as a saint.  

However, the local church has called her the “Little Cajun Saint” for decades. 

“A lot of times, both myself and the people, we have to remember to be surprised when somebody tells us this amazing thing that happens because the awesome is just ordinary out here,” LaVergne said. “Because Charlene just works so hard. She loves the Acadian people so much, and if you ask her for a favor from God, she is she's going to make it happen.”

“We’re hoping that soon the whole world will know what we know," LaVergne said. "That Charlene is a saint, and heaven intercedes on her behalf."

LaVergne said these advancements in Charlene’s cause are not just good for the Catholic Church, they’re also good for Acadiana. 

“Because it’s not about just about what we believe, it's also about what's in the DNA of the Acadian people. And, yes, Catholicism is deeply rooted in our Cajun blood, but it's these people that produce this heroic young girl like Charlene," said LaVergne. “If you're looking for somebody to be healed- both physically, spiritually and mentally- that's what she's interested in doing for us. That's what she's interested in bringing to God on our behalf, to heal our broken hearts and our broken bodies. Charlene is an intercessor of hope.” 

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