january august year old roman catholic girl residing richard louisiana united_states time death richard focus popular belief saint person heaven performed number roman_catholic_church given official approval begun processes leading local catholic clergy officials permitted promoted participated popular richard life final illness richard second oldest children born adults children knew considered smart devout catholic customary local community richard mother said liked sports busy went church said normal little girl reading book asked grandmother saint praying like reporting appearances tall woman black teacher recommending mother took physician result weeks death diagnosed acute hospitalized lady louisiana request family informed hospital chaplain newly ordained catholic priest going die illness painful remained cheerful accepted fate offered suffering god deeply impressed faith visited daily dying richard prayed individuals healed converted catholicism director hospital nun witnessed calm acceptance suffering prayers claimed richard prayed recovered illnesses catholic richard died august belief richard saint death began telling people richard richard family aware belief special catholic priest time chaplain close friend began praying richard assigned parish assigned parish richard louisiana richard burial place year discovered need raise money build new church says invited began speaking achieved grace died need money build new church parish people started going grave said began sending checks build church thought years took early late 1960s latest prayer cards marked private devotion photograph richard prayer prayer circulation copies frequently sent individuals need help series articles richard newspaper diocese spread cult republished booklet saint southwest louisiana individuals believed benefited prayer richard added booklet republished widespread belief formed area richard heaven people prayers answered belief spread outside area hundreds people visiting richard grave week illuminated visits occur evening box provided leave written petitions richard anniversary death year outdoor mass held attended thousand people covered louisiana television stations reported newspapers louisiana dallas houston miami orlando albany seattle media coverage resulted knowledge richard spreading world wide interest expressed yugoslavia croatia australia africa approximately thousand people attended anniversary masses attending thousands come grave year including chartered buses new_orleans church position official procedures begun richard began collecting reputed help obtained unlike traditional support saint begins popular devotion later recognized church support richard began outside immediate home area promoted clergy beginning bishop diocese time death visited grave multiple times referred saint bishop diocese presided anniversary mass sixteen priests diocese approved creation private organization spread story
Charlene Richard