Thanks to reader Melissa for alerting us to the news that Audrey Santo passed away over the weekend.

After two decades of attracting believers and inspiring others to recommit to their Catholicism, Audrey Marie Santo has died. The 23-year-old was in a coma-like state since she nearly drowned in her family’s pool in 1987, and died Saturday in her home of cardio-respiratory failure, according to her family’s obituary issued by a funeral home.

Visitors to her Worcester home have said statues of Jesus Christ and other religious icons inexplicably oozed oil. Hosts — the wafers representing the body of Christ — reportedly bled. Some said Audrey was able to heal the sick.

Since her accident at the age of four, her family and friends have held an annual healing Mass either at their home or Christ the King Church, where the family attends services.

"Immediately after Audrey’s accident I was faced with a choice to either let this event define me by being a blessing, or destroying my family and myself," Audrey’s mother, Linda Santo, said in a statement issued by the family. "I chose the former, and it continues to be a blessing still. I don’t blame God for the accident. I don’t believe God did this, but I do believe God used this event."

Roman Catholic investigators never established whether Audrey was a miracle worker.

"We may never fully understand the causes of various paranormal events which have been reported to have occurred in their home," Worcester Bishop Robert McManus said in a statement posted on the diocese’s Web site. "At this time, however, one thing is certain. Everyone who visited their home was touched by the unswaying commitment to life that was exhibited each and every day by the Santo family and by the extensive network of friends and volunteers."

McManus will attend Audrey’s funeral Mass, scheduled for Wednesday at St. Paul’s Cathedral. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her father and three siblings.