Anne (eBook)

"We have many joys on earth, but they don’t last; the one that lasts is to have made a sacrifice."

These are the words of Anne de Guigné, a little French girl born in Annecy-le-Vieux in 1911, who died when she was ten years old. And yet they sound as if they were the wisdom of an old sage; such is the mystery and wonder of little Anne's holiness.

Little Anne was born to a wealthy family, and though she exhibited remarkable intelligence and interest in matters of the Faith, she had a tendency to be bossy and disobedient—so much so that her family nicknamed her "the little tyrant." All that changed when she was four: her father died in the First World War. From then on, she resolved to be holy and good in all her endeavors, and especially obedient to her mother.

"We ourselves have to love the Lord even more, for those who do not love Him."

Little Anne went on to make her First Communion at age six and her Confirmation two weeks later. She grew astoundingly in holiness, coming to be considered by everyone in her family and around her to be a saint. At last, spinal pain that had plagued her since age eight worsened, and she was diagnosed with meningitis. Anne became gravely ill and finally died on January 14, 1922. She had so mastered herself in obedience that she asked the nun at her sickbed permission to join the angels. In 1990, St. John Paul II declared her a venerable. In this short, little book, discover the short, little life of a beautiful girl who made Heaven swoon by her simple humility and supernatural desire for God.