Venerable Anne de Guigné (1911-1922) was born in Annecy-le-Vieux, Savoy, France to a wealthy family. She was the oldest child of four and by all accounts, a tyrant as a toddler. However, her early years were shadowed by the First World War. Her father was killed in action when she was just 4 years old. After her father’s death, to comfort her mother, she became kind and obedient in everything.
Anne made her First Communion at just 6 years old, which at the time still required a special dispensation because she was so young. Anne had a profound understanding of Jesus’ presence in the Holy Sacrament. She developed a strong personal relationship with Jesus, whether in Mass, after Mass in prayer at the tabernacle, or at home, she declared that she loved to talk with “little Jesus.” The grace of these prayerful conversations gave her a deep understanding of the reciprocal love between Jesus and his faithful.
When Anne was just 8 years old the first symptoms of the disease that would take her life appeared. But though her face was often disfigured from the pain, she offered her suffering as a sacrifice to God. She is attributed with saying, “we have many joys on earth, but they don’t last; the one that lasts is to have made a sacrifice.”
At just 10 years old, Anne died of meningitis. The cause for her sainthood was begun in 1932 and on March 3, 1990, she was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II. Venerable Anne de Guigné, pray for us!