Adapted from:

THE STORY OF A LITTLE GIRL: NENETTE DE GUIGNÉ [ANNE DE GUIGNÉ] BY SISTER MARY VERA, S.N.D. SISTERS COLLEGE OF CLEVELAND P. J. KENEDY & SONS PUBLISHERS With Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1935

ANNE DE GUIGNÉ 1911-1922 BY MOTHER MICHELLE MONTE-TREMBLANT QUEBEC, CANADA 2002

Contents:
INTRODUCTION
PART 1, FAMILY LIFE
PART 2, LOVING THE GOOD GOD
PART 3, UP TO HEAVEN


Introduction

Anne de Guigné was born April 25, 1911 at Annecy-le-Vieux, Savoy, France, to a very happy family who named her Jeanne Marie Josephine Anne; she was Baptized the next day and came to be called Nenette. By the time she was old enough for school she had a very sweet disposition and had many friends, but this had not always been the case:

Even though Nenette had a generous heart, her mother was worried about her when she was very little, for she was often naughty and willful. One day when there was company, Mother told Nenette to pass around a box of chocolates. After the children had all had their share, Mother placed the box high above Nenette's reach and then went on visiting. But Nenette loved sweets and she wanted more candy. She quietly pulled her little table right below the chocolates and then just as quietly placed her little arm chair on the table. Without any noise she climbed up on the table and then on the chair. Just as she was reaching for the longed-for box, her chair scratched the table and all the grown-ups looked around. Mother made Nenette climb down quicker than she had climbed up, while she said to her, "Do you think little Jesus would have done that?"

On Christmas the family always went to Grandfather's house for the day. All the cousins came, too. Grandfather enjoyed giving each one of his grandchildren a beautiful gift. This year he had a pretty little arm chair for Nenette, a table for Renee, and many pretty toys for the others. When Nenette came into the room she saw the table at once. She did not care for the arm chair, but she wanted the table. Each little one was happy to receive his gift and thanked Grandfather, all except Nenette. She did not even look at the arm chair Grandfather handed her, but grabbed the table and started to pull it away from Renee. She pulled and Renee pulled. Mother had to come and tell her little Nenette how ashamed she was of her. Of course, Nenette had to give in again, but she pouted all day. When her little brother Jojo [Jacques] was born Nenette was jealous but eventually became ashamed that she was; so that by the time her younger sisters were born she was happy to have younger siblings. Who was this contented French family?

Her father was Count Jacques de Guigné, a graduate of St. Cyr Military Academy and a second-lieutenant in the 13th Battalion of Alpine Chasseurs: family matters had caused him to leave the army, although he did return to his unit in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War. A devout Catholic with the zeal of an apostle, he studied Church history in view of his children's education, and legal matters to better serve the causes he loved, managing this without depriving his family of his affection. A learned man, he was a lecturer, and a journalist as well as a husband and father; he founded and directed a Catholic youth group in his parish.

His wife was a Catholic with a profound piety, animated by a total dedication to her children's formation. To her, in great part, is due the credit of having contributed by her loving care to the increase of Divine grace in the soul of Nenette. Madame was born Antoinette de Charette on September 19, 1886, the great-niece of Athanase de Charette, the well-known General who led the soldiers of France in the Battle of Patay beneath the banner of the Sacred Heart. Among her more removed ancestors, Anne could venerate and invoke Saint Louis, King of France: her maternal grandmother, Francoise Eulalie Marie Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, was a direct descendant of the sixth son of Saint Louis, Count Robert of Clermont.

This was her heritage, but she was to be its treasure.



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