A NEW SAINT FOR POOR FRANCE

 

Another child who can be compared to Blessed Carlo Acutis, Venerable Matteo Farina, Pablo Maria de la Cruz, and Gaspard Clermont, and other children being considered for canonization, all of whom died prematurely, is SERVANT of GOD ANNE-GABRIELLE CARON, who was born in 2002 in Toulon, France. She was the eldest daughter of a naval officer, Alexandre Caron, and a literature teacher, Marie-Dauphine Caron, one of five children.

From the age of two and a half, her attentiveness to others and her piety were noted. At the age of four, she demonstrated her eagerness to die in order to see God. For a year, in 2006-2007, she traveled to French Guiana with her family. Upon her return, she made sure to welcome and integrate the new students into her first-grade class.

 As a child, long before her illness, Anne-Gabrielle was already showing predispositions to an interiority that she would develop during her illness.  She analyzed everything in relation to love. When she was two and a half years old, her brother François-Xavier was baptized. As she entered the church, Anne-Gabrielle saw a large crucifix on the side, she let go of her grandmother's hand and said: "Jesus, Jesus, He is in pain, I will console Him." 

 In the summer of 2008, her right leg began to cause her pain. The pain worsened. A biopsy performed in February 2009 revealed that she had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare and virulent bone cancer.

”I sometimes tell myself that the Good Lord gives me a lot: the heartache, the chemo, the taste when I am in pain. I would like to know why He chose me and not someone else. It's still a lot. But I'm willing to accept it. I love You my God. " (age 7)

 Hospitalized in Marseille at La Timone Hospital, she underwent intensive chemotherapy. During a period of remission, she made her First Communion and received Confirmation.

She reflected on her suffering and trials, complaining about them several times, but accepted them. She prayed frequently to the Blessed Virgin. Very demanding of herself and those close to her, she refused to tolerate lack of love or gossip.  

The two priests who accompanied her during her illness, Father Benoît-Vianney Arnauld and Father Jean-Raphaël Dubrule, were astonished by the interior life of one so young. "I don't feel worthy to sit next to her," said Father Benoit-Vianney; "I have never seen a child who has reached such a degree in the love of God." 

Anne-Gabrielle also knew how to be very lively, exhibiting the excitement and joy of a child.  

She suffered greatly. "The very last days of her life, she took communion daily, lying down, with her hands joined together. Then she immersed herself in deep interior prayer. It was a crystal, so pure and so fragile. The presence of God was tangible. Her contemplation was never-ending", said her mother. 

While she suffered with joy and generosity, she spoke openly of her fear of dying. Yet, she asked God to give her the suffering of the other children in the hospital.

“Say, do you think that the souls I will have delivered through my sacrifices will be able to do something for me when I am dead? Do you think they know that somewhere on Earth there is an eight-year-old girl suffering for them? " said Anne-Gabrielle a month before her death. 

 At the beginning of July 2010, when a final chemo attempt was made, Anne-Gabrielle suffered a stroke. On July 22nd, morphine was no longer effective. 

She died on July 23 at La Timone Hospital.   All those who were with her until the end of her life testify that they were taken by an "irrepressible desire to love Jesus" at her touch. "It was as if we were sanctified in His presence," recounts her mother. "We touched heaven with her. "