Anne's first prayer at Green Gables

Anne Shirley's first prayer at Green Gables, on the night of her arrival, is a scene of startling spiritual innocence and imaginative self-assertion that sets the terms for her moral education under Marilla Cuthbert. When Marilla discovers that Anne has never said a prayer in her life, she is horrified and insists that Anne must pray. Anne's response—a spontaneous, original composition addressed to "Gracious heavenly Father"—is neither irreverent nor rebellious but simply the product of a mind that has never been taught the forms of domestic piety. The prayer becomes a microcosm of Anne's entire character: her gratitude for beauty, her longing for belonging, and her instinct to make even the most solemn act a vehicle for her own vivid inner life.

The Discovery of Spiritual Ignorance

When Marilla asks Anne to say her prayers before bed, Anne announces flatly, "I never say any prayers." Marilla is shocked and asks if Anne knows who God is. Anne responds by reciting the Westminster Shorter Catechism definition—"God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable"—which she learned at the asylum Sunday school. She adds that she likes the words because they have "such a roll to it—just like a big organ playing." Marilla, relieved that Anne is not a complete heathen, insists that she must pray while under her roof. Anne agrees cheerfully, saying she will "imagine out a real nice prayer to say always." When Marilla tells her she must kneel, Anne asks why people must kneel to pray and offers her own vision: she would go out into a great field or deep woods and look up into the sky, and then "just FEEL a prayer."

Anne's Original Prayer

Marilla, realizing that the conventional child's prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep" is entirely unsuited to this freckled, imaginative girl, tells Anne she is old enough to pray for herself. Anne buries her face in Marilla's lap and begins: "Gracious heavenly Father—that's the way the ministers say it in church, so I suppose it's all right in private prayer, isn't it?" She then thanks God for "the White Way of Delight and the Lake of Shining Waters and Bonny and the Snow Queen"—the names she has given to the Avenue, Barry's pond, the geranium on the windowsill, and the cherry tree outside her window. She explains that these are all the blessings she can think of to thank Him for. For the things she wants, she mentions only the two most important: "Please let me stay at Green Gables; and please let me be good-looking when I grow up." She signs the prayer "Yours respectfully, Anne Shirley." When she finishes, she asks eagerly if she did all right, adding that she could have made it "much more flowery" with more time.

Marilla's Reaction and the Aftermath

Marilla is preserved from complete collapse only by recognizing that Anne's prayer stems from spiritual ignorance, not irreverence. She tucks Anne into bed, mentally vowing to teach her a proper prayer the next day. As she leaves, Anne calls her back to ask whether she should have said "Amen" instead of "yours respectfully," explaining that she felt a prayer should be finished off in some way. Marilla, nonplussed, says she doesn't suppose it will make any difference. Anne then cuddles luxuriously into her pillows and says she can "only say good night tonight with a clear conscience." Marilla retreats to the kitchen and tells Matthew that Anne is "next door to a perfect heathen" and that she will borrow the "Peep of the Day" series from the manse and send Anne to Sunday school as soon as she can get suitable clothes made. The scene establishes the central tension of Anne's upbringing: her boundless imagination and untutored spirit must be shaped by Marilla's rigid conscience, but the shape they take will be uniquely Anne's own.

Thematic Significance

Anne's first prayer is a foundational moment in her relationship with Marilla and with the religious and moral order of Avonlea. It demonstrates that Anne's spirituality is rooted in her love of beauty and her capacity for gratitude, not in doctrine or habit. The prayer also foreshadows her later, more conventional prayers—such as the one she says after her reconciliation with Mrs. Barry—and her eventual acceptance of the forms of piety, even as she continues to infuse them with her own imaginative life. The scene is a comic and touching illustration of the gap between Anne's inner world and the expectations of the adult community, and it marks the beginning of Marilla's long, often bewildering, but ultimately loving project of "bringing up" this extraordinary child.