In the early 20th century lived a Brazilian girl named Cecy Cony. From a young age, she received the great blessing of being able to perceive her guardian angel, or "New Friend" as she called him.

After becoming a nun, she was instructed to write the story of her life. This manuscript is rich with anecdotes of the love, protection and guidance of her holy "New Friend".

Many of these stories involve common events that fill everyday life. Thus we see how our dear angels are always at work, even in the seemingly most mundane moments.

One incident that Cecy wrote of took place during the school year of 1915, when she was about 15 years old. The convent school for girls that she attended gave out report cards every three months. These grades were largely determined by how well the students answered the questions on their quarterly exams.

The highest grade one could earn was simply "First Place". Up until then, Cecy had only won this honor twice. Both times, she had tied with another student who was, as Cecy wrote later, "so talented, studious and good that she always deserved and won first place."

This year, Cecy’s father encouraged her to do her very best by promising that, if Cecy won first place, she would make him very happy and receive a beautiful present.

This filled Cecy with zeal, and she replied earnestly,

"I shall obtain it no matter how much I have to study. You will see ‘First Place’, written on my report card."

She loved her father very much, and even more than any reward, she wanted to make him happy. She applied herself constantly and diligently to her studies. Every day before beginning her work, she very devotedly asked the help of her guardian angel and Our Lady. At the end of three months, she had no fear of any questions on the next examination.

But then, one morning, she woke ill with a fever. Naturally, this set her behind in her lessons. After two weeks, she was finally well enough to return to school. She had to study doubly hard to catch up.

The examinations were coming fast - only a few days away. Her test in World History was one she would never forget.

That class covered 16 topics in World History and the students were expected to know them all thoroughly. Then, when the exam came, they would randomly take a paper from the teacher’s box. This paper would simply state a topic - a period in history - which the student must describe in detail. This would be the one "question" of that test.

Cecy had worked until she had mastered all but one of the questions. The history of the Trojan War was too long for her to remember it all, no matter how hard she tried. She remembered only the interesting part about the Trojan Horse concealing Greek soldiers. But still she studied, though exhausted and only recently recovered from her sickness.

When the day for her World History test finally came, she felt confident that she would win first place. But as she stepped up to the question-filled box, she reached in with a trembling hand. Slowly, she took out one of the little papers.

She unfolded it. Her heart sank. It was the one and only question she dreaded: "The Trojan War".

She felt lost and miserable. She had worked so hard for so long! And now this? The one question she could not answer?

Suddenly, she was alerted by a tug at her dress. She turned to see a fellow student, also nervous and trembling. The girl muttered anxiously to Cecy,

"Let us exchange questions! I know the Trojan War much better than the one I drew on the Wars of the Medes."

A spark of hope!

"Ah!" thought Cecy, "I know that question well enough to obtain a hundred. That would save my record."

At that instant, she felt on her shoulder the familiar hand of her guardian angel. And with his touch came grace; the grace to look past her fear and think clearly of what she was doing: She said to herself: "What kind of a proposition is this? It would be cheating. Better to obtain zero than to win one hundred percent by cheating."

So she refused the student, saying,

"No! Sister Clementina (the teacher) would be deceived. You know your question much better than I know mine."

They went to their seats. Poor Cecy could only write a few lines of the scraps that she could remember about the Trojan War. She came in fourth place for that class. Her report card for the period was ruined.

In her writing, she concludes the story:

"When with sinking heart I showed my report card to my father, the holy hand of my New Friend rested on my shoulder. I did not receive the present from my father, but the "sweetness" on the holy face of my New Friend meant much more to me than the richest presents in the world. My father did not have the happiness of seeing me win first place that time…. but afterward I gave him this pleasure several times!"

And so Cecy was not deprived the joy of greatly pleasing her beloved father. And, in resisting that strong temptation to dishonesty, she had earned a spiritual "First Place", as it were, by her effort and sacrifice. The pride and joy of her dear Guardian Angel at her act of virtue was merely a foretaste of the reward in Heaven for those who do the right thing.