On July 26, we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Joachim and St. Anne. It was in the home of Joachim and Anne where the Virgin Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Thus, devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the affection Christians have always professed toward our Blessed Mother. We, too, owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for their help in our Christian formation.
Our information about Mary's parents comes from an apocryphal Christian writing, the Protoevangelium Jacobi (or Gospel of James), written about the year 170. According to this story, Joachim was a prominent and respected man who had no children, and he and his wife, Anne looked upon this as a punishment from God. In answer to their prayers, Mary was born and was dedicated to God at a very early age.
Anne is often shown in paintings with Jesus and Mary and is considered a subject that attracts attention, since Anne is the grandmother of Jesus. Her two great shrines — that of Ste. Anne d'Auray in Britanny, France, and that of Ste. Anne de Beaupre near Quebec in Canada — are very popular. We know little else about the lives of Mary's parents, but considering the person of Mary, they must have been two very remarkable people to have been given such a daughter and to have played so important a part in the work of the Redemption.
Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens
Patron:
Anne: against poverty; barren; broom makers; cabinetmakers; carpenters; childless couples; equestrians; grandmothers; grandparents; homemakers; housewives; lace makers; lace workers; lost articles; miners; mothers; pregnant women; horse riders; seamstresses; stablemen; sterility.
Joachim: fathers, grandfathers, grandparents.
Prayer to obtain special favors through the intercession of St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus, the mother of Mary. Her feast is July 26.
Prayer to St. Anne:
Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke thee, and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at thy feet and humbly beg of thee to take the present affair which I recommend to thee under thy special protection.
Vouchsafe to recommend it to thy Daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with thee and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him to all eternity.
Good St. Anne, mother of her Who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope, pray to her for us, and obtain our request. (3 times).
From catholicculture.org
