Saints Anne and Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary

Summary:

Tradition describes Joachim as a wealthy and saintly man who was generous to the poor and the temple. Anne is portrayed as a saintly woman who had been barren for a long time. Their situation is reminiscent of the other Anne or Hannah in the Old Testament, the once-barren woman who gave birth to the prophet Samuel by a special favor of God (1 Samuel 20).

Anne promised to God to consecrate her child to him if he gave her the grace to conceive. An angel soon brought her good news, and the blessed couple had Mary, the future mother of Jesus, the Christ. As promised by their joint vow, Anne and Joachim later took the three-year-old Mary to the Temple, where she was raised and educated.

The devotion to Saint Anne, which is older than that of her husband, developed in the wake of the devotion to the Virgin Mary, very early on in Jerusalem. Her official feast day of July 26 probably marks the anniversary of the dedication of a 6th-century basilica dedicated to Saint Anne in Constantinople. Devotion to Saint Anne seems to have greatly increased in the 14th century, as  we can see in the growing number of artworks showing Mary in the company of her mother Anne  - for example depictions of the young Mary learning to read the Holy Scriptures on her mother's lap.

Saint Anne appeared in France to the ploughman Yvon Nicolazic on July 25, 1624, the eve of her feast, near Auray in Morbihan (Brittany), and said to him in the Breton language: "Me zo Anna mamm Mari, I am the mother of Mary. I want the former chapel dedicated to my name to be rebuilt as soon as possible and for you to take care of it, because God wants me to be honored here." The next  March 7, following St. Anne's call, Nicolazic discovered  a statue of Saint Anne in the ruins of a chapel in his field at Bocenno. It was the sign giving proof of the truth of the apparitions. Soon, pilgrims flocked to the place. This is how the shrine of Sainte-Anne d'Auray, the first site of pilgrimage in Brittany, was born. In 1996, John Paul II came to pray to the Virgin at this shrine, which is visited by an average of 800,000 people a year.

The devotion to Jesus' grandmother was very popular among Breton sailors, who placed themselves under her protection before setting sail. It was also fervently embraced in Canada, especially in Acadia (Sainte-Anne du Bocage) and Quebec, where Anne is the patron saint and where the majestic basilica of the national shrine of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré is placed under her patronage. The Indigenous people, who have great respect for their ancestors, are especially devoted to Saint Anne, who embodies family values. We saw this during Pope Francis' moving self-described “penitential pilgrimage” in Canada (July 24-29), where he formally apologized to First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples and prayed in the Basilica of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré with members of those communities.

On January 31, 2021, Pope Francis announced the establishment of a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, to be celebrated by the whole Church on the 4th Sunday in July, around the feast of the grandparents of Jesus (July 26).

Beyond reasons to believe:

Even though we know little about the lives of Saints Anne and Joachim, the fact that they are Mary's parents and Jesus' grandparents is reason enough to love and venerate them. The Church has always held them in high regard, since the beginning of Christianity, especially because they exemplify all the best family values.

Going further:

The Stories Of Saints Joachim And Anne: Lives and nine days novena, litany, devotions and prayers to saints Joachim and Anne, by Cole M. Gabriel, ‎ Independently published (April 9, 2024)

More information:

• God's Grandmother: Saint Anne, by Brian Kiczek, ‎ Independently published (July 17, 2020)
• Good Saint Anne, by anonymous, TAN Books; Reprint edition (January 1, 1999)
• The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, compiled around 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine