Saint of the Day: Sts. Joachim and Anne

(First Century)

Their story

+ Although not mentioned in Scripture, ancient tradition holds that Joachim and Anne were the names of the parents of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The earliest record of their name is found in the apocryphal second-century text known as the Protoevangelium of James.

+ Old and childless, it is said that the couple prayed that they would be given a child. While Joachim was in the desert and Anne prayed in their home, an angel appeared to them promising that Anne would conceive a child. 

+ Devotion to the two saints spread quickly throughout the Eastern Church and devotion to Saint Anne became especially strong in the West. Since 1969, Saint Joachim and Anne have been honored together on July 26. 

+ The liturgy of for the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne focuses our attention on God’s plan of salvation, beginning with the promises made to Abraham, through the prophets and patriarchs, and coming down to us through the parents of Mary, to Mary herself, and, ultimately, to Jesus. God has been faithful to these promises and remains faith to the promises made to us. 

For prayer and reflection

“Now will I praise those godly men,

  our ancestors, each in his own time:

These were godly men

  whose virtues have not been forgotten;

Their wealth remains in their families,

  their heritage with their descendants;

Through God's covenant with them their family endures,

  their posterity, for their sake.”—Sirach 44:1, 10-12

Prayer

O Lord, God of our Fathers,
who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace,
that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son,
grant, through the prayers of both,
that we may attain the salvation
you have promised to your people.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.