Saints Joachim and Anne

Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(1st century BC)

Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus Christ, are honoured by the Church on July 26th in a joint feast that has been kept since at least the eighth century. Their names do not appear in the New Testament but are preserved in the apocryphal Gospel of James, written in the second century, which tells the story of their marriage, their long childlessness, their sorrow and prayer, and the miraculous conception and birth of Mary. Whatever the historical value of this text, it expresses the Church's conviction that the preparation for the Incarnation included the lives and virtues of those who immediately preceded the Mother of God.

The tradition preserved in the Gospel of James describes Joachim as a prosperous man who was humiliated at the temple because of his childlessness, since in the thinking of that time barrenness was often regarded as a divine punishment. He withdrew to the desert to fast and pray, while Anne remained at home weeping and praying for a child. An angel appeared to each of them separately and announced that Anne would conceive and bear a child whose name would be on the lips of all the world. They met at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem in joyful recognition, and from their embrace Mary was conceived.

The theological significance of this narrative, however legendary its details, is that the Immaculate Conception of Mary, preserved from all stain of original sin by a singular grace of God, took place in the context of the natural and loving union of a married couple who had prayed and waited long for a child. The holiness of Joachim and Anne, their faithfulness in prayer, their patience under suffering, and their conjugal love were the human preparation for the miracle of Mary's birth.

Anne has been venerated as a powerful intercessor from very early times, and her patronage extends to mothers, grandmothers, homemakers, and those who are barren or who desire children. Joachim is honoured as the father of Mary and the grandfather of Our Lord, and together they represent the sanctity of family life and the dignity of grandparenthood in the Christian tradition. Their feast is kept on July 26th.