Saint Anne

Saint Anne, born in the Holy Land according to ancient Christian tradition, is lovingly honored as the wife of Saint Joachim, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ. Though her name does not appear in the canonical Gospels, early Christian writings preserved the memory of a faithful woman who endured the sorrow of childlessness with steadfast prayer and hope in God. In time, the Lord answered her longing, and Anne conceived Mary, the one chosen to bear the Savior—an event that helped kindle deep devotion to God’s saving plan unfolding through ordinary family life. From the early centuries, Christians in East and West venerated Anne as an “Ancestor of God,” and churches and shrines rose in her honor, especially in places of pilgrimage such as Brittany and Québec. The faithful continue to turn to her as patroness of mothers, grandmothers, pregnant women, those struggling with infertility, and also miners and lace makers, seeking her gentle intercession. Her feast day is celebrated on July 25.