July 26, 2011 Tuesday: St. Joachim and St. Ann, parents of Blessed Mother

St. Joachim and St. Anne

Click to hear audio homily
St. Anne and St. Joachim are honored as the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They spent their lives worshiping God and doing good. They had one great sorrow, however: for decades they had not been blessed with children. For years and years Anne had begged the Lord to give her a child. She promised to consecrate the baby to him. When she was already old, God answered her prayer in a far better way than she could ever have dreamed. The child born to St. Joachim and St. Anne was the Immaculate Virgin Mary. This holiest of all women was to become the Mother of God. Anne took tender care of little Mary for a few years. Then she gave her to the service of God, as she had promised she would.

Mary went to live in the holy Temple of Jerusa-lem. St. Joachim and St. Anne continued their lives of prayer until God called them home to heaven. Christians have always been especially devoted to St. Anne. Many beautiful churches have been built in her honor. Perhaps one of the most famous is the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada. Great crowds go there all year around to ask St. Anne’s help in their sufferings.

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St. Anne and St. Joachim were the parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. We can ask them to bring us closer to Jesus and Mary.

from
Daughters of St. Paul