St Anne's Parish Feast Day

Posted by bee's knees (Singapore, Singapore) on 25 July 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

July 26 - St Anne & St Joachim

Anna, also known as St Anne (or Ann), is the wife of Joachim and the mother of Mary. St Anne is the grandmother according to the flest of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Her name means "grace" or "the gracious one" or "the loving one". She is the patron saint of Christian mothers and of women in labour.

Stories about Mary's father and mother come to us through tradition. We get the oldest story from a document called the Gospel of James. The legend told in this document says that after years of childlessness, an angel appeared to tell Anne and Joachim that they would have a child. 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 promised to dedicate this child to God (much the way that Samuel was dedicated by his mother Hannah in 1 Kings).

For those who wonder what we can learn from people we know nothing about and how we can honour them, we must focus on why they are honoured by the church. Whatever their names or the facts of their lives, the truth is that it was the parents of Mary who nurtured Mary, taught her, brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with faith, "Let it be done to me as you will."

It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own Son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the cross as her Son was crucified and still believe. Such parents can be examples and models for all parents. Families that are truly Christian love the Family of Nazareth, but they also honour the parents of Mary, especially St Anne who bore and gave birth to her. How glorious to give birth to one who would be the Mother of God.