St. Joachim and St. Anne

St. Joachim and St. Anne are honored by the Church as the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and thus the earthly grandparents of Jesus Christ. Their names are not found in the canonical Scriptures but come to us through very ancient tradition, especially the second-century Protoevangelium of James, which tells how the devout and childless couple were at last granted a daughter, Mary, whom they consecrated to God in gratitude for answered prayer.

Devotion to Anne (in Hebrew, Hannah, meaning "grace") flourished early in the Christian East and spread widely through the West in the Middle Ages, and honor to Joachim developed alongside it, the two being joined in a single celebration on 26 July. As models of faithful marriage and patient trust in God's promises, they are invoked especially as patrons of grandparents, married couples, mothers, and all who long for children, and their feast reminds the faithful of the holiness that can quietly ripen within family life.