Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne
The Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne is observed on July 26 by various Christian denominations, honoring the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although details about their lives are sparse and largely derived from apocryphal texts, the couple is traditionally depicted as pious and childless until they receive a divine promise of a daughter, who is named Mary. The veneration of St. Anne, also known as Hannah, became prominent among Eastern Catholics by the sixth century and spread to the West by the eighth century, with numerous churches dedicated to her throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
The feast has a rich history, likely established in 1378 at the request of English Catholics and later solidified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584. In contrast, Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate St. Anne on July 25 or August 7, depending on their calendar. Significant pilgrimage sites include St. Anne de Beaupré in Canada, known for miraculous healings, and the cathedral in Apt, France. The Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne serves as an occasion for reflection on family, motherhood, and faith, attracting pilgrims from various backgrounds to honor their legacy.
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Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne
Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne
Despite the uncertainty surrounding their names and the specific events of their lives, the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus, are honored by many Christian churches as Sts. Joachim and Anne on July 26.
All that is known of St. Anne (Hannah in Hebrew) is gained from apocryphal writings dating from about a.d. 150. According to these writings, a rich and pious couple named Joachim and Hannah lived in Nazareth, but they were childless. When Joachim presented himself at the temple with an offering, he was refused and told that men without children were unworthy to enter, and so he went into the mountains to pray for a child. His wife too began to pray for a child, vowing to dedicate that child to God. Not long afterward an angel appeared to her and told her that she would give birth to a child who would be blessed by all the world. In due time a girl was born and named Mary. Some scholars doubt the authenticity of this account, as it resembles the story of the birth of Samuel in the Old Testament.
Veneration of St. Anne was well established among eastern Catholics by the sixth century and had spread to the west by the eighth century. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I erected a magnificent temple in honor of St. Anne in Constantinople around the year 550, and Justinian II built another in 705. The many churches constructed in honor of St. Anne throughout Europe in the Middle Ages show the spread of the devotion in the west.
St. Anne, often called the Mother of the Poor, is also the patron saint of Christian mothers and wives, while medieval work and craft guilds chose her as their patron as well. These included miners (in Wales), servants, cabinetmakers, lace makers, seamstresses, carpenters, broom makers, and linen drapers.
The Feast of St. Anne was probably instituted in 1378 by Pope Urban VI, most likely because of persistent requests by the English. In 1584 Pope Gregory XIII fixed July 26 as the feast date and extended it to the whole Roman Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII, whose baptismal name was Joachim, raised the Feast of St. Anne and that of St. Joachim (then celebrated on August 16) to the rank of second-class feasts. Subsequent to changes in the Roman Catholic Church calendar instituted by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church now celebrates the Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne on July 26, as does the Episcopalian Church. Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate St. Anne, or Anna, on July 25, while those Orthodox churches that still adhere to the old Julian calendar honor St. Anne 13 days later, on August 7.
Pilgrims to the Holy Land can visit the tomb of St. Joachim in the Vale of Jehoshaphat, near Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of Our Lady, where St. Anne and St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, were also buried. On the basis of a legend that the body of St. Anne was taken to Apta Julia (now Apt) in Provence, France, the cathedral of Apt became a center of pilgrimage for Christians all over the country. Another renowned French shrine is Ste. Anne d'Auray in Brittany.
The French carried their devotion to St. Anne with them to the New World. One of the most popular shrines in North America is St. Anne de Beaupré, often called the Lourdes of the New World. The first little church in Beaupré, which is located on the St. Lawrence River about 20 miles from Quebec, was begun in 1658 by a handful of settlers, who worked in the face of extreme poverty and constant attacks by the native Iroquois tribe. Louis Guimont, a local farmer, who was crippled by arthritis, came one day to add a few stones to “Good St. Anne's Walls,” as the people called the structure they were building. Guimont, who had great faith in the power of the saint, laid three stones in the foundation and immediately reported that he was cured of his affliction. This was the first of many reported cures at St. Anne de Beaupré. It became a center of pilgrimage not just for the settlers but also for the native tribes: The Hurons were among the first, in 1658, and other tribes—including the Algonquins, Montagnais, Malecites, Abenakis, Micmacs, and even the Iroquois—followed them.
Several relics of St. Anne, including a finger bone, have been donated to the church over the centuries. On May 5, 1887, the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré became a basilica, a title given to certain churches because of their antiquity, historical importance, or significance as centers of worship. Many millions of pilgrims have visited it over the years.