Today we remember Saints Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus, the parents of Mary. That must have been a big responsibility! As I grow closer in my relationship to Mary, I know more about her parents.
Tradition says that Saint Anne was elderly when Mary was born and that she was their only child. It is believed that Anne gave Mary to the service of the Temple when she was only three years old. The name Anne means "gracious one." There are many shrines devoted to Mary and she is the patron of many things, including a diocese (Norwich) in CT. She is also the patron of miners, grandparents, carpenters, and pregnant women. Today, I will pray to Saint Anne for my grandmother, who is 91 and in a nursing home.
Saint Joachim was the elderly father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandfather of Jesus. Tradition says that while he was away from home, he and Anne both received messages from an angel that she was pregnant. He is the patron of grandfathers, someone in my life I miss very much and I look forward to the day when I will hear him call me his "dolly" again.
Prayer to Saint Anne
Good Saint Anne, you were especially favored by God to be the mother of the most holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. By your power with your most pure daughter and with her divine Son, kindly obtain for us the grace and the favor we now seek. Please secure for us also forgiveness of our past sins, the strength to perform faithfully our daily duties and the help we need to persevere in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.
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