St. Anne (and Joachim)

Parents of Mary in Ancient Tradition

Sts. Anne and Joachim are honored by ancient tradition as the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. Their names do not appear in the Scriptures; they come to us from the Protoevangelium of James, a second-century apocryphal writing. Because that source is not part of the inspired canon, the Church presents their story as venerable tradition rather than as certain history, while firmly honoring the reality it points to: Mary had parents who raised her in faith and prepared her, under God's grace, for her singular vocation.

Childlessness, Prayer, and the Birth of Mary

According to these traditional accounts, Joachim and Anne were a devout couple who suffered the sorrow of childlessness for many years. In answer to their persevering prayer, an angel announced that Anne would bear a child, and she gave birth to Mary, whom the couple dedicated to God. In their home the Mother of God received her first formation in the faith of Israel, which is why the Church remembers them as models of faithful marriage, patient hope, and the quiet handing on of faith from one generation to the next.

A Shared Feast on July 26

Devotion to St. Anne flourished early in the Christian East, where churches were dedicated to her by the sixth century, and spread widely in the medieval West; devotion to St. Joachim developed alongside it. In the reform of the liturgical calendar in 1969, their formerly separate feasts were joined into a single memorial on July 26, celebrated as the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Francis linked their memory to the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, observed near their feast.

Shrines in Jerusalem, Brittany, and Quebec

Pilgrims honor the holy couple at several notable shrines: the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, built beside the Pool of Bethesda over the traditional site of Mary's childhood home; the great Breton shrine of Sainte-Anne-d'Auray in France; and the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec, one of North America's oldest pilgrimage destinations. St. Anne is invoked as a patron of mothers, grandmothers, and women in labor, and together with Joachim as a patron of grandparents.

Significance

Though their names come to us through tradition rather than Scripture, Anne and Joachim point to a truth the Church holds firmly: Mary was raised in a home of faith that prepared her for her vocation. The traditional account of their patient hope speaks to all who wait on God, and their place as grandparents of Jesus makes them natural patrons of grandparents and mothers. Families today can find in them encouragement for the everyday task of raising children and grandchildren in the faith.