Grandmother of Our Lord
St. Anne, the mother of the Mother of our Lord and the sole grandmother of Jesus, is commemorated on July 26th. Yet despite being such a prominent character within the life of Christ, she and her husband, Joachim, don’t appear anywhere in the Bible. Thus, what the Church knows regarding her life and story largely comes from legend and tradition.
In the early centuries of the Western Church, there doesn’t appear to have been much conversation surrounding St. Anne. It isn’t until after the fourth century that the reports of Anne and her life make their way from the Middle East into the West. Since that information might be tenuous at best, it may be best to consider Anne a peripheral saint. However, she is still worth learning about as her day makes it into Loehe’s Lutheran Martyrologium, a sanctoral calendar we reference often here at All the Household, and she is considered to be a prominent figure within Jesus’ lineage.
After the fourth century, Anne grew in popularity with Christians as the patron saint of mothers and of grandmothers. Not only is she the mother of the Mother of Our Lord, but legend says that Anne had a remarkable conception of her own. She and Joachim were already advanced in years and without children when the Lord remembered her barrenness and gave them a child: Mary. This godly mother then dedicated her child to the Lord, a feast known as the Presentation of Mary that is not often celebrated in the West.
Brief History
As mentioned above, Anne does not appear in the Bible, but her story is recorded early on in the apocryphal book of the Protoevangelium of James as well as in the collection of saints’ stories, The Golden Legend by Jacobus da Voragine.
In the East, a church bearing her name was built in the sixth century, but her commemoration did not formally make its way into the West until years after that.
Anne means “grace,” and while St. Anne is more of an obscure figure, the name became wildly popular, reaching the top of the charts around the nineteenth century. As we just shared a comprehensive post about namedays here at All the Household, we are excited to share more about this popular namesake and to provide some background on why her name is significant to many Christian women!
Collect
Hear us, O God, our Savior: so that we, who rejoice in the feast of Blessed Anne, may learn from her the spirit of loving devotion; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen
First Reading
Gospel
Resources
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
References:
1. Jacobus Voragine. The Golden Legend. 1275. Translated by William Caxton, 1483.
Images:
1. The Holy Family with St. Anna and St. Joachim, Hans Baldung, Germany, ca. 1500.
2. Annunciation to St Anne, Giotto di Bondone, Italy, 1304
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