SAINT ANNE – MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

SAINT ANNE MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Saint Anne is not mentioned in the New Testament, and we must depend on apocryphal literature, chiefly the Protoevangelium of James, which dates back only to the second century. In this document we are told that Saint Anne, wife of Joachim, was advanced in years and that her prayers for a child had not been answered. Once as she prayed beneath a laurel tree near her home in Galilee, an angel appeared and said to her, “Anne, the Lord hath heard thy prayer and thou shalt conceive and bring forth, and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world.” Anne
replied, “As the Lord my God liveth, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life ”

Her two most famous shrines are at Saint Anne d’Auray in Brittany and at Saint Anne-de Beaupre in the province of Quebec. She is patroness of housewives, women in labor, cabinet-makers, and miners. Her emblem is a door. Saint Anne has been frequently represented in art, and her lovely face was depicted by Leonardo da Vinci .

The name Anne derives from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning “grace.”

Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin. Feast Day is July 26.

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