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Saint Anne
St. Anne, fresco from Faras, 7th century
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Orthodox Church; Anglicanism
Feast	July 26
Attributes	Book, door, with Mary, Jesus, or Joachim
Patronage	Adjuntas, Puerto Rico; Brittany; Canada; carpenters; childless people; Detroit, Michigan; equestrians; France; grandparents; homemakers/housewives; lace makers; lost articles; miners; mothers; moving house; Norwich, Connecticut; old-clothes dealers; poverty; pregnancy; Quebec; Santa Ana Pueblo; Seama, New Mexico;seamstresses; stablemen; sterility; Taos, New Mexico; turners; Marsaskala, Philippines
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According to Christian tradition, Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna) was the mother of the Virgin Mary. Her name Anne is a Greek rendering of a Hebrew name, Hannah. According to the non-canonical Gospel of James, Anne and her husband Joachim, after years of childlessness, were visited by an angel who told them that they would conceive a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God's service. Joachim and Anne are believed to have given Mary to the service of the Second Temple when the girl was three years old.^[1] Anne is a patron saint of Quebec and Brittany, and patroness of women in labor and miners.

The story bears a superficial similarity to that of the birth of Samuel, whose mother Hannah had also been childless. Although Anne's cult receives little attention in the Western church prior to the late 12th century,^[2] dedications to Anne in the Eastern church occur as early as the 6th century.^[3] In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both Conception of Anne and Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Feasts.^{[citation needed]}

In Western iconography, Anne may be recognised by her depiction in red robe and green mantle, often holding a book. Images may also be found depicting Anne holding a small Mary who in turn holds an infant Christ; more elaborate carved statuettes open up to reveal Mary inside Anna with Christ in turn inside her.^{[citation needed]} Such trinitarian representations mirror similar depictions of the Trinity, and were sometimes produced as pairs.^{[citation needed]}

Varying theologians have believed either that Joachim was Anne's only husband, or that she was married thrice. Ancient belief, attested to by a sermon of St John Damascene, was that Anne married once. In late medieval times, legend held that Anne was married three times, first to Joachim, then to Clopas, and finally to a man named Solomas, and that each marriage produced one daughter: Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salomae, respectively.^[4] However, this view was rejected in 1677 by the Roman Catholic Church, which has since held that Anne was quite elderly when Mary was born, and that Mary was the only child of Anne and her sole husband Joachim.^{[citation needed]}

Similarly, in the 4th century, and then much later in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was born of Anne by virgin birth.^{[citation needed]} Those believers included the 16th century mystic Valentine Weigel who claimed Anne conceived Mary by the power of the Holy spirit. This belief was also condemned as an error by the Catholic Church in 1677. Instead, the Church teaches that Mary was conceived in the normal fashion, but that she was miraculously preserved from original sin in order to make her fit to bear Christ. The conception of Mary free from original sin is termed the Immaculate Conception -- which is frequently confused with the Virgin Birth or Incarnation of Christ.

The feast day of Anne is 26 July (Western calendar) and 25 July (Eastern calendar).

St. Anne by Parducci

• Patron Saints Index
• "St. Anne" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• American Catholic "Saint of the Day" article entitled "Sts. Joachim and Ann"

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Saint Anne

St Anne and Joachim