Saint Anne

Saint Anne
St. Anne, fresco from Faras, 7th century
Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Orthodox Church; Anglicanism; Eastern Catholic Churches
Feast	July 26
Attributes	Book, door, with Mary, Jesus, or Joachim
Patronage	carpenters; childless people; equestrians; grandparents; homemakers/housewives; lace makers; lost articles; miners; mothers; moving house; old-clothes dealers; poverty; pregnancy; seamstresses; stablemen; sterility; turners.

This article is about the mother of the Virgin Mary. For other uses of the term, see Saint Anne (disambiguation).

According to Christian tradition, Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna) of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary. Her name, Anne, is a Greek rendering of a Hebrew name, Hannah meaning "Grace". Mary's mother is not named in the canonical Gospels. According to the apocryphal 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. 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, dedications to Anne in the Eastern church occur as early as the 6th century. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts.

File:Anna Selbdritt 003.jpg

German, 15th century. Anne holds Mary and Christ

In Western iconography, Anne may be recognized 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. Such trinitarian representations mirror similar depictions of the Trinity, and were sometimes produced as pairs.

File:Frankfurt Karmeliterkloster Annenaltar.jpg

German, 15th century, Legends of St Ann

Varying theologians have believed either that Joachim was Anne's only husband, or that she was married three times. 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.

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. 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.

Presentation of Mary at the Temple

The iconographic subject of Joachim and Anne The Meeting at the Golden Gate fitted both views, and was a regular component of artistic cycles of the "Life of the Virgin." The couple meet at the "Golden Gate" of Jerusalem and embrace. They are aware of Anne's pregnancy, of which they have been separately informed by an archangel. For those believing in the virgin birth of Mary, this moment stood for her conception, and the feast was celebrated on the same day as the Immaculate Conception. The Birth of Mary, the Presentation of Mary and the Marriage of the Virgin were usual components of cycles of the Life of the Virgin in which Anne is normally shown.

Anne is never shown as present at the Nativity of Christ, but is frequently shown with the infant Christ in various subjects. She is normally shown as present at the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Circumcision of Christ. There was a tradition that she went (separately) to Egypt and rejoined the Holy Family after their Flight to Egypt. Anne is not seen with the adult Christ, so was regarded as having died during the youth of Jesus. Anne is also shown as the matriarch of the Holy Kinship, the extended family of Jesus, a popular subject in late medieval Germany.

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

Patronage

File:Anna Burgos.JPG

Spain 15th century

Saint Anne is patron of the following places: Canada; France; Brittany; Quebec; Adjuntas, Puerto Rico; Detroit, Michigan; Norwich, Connecticut; Santa Ana Pueblo; Seama, New Mexico; Taos, New Mexico; Marsaskala; and the Philippines.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Example of pairing of figures in fresco, left, Saint Anne with Mary and Jesus

• Kreitzer, Beth . Mary's Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe.(Book Review): An article from: Church History [HTML] (Digital). Date: December 1, 2005. Thomson Gale publ. vol. 74 Issue: 4 Page: 842(2).
• Nixon, Virginia . Mary's Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0271024660
• Procopius' Buildings, Volume I, Chapter 11-12.
• Golden Legend II.131
• The Protoevangelium of James saints.sqpn.com Retrieved May 21, 2008.

External links

All retrieved May 21, 2008.

• Eternal Word Television Network www.ewtn.com
• Patron Saints Index www.catholic-forum.com
• Template:1913C.E.
• Catholic Herald article www.catholicherald.com
• Brief American Catholic article on "Sts. Joachim and Ann" www.americancatholic.org

Credits

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