Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of the Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus Christ. Though Scripture never names them, Sacred Tradition has honored these saints for centuries as models of patient faith and the quiet holiness of family life.
Who Sts. Joachim and Anne were
We know almost nothing historically certain about Joachim and Anne. Scripture is silent on Mary’s parentage. The names and story come from the second-century Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal text not part of the biblical canon but widely read in the early Church. According to this tradition, Joachim was a wealthy man of the tribe of Judah, and Anne (or Anna) was of the tribe of Levi.
The Protoevangelium tells of their long childlessness and fervent prayer for a child. Joachim retreated to the desert to fast and pray. An angel appeared to Anne promising her a daughter who would be blessed above all women. Their prayers were answered with the birth of Mary, whom they dedicated to God from infancy. Joachim is believed to have died when Mary was young. Anne may have lived to see her grandson.
Veneration of Joachim and Anne spread widely in the East by the sixth century and in the West by the tenth. Their cult was well established by the medieval period. Joachim’s feast was added to the Roman calendar in 1584. Anne’s feast existed earlier. In 1969 the two feasts were combined into today’s joint Memorial on July 26, later moved to June 16 in some local calendars.
What they’re known for
Joachim and Anne are honored as the human origin of salvation history’s climax. They raised the woman who would say yes to the Incarnation. Their faithfulness prepared the way for the Mother of God.
Their distinctive witness is the holiness of ordinary married life. No miracles are attributed to them. No great deeds. They prayed, they worked, they raised their daughter in the fear of God. Sacred art shows them as an elderly couple holding the young Mary between them, a gentle domestic scene. This is their icon: the quiet formation of a child in a believing home. Everything that follows in the Gospel begins here, in a home where God was welcomed.
St. Anne became one of the most popular saints of the late Middle Ages, invoked as patron of childless women, mothers, and grandmothers. Joachim’s role was quieter but essential: the righteous father who handed on the covenant promises.
For today
If you are a parent or grandparent, pray for the children in your care by name. Ask Joachim and Anne to intercede for your household, that it might be a place where faith is lived and handed on. If you are not a parent, think of the adults who formed your faith when you were young. Thank God for them. Consider writing a note of gratitude if they are still living.
Carry their names with you: the saints who never made headlines, but who made the Mother of God.
