Saints Joachim and Anne
Feast day: July 26
Saints Joachim and Anne, Mary’s parents and Jesus’ grandparents (26/7).
Who are they?
Saint Joachim and Saint Anne are the parents of the Virgin Mary. That makes them the grandparents of Jesus. Their names are not in the Bible. Their names and many stories about them have been handed down since ancient times, mostly through an apocryphal book written in the 2nd century, called the “Protoevangelium of James.” This apocryphal book is an ancient Christian writing that is not part of the Bible, so the details in it are not as certain as the words of the Bible.
Life story
According to tradition, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne were a holy married couple who lived in the land of the Jews. They loved God, kept his law and often helped the poor. But for many years they still had no children, and that made them very sad.
Tradition tells that they kept on praying and never stopped trusting God. Then God answered them: they had a baby girl, and they named her Mary. They thanked God with all their hearts.
In that simple home, little Mary grew up surrounded by love. Old paintings often show Saint Anne teaching little Mary to read the holy books. According to tradition, when Mary was little, her parents brought her to the Temple to offer her to God; the Church remembers this on the feast of the Presentation of Mary on 21/11.
God poured out his grace on Mary from the very beginning, and her parents cared for and nurtured that seed with their faith and love. By God’s grace, the little girl grew up and was later ready to say “yes” when God called her to be the Mother of the Savior.
Why are they saints?
They lived quietly, faithful to God and loving each other in their family. They raised the daughter whom God chose to be the Mother of his Son. In 2021, Pope Francis created the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, celebrated on the fourth Sunday of July, close to their feast.
A lesson for you
- Spend time visiting your grandparents, talking with them and helping them.
- Pray for your grandparents and parents, the people who love you and take care of you.
- When you ask God for something and haven’t received it yet, keep on praying like Saint Joachim and Saint Anne.
Identifying marks
- Little Mary in the middle, holding her parents’ hands: they are the parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus.
- A gentle old couple: according to tradition, they had no children for many years and only had a child in their old age.
- Saint Anne in a red dress and a green mantle: the colors Saint Anne usually wears in pictures and statues.
- Saint Anne teaching little Mary to read (*): a familiar scene in pictures and statues.
- A pair of turtledoves or doves (*): Saint Joachim’s offering at the Temple, according to tradition.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
Collect this card and read more about the saints in the app