St. Anna September 9 (with her husband, Joachim) The Virgin Mary is one who needs no introduction, but how many of us know her mother, Anna? Joachim and Anna are the mother and father of Mary, and therefore the grandparents of the human Christ. St. Anna was the daughter of the high priest Nathan and Mary, from the Hebrew tribe of Levi. Anna was married in Galilee where Mary, the Mother of God, was born. Joachim prayed to God for the miracle of a child, as Anna was not able to bear children, and God answered with a daughter who would be the most revered figure in Christianity, next to her Son, Jesus Christ. The Apostle James wrote that an angel of the Lord appeared to Anna and said, "The Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt conceive and bring forth, and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world." The angel did not tell Anna whether she would have a son or a daughter, at which point Anna responded, "As the Lord my God liveth if I beget male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God: and it shall minister to Him holy things all the day of its life." This is Anna's premonition that her baby would not be merely a normal child of the world. In the Orthodox Church, Anna is remembered in a hymn: "Anna doth rejoice now that she is loosed from the bonds of barrenness, as she nourisheth the most pure one, calling all to praise Him who hath given the world her who alone is Mother, yet hath known no man." "He who rose again from the dead, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of his all-immaculate and all-blameless holy Mother...of the holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna... have mercy upon us and save us, for as much as He is good and loveth mankind." Close Window