St. Anne and St. Joachim

On Wednesday, July 26, 2023 we celebrate the
Feast Day of Sts. Anne and her husband, Joachim.
Traditionally, they are known as the
parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus.
Actually, we are not sure of Mary’s parents
names. These names come to us from books
we call “apocryphal”. The apocryphal books
were never accepted by the Church, yet they
remain an integral part of our Catholic tradition.
For many centuries the people celebrated
this day on different dates other than July 26th.
The Canon Laws of the Church tell us about
“customs”. In other words, because of certain
“customs” among the faithful; those customs
become part and parcel of the faith. The reformer
Martin Luther had a great devotion to
St. Anne and Mary, for that matter.
After the close of The Council of Trent in
1565, The Dominican, Michael Cardinal
Ghisilieri became Pope Pius V (1566-1572).
Today he is known to us as Pope St. Pius V. It
was his task to implement The Council of
Trent. Liturgically, he solidified the Feast of
Sts. Anne & Joachim on July 26th. Vatican II
kept it also. Thus the Feast Day of Anne and
Joachim remains, from the 1560’s, on July
26th.

Of course, we are aware that the French people
have a great devotion to St. Anne. Some of
you have probably visited St. Anne de Beaupre
(St. Anne of the Meadows) in Quebec, Canada.
In the Archdiocese of Harford five parishes are
named in her honor. Please join us for Mass
on Wednesday, July 26th at 12:10 pm The
Feast Day of St. Anne. The statue of St. Anne
is in our sanctuary off to the side. There is a
prayer in honor of St. Anne for your taking.