Saint Anne

For the figure of Luke 2, seeAnna the Prophetess.For other uses, seeSaint Anne (disambiguation).

Saint Anne
GreekiconofSaint Anne with the Virgin,byAngelos Akotantos
Mother of the Virgin, Maternal Heroine, Woman of Amram
Born	beforec. 49 BC Bethlehem,Hasmonean Judea
Died	afterc. 4 AD
Venerated in	Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic Churches Roman Catholic Church Oriental Orthodox Church Anglican Communion Lutheranism Islam Afro-American religion
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Majorshrine	Apt Cathedral,Basilica of Sainte-Anne d'Auray,Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré
Feast	26 July (Roman Catholic), 9 September (Eastern Orthodox)
Attributes	Book; door; with Mary, Jesus or Joachim; woman dressed in red or green
Patronage	Mothers grandparents pregnant women children unmarried people teachers carpenters child care providers seamstresses lacemakers secondhand-clothes dealers equestrians stablemen miners lost things loving homes poverty sterility Brittany Canada Detroit Taguig Triana, Seville Hagonoy, Bulacan Barili, Cebu Molo, Iloilo City Kurunegala Catholic Diocese, Sri Lanka Fasnia, Tenerife Mainar Marsaskala Carmelites

According toapocrypha,as well asChristianandIslamictradition,Saint Annewas the mother ofMary,the wife ofJoachimand the maternal grandmother ofJesus.Mary's mother is not named in the Bible'scanonical gospels.In writing, Anne's name and that of her husbandJoachimcome only fromNew Testament apocrypha,of which theGospel of James(written perhaps around 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in theQuran.

Christian tradition

The story is similar to that ofSamuel,whose motherHannah(Hebrew:חַנָּה‎Ḥannāh"favour, grace"; etymologically the same name as Anne) had also been childless. TheImmaculate Conceptionwas eventually made dogma by theCatholic Churchfollowing an increased devotion to Anne in the twelfth century.Dedications to Anne inEastern Christianityoccur as early as the sixth century.In theEastern Orthodox tradition,Anne andJoachimare ascribed the titleAncestors of God,and both theNativity of Maryand thePresentation of Maryare celebrated as two of the twelveGreat Feasts of the Orthodox Church.TheDormition of Anneis also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. InLutheranProtestantism,it is held thatMartin Lutherchose to enter religious life as anAugustinian friarafter invoking St. Anne while endangered by lightning.

In Islam

Anne (Arabic:حنة بنت فاقوذ,romanized:Ḥannah bint Faḳūdh) is also revered inIslam,recognized as a highly spiritual woman and as the mother of Mary.She is not named in the Quran,where she is referred to as "the wife of Imran". The Quran describes her remaining childless until her old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have children of her own. She prayed for a child and eventually conceived; her husband,Imran,died before the child was born. Expecting the child to be male, Anne vowed to dedicate him to isolation and service in theSecond Temple.

However, Anne bore a daughter instead, and named her Mary. Her words upon delivering Mary reflect her status as a greatmystic,realising that while she had wanted a son, this daughter was God's gift to her:

When she delivered, she said, “My Lord! I have given birth to a girl,” —and Allah fully knew what she had delivered— “and the male is not like the female. I have named her Mary, and I seek Your protection for her and her offspring from Satan, the accursed.” So her Lord accepted her graciously and blessed her with a pleasant upbringing—entrusting her to the care of Zachariah...

— Surah Al Imran3:36-37

Beliefs

Saint Anne with Mary as a child

Although thecanonical books of the New Testamentnever mention the mother of the Virgin Mary, traditions about her family, childhood, education, and eventual betrothal to Joseph developed very early in the history of the church. The oldest and most influential source for these is the apocryphalGospel of James,first written inKoine Greekaround the middle of the second century AD. In the West, the Gospel of James fell under a cloud in the fourth and fifth centuries when it was accused of "absurdities" byJeromeand condemned as untrustworthy byPope Damasus I,Pope Innocent I,andPope Gelasius I.However, despite having been condemned by the Church, it was taken over almostin totoby another apocryphal work, theGospel of Pseudo-Matthew,which popularised most of its stories.

Ancient belief, attested to by a sermon ofJohn of Damascus,was that Anne married once.The sister of Saint Anne wasSobe,mother ofElizabeth.In the fifteenth century, the Catholic clericJohann Eckrelated in a sermon that St Anne's parents were named Stollanus andEmerentia.Frederick George Holweck,writing in theCatholic Encyclopedia(1907) regards this genealogy as spurious.

In the fourth century and then much later in the fifteenth century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne withoutoriginal sin.This belief in theImmaculate Conceptionstates that God preserved Mary's body and soul intact and sinless from her first moment of existence, through the merits of Jesus Christ.The Immaculate Conception, often confused with theAnnunciationof theIncarnation(Mary's virgin birth of Jesus), was madedogmain the Catholic church byPope Pius IX'spapal bull,IneffabilisDeus,in 1854.

The thirteenth centurySpeculum MaiusofVincent of Beauvaisincorporates information regarding the life of Saint Anne from an earlier work byHrotsvithaof Gandersheim Abbey.

Veneration

Birth of St. Anne,byAdriaen van Overbeke(c. 1521–1525)

In the Eastern church, thevenerationof Anne herself may go back as far asc. 550,when Justinian built a church in Constantinople in her honor.The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West is an eighth-century fresco in the church ofSanta Maria Antiqua,Rome.

TheFeast of the Conception of the Virgin Maryhad reached southern Italy by the ninth century. The cult of Saint Anne had developed in northern Europe by the twelfth century. A shrine at Douai, in northern France, was one of the early centers of devotion to St. Anne in the West.

TheAnna Selbdrittwas a type of iconography depicting the 3 generations of Saint Anne, Mary, and the child Jesus. Emphasizing the humanity of Jesus, it drew on the earlier conventions of theSeat of Wisdom,and was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.

During the High Middle Ages, Saint Anne became increasingly identified as a maritime saint, protecting sailors and fisherman, and invoked against storms.

Two well-known shrines to St. Anne are that ofSte-Anne-d'Aurayin Brittany, France; and that ofSte-Anne-de-Beauprénear the city of Québec. The number of visitors to the Basilica of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré is greatest on St Anne's Feast Day, 26 July, and the Sunday before Nativity of the Virgin Mary, 8 September. In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St Anne to the church.

In theMaltese language,theMilky Waygalaxyis calledIt-Triq ta' Sant'Anna,literally"The Way of St. Anne".

In Imperial Russia, theOrder of St Annewas one of the leading state decorations.

In the United States, theDaughters of the Holy Spiritnamed the formerAnnhurst Collegein her honor.

Commemoration

Feast of Saint Anne inMarsaskala Parish Church,Marsaskala,Malta

By the middle of the seventh century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anna) celebrating the conception of Mary by Saint Anne, was observed at theMonastery of Saint Sabas.It is now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of "The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos",and celebrated on 9 December.In the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim is celebrated on 26 July.

Feast Day

Roman Catholic Church

• 26 July

Eastern Orthodox Church

• 25 July: (Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos)
• 9 September: (Holy and RighteousAncestors of God,Joachimand Anna,Afterfeastof theNativity of the Mother of God)
• 9 December (The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God)

Anglican Communion

• 26 July: Anne isremembered(withJoachim) in theChurch of Englandwith aLesser Festivalon 26 July.

Lutheranism

• 26 July

Coptic Orthodox Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

• 7 November (The Departure of St. Anna (Hannah),the mother of the Theotokos)

Armenian Apostolic Church

• 9 December (The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God)
• Tuesday,2nd week afterDormition of the Mother of God(withJoachim)

Syro-Malabar Church

• 26 July (Anne andJoachim)

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

• 9 September (MarJoachimand Martha Anna)

Maronite Church

• 9 September (St. Anne andJoachim,Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Relics

The alleged relics of St. Anne were brought from theHoly LandtoConstantinoplein 710 and were kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, returning crusaders and pilgrims from the East brought relics of Anne to a number of churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, and Chartres.St. Anne's relics have been preserved and venerated in the many cathedrals and monasteries dedicated to her name, for example inAustria,Canada,Germany, Italy,and Greece in the semi-autonomousMount Athos,and the city of Katerini.Medieval and baroque craftsmanship is evidenced in, for example, the metalwork of the life-size reliquaries containing the bones of her forearm. Examples employing folk art techniques are also known.

Dürenhas been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, whenPope Julius IIdecreed that her relics should be kept there.

Patronage

The Church of Saint Anne inBeit Guvrin National Parkwas built by theByzantinesand theCrusadersin the twelfth century, known in Arabic as Khirbet (lit. "ruin" ) Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna.

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré,Quebec,Canada

Saint Anne is patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, mothers and educators. She is also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makersand miners. As the mother of Mary, this devotion to Saint Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary and Christ and the precious metals silver and gold. Anne's womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.

She is also thepatron saintof:Brittany(France),Cuenca(Ecuador),Chinandega(Nicaragua), theMi'kmaqpeople ofCanada,Castelbuono(Sicily),Quebec(Canada),Santa Ana(California),Norwich(Connecticut),Detroit(Michigan),Adjuntas(Puerto Rico),Santa AnaandJucuarán(El Salvador),Berlin(New Hampshire),Santa Ana Pueblo,Seama,andTaos(New Mexico),Chiclana de la Frontera,Marsaskala,TudelaandFasnia(Spain),Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga,St. Anne inMolo, Iloilo City,Hagonoy,Santa Ana,Taguig City,Saint Anne Shrine,Malicboy,Pagbilao,QuezonandMalinao, Albay(Philippines),Santana(Brazil),Saint Anne(Illinois), Sainte Anne Island,Baie Sainte AnneandPraslin Island(Seychelles),Bukit MertajamandPort Klang(Malaysia), Kľúčové (Slovakia) andSouth Vietnam.Theparish churchofVatican CityisSant'Anna dei Palafrenieri.There is a shrine dedicated to Saint Anne in the Woods inBristol,United Kingdom.

In art

Christ in the House of His Parents

Christ in the House of His ParentsbyJohn Everett Millais,1849–50

InJohn Everett Millais's 1849–50 work,Christ in the House of His Parents, Anne is shown in her son-in-lawJoseph'scarpentry shop caring for a young Jesus who had cut his hand on a nail. She joins her daughterMary,Joseph, and a young boy who will later become known asJohn the Baptistin caring for the injured hand of Jesus.

Iconography

The subject of Joachim and AnneThe Meeting at the Golden Gatewas a regular component of artistic cycles of theLife of the Virgin.The couple meet at theGolden GateofJerusalemand embrace. They are aware of Anne's pregnancy, of which they have been separately informed by an archangel. This moment stood for the conception of Mary, and the feast was celebrated on the same day as theImmaculate Conception.Art works representing the Golden Gate and the events leading up to it were influenced by the narrative in the widely readGolden Legendof Jacobus de Voragine. TheBirth of Mary,thePresentation of Maryand theMarriage of the Virginwere usual components of cycles of the Life of the Virgin in which Anne is normally shown here.

Her emblem is a door.She is often portrayed wearing red and green, representing love and life.

Anne is never shown as present at theNativity of Christ,but is frequently shown with the infant Christ in various subjects. She is sometimes believed to be depicted in scenes of thePresentation of Jesus at the Templeand theCircumcision of Christ,but in the former case, this likely reflects a misidentification through confusion withAnna the Prophetess.There was a tradition that Anne went (separately) to Egypt and rejoined theHoly Familyafter theirFlight 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 theHoly Kinship,the extended family of Jesus, a popular subject in late medieval Germany; some versions of these pictorial and sculptural depictions includeEmerentiawho was reputed in the fifteenth century to be Anne's mother. In modern devotions, Anne and her husband are invoked for protection for the unborn.

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

The role of the Messiah's grandparents in salvation history was commonly depicted in early medieval devotional art in a vertical double-Madonna arrangement known as theVirgin and Child with Saint Anne.Another typical subject has Anne teaching the Virgin Mary the Scriptures (see gallery below).

Gallery

• 
  Coptic, 8th century,National MuseuminWarsaw
• 
  German, 15th century. Anne holds Mary and Christ
• 
  German, 15th century, Legends of St Anne
• 
  German, 16th century. Relief of the St. Anne's Head, Annakirche Dueren
• 
  German, 16th century. St. Anne's Shrine, home of St. Anne's Head, Annakirche Dueren
• 
  Annunciation to Anne mosaic, 12th century,Chora Church,Istanbul
• 
  The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne in the Cathedral Museum of theChurch of Santiago de Compostela
• 
  A Belgian Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (labeledSte Anne Trinitaireby the museum)
• 
  A French Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (15th-century) fromLanguedoc-Roussillon
• 
  A Spanish Virgin and Child with Saint Anne influenced ultimately by Greek "Hodegetria" icons
• 
  The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne from Oaxaca, Mexico
• 
  St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read, Church of San Giuseppe alla Lungara, Rome
• 
  Saint Anne,James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Saint Anne (Die Heilige Anna) with child Jesus, by Otto Bitschnau, 1883
• 
  The Holy Family with Saint Anne and Saint-JeannetbyEl Greco(c. 1600), conserved in theBiblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer
• 
  Saint Anne and Virgin Mary.Josef Moroder-Lusenberg school (c. 1890) inBadia
• 
  The instruction of Mary.Catholic parish church of St. Martin in the district ofDillingen(Bavaria).
• 
  The Education of the Virgin.Guido Reni(1640-1642)
• 
  St. Anne teaching St. Mary,Josef Winterhalder the Younger
• 
  The education of the Virgin,Eugène Delacroix(1842)
• 
  The Education of the Virgin Mary,Jean Jouvenet(1700)
• 
  Mary and St. Anne.Iglesia del Salvador,Seville
• 
  Education of Virgin Mary,Parish church Saint Vinzenz
• 
  Saint Anne with Virgin and Child, ca. 1400-1425

Music

• Marc-Antoine Charpentiercomposed 2motets:
  • Pour Ste Anne,H.315, for 2 voices and continuo (around 1675)
  • Canticum Annae,H.325, for 3 voices, 2 treble instruments, and continuo (around 1680).
• Johann Sebastian Bachcomposed a prelude and fugue:
  • Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552(published 1739)

See also

• Church of Saint Anne, Jerusalem
• Church of St. Ann (disambiguation)
• The Line of Saint Anne
• Portal, Catholic patron saint archive
• Statue of Saint Anne, Charles Bridge
• St Anne's College, Oxford
• Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
• Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary

External links

• Brief Franciscan Media article on "Sts. Joachim and Ann"
• "Saint Anne"at theChristian Iconographywebsite
• "Here Followeth the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady"from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend
• The Protevangelium of James
• The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
• Reames, Sherry L. ed., "Legends of St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary: Introduction",Middle English Legends of Women Saints,Medieval Institute Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2003
• Welsh, Jennifer.The Cult of St. Anne in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.Routledge, 2017.