Sts. Joachim and Anne: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers

Feast day: July 26 (Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Patron of: Grandparents; St. Anne is also patroness of mothers and women in childbirth.

About Sts. Joachim and Anne

The Gospels do not name the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but a very old Christian tradition, recorded in the second-century writing known as the Protoevangelium of James, gives their names as Joachim and Anne. According to that tradition, they were a devout couple of Jerusalem who long suffered the sorrow of childlessness and prayed faithfully until God blessed them with a daughter, whom they dedicated to Him.

Devotion to St. Anne spread early in the East, where a church was built in her honor in Constantinople in the sixth century, and later throughout the West. Great shrines such as Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec still draw pilgrims today. The Church honors Joachim and Anne together on July 26, and Pope Francis chose the Sunday nearest their feast for the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Their quiet home was the first school of the Mother of God. We can ask them to bless our families, to strengthen couples who long for children, and to help grandparents hand on the faith with patience and love.

Prayers to Sts. Joachim and Anne on Daily Catholic Prayers

• Prayer for a Wedding Anniversary

• Prayer for an Expectant Mother

• Prayer for New Grandparents

• Prayer for the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• Prayer of Hannah for Those Hoping for a Child

• Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Baby

• Prayer to St. Anne

Learn more: “St. Anne” in the Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)

Browse every saint in our Catalog of Saints A–Z.

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