Feast of St. Joachim

Father of Mary,

Grandfather of Jesus,

Pray for us!

St. Anne and St. Joachim are often depicted, as they are here, standing together before the Golden Gate. (Not the one in San Francisco.) The story goes that Joachim and Anne were a devoted couple, but childless after many years of marriage. In that time barrenness was thought to be a sign that a couple has been rejected by God. One legend even says that St. Joachim was barred from the temple because his childlessness made him unfit. Imagine. As we know, though, they were the most fit and holy of individuals and became one of the most blessed couples in all of history. It was a happy day when they learned, themselves, of their great blessing. An angel appeared to inform Anne of her conception, instructing her to meet her husband at the city gate in Jerusalem -- the Golden Gate. And, naturally, on meeting at the gate the husband and wife embraced.


According to the Chelidonius*: "Overjoyed Anne threw herself into the arms of her husband; together they rejoiced about the honour that was to be granted them in the form of a child. For they knew from the heavenly messenger that the child would be a Queen, powerful on heaven and on earth".

* Got this from Wikipedia, but can't for the life of me figure out who Chelidonius was...



Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate is a 1504 woodcut by the German painter Albrecht Dürer. The image above can be "clicked" and copied for a coloring page if you like.