Jesus' Grandmother

Today, July 26, is the feast day of St. Anne and St. Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The priest at the Shrine of St.  Anne in Arvada, Colorado mentioned that not much was known about the Mother of Mary. He did say that St. Anne raised Mary in a loving and holy home.

Wikipedia had information about St. Anne being the patroness of housewives, women in labor, grandmothers, horseback riders, cabinet makers, miners, sailors, protector of storms and of the unborn.

She is mentioned in the Qur'an, the Islamic holy text received by Mohammad from Allah about revelation. St. Anne, named Hannah in Arabic, was expecting a son but was blessed with a girl instead and she realized it was truly a special gift from God.

The Shrine of St. Anne in d'Auray, France is the main shrine dedicated to St. Anne. It is located in Brittany, France. In the 6th century a chapel to St. Anne was built but by the 1600 it was gone. Around 1624, St. Anne appeared to Yves Nicolazic and she asked that the chapel be rebuilt. It was rebuilt but soon outgrew the many pilgrims coming to visit and a larger church was finished in 1872.

At Arvada's Shrine there is a relic of St. Anne next to a beautiful statue of St. Anne with Mary. Parishioners kiss the relic after kneeling in front of it. If there was little background about St. Anne, there is even less about St. Joachim, the father of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Feast day for both St. Anne and St. Joachim is on July 26.