Why the Greatness of St. Joachim and St. Ann?
Jesus said: “By their fruit you will know them. A good tree brings forth good fruit, but a bad tree brings forth bad fruit” (Mt 7:16-17). These words of the Greatest Master and Teacher of the world can most appropriately be applied to Jesus’ two grandparents, the mother and father of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Their names have traditionally been known to be Saint Joachim (father of Mary) and Saint Ann (mother of Mary). We celebrated their feast yesterday, July 26.
Our humble work of promoting a knowledge, love, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, would be incomplete if nothing were mentioned about the parents of Mary, of the grandparents of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Both Saint Joachim and Saint Ann merit the highest honor and respect!
I honestly believe that given the high estate of their daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, right reason and logic point to the fact that Saint Joachim and Saint Ann deserve our study—our knowledge of them, our respect for them, our prayers to them, as well as our trust in the power of their intercession in our daily lives. Indeed, they are underestimated and all too often unknown by many Catholics!
There is no actual Biblical data on Saints Joachim and Ann. Nonetheless, tradition points out that this husband and wife were the vessels from which God sent into the world the greatest woman ever to be born and ever to live, who would become the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven and earth! From this woman, the fruit of the love between Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, would be born Jesus, our Lord God and Savior. For these reasons, we highlight the great importance of this couple.
The Suffering Of Saint Joachim And Saint Ann. This was their greatest suffering: like Abram and Sarai, like Hannah, like Saint Elizabeth and Zechariah—Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, despite their great desire and longing, were never able to have children. Furthermore, according to tradition, by now Ann, like Elizabeth, was beyond the normal child bearing age. This was a source of excruciating suffering for Joachim and Ann, given that they both had really wanted children.
Their Generosity. Despite their longing and suffering in not having a child, Saint Joachim and Saint Ann had very generous hearts. They were a devout Jewish couple, a very prayerful couple, and a humble couple. How did this unfold? From the economic means they had for themselves, they preferred to give most of it away. In other words, they were really detached from material things—especially money and its dangers—as they had their hearts set on God. As Jesus would say later on in His teachings that we read in the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be given to you be besides” (Mt 6:33). Therefore, Saint Joachim and Saint Ann gave one third of their means to the poor; another third, they gave to the Temple and its upkeep; and they kept only a third for themselves. Talk about generosity in tithing! Most people who tithe consider themselves generous when they give ten percent of their earnings to the poor or to the Church. In the case of Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, they gave away two thirds, or, if you like, 66% of their means!
