by Andrew Koslosky KGCHS, Contributing Writer
Among the most beloved saints in our Christian tradition are St. Ann and St. Joachim, honored as the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. Though the canonical Gospels of Mark, Luke, Matthew and John do not record their names or tell their story directly, the Church has cherished their memory for centuries.
Their lives stand at the threshold of the New Testament, hidden in humility yet deeply connected to the mystery of salvation. Through them, God prepared the home in which Mary, the Mother of the Lord, would be born, loved, formed, and taught to listen for the voice of God.
The Church celebrates St. Ann and St. Joachim this year on Sunday July 26. Their feast invites Catholics and other Christians to reflect on the importance of family, faith, patience, and the quiet holiness that often shapes history without attracting attention. They are especially loved as patrons of grandparents, parents, married couples, and those who long for children.
Most of what we know about Ann and Joachim comes from early Christian tradition.
The New Testament tells us that Mary was real, that she belonged to Israel, and that she was formed within a human family. Tradition gives names to that family: Ann, whose name is related to Hannah and means grace, and Joachim, whose name is often interpreted as “the Lord prepares.”
The Church honors them because they represent the faithful parents of Mary, the holy household in which the Mother of God was nurtured. In them, Christians see the sanctity of ordinary family life and the mysterious way God works through generations.
To speak of Ann and Joachim is to think about the home in which Mary grew up. Catholic faith teaches that Mary was preserved from original sin by a singular grace of God in view of the merits of Christ. Yet grace does not erase human formation.
Mary would have learned language, prayer, Scripture, obedience, reverence, and compassion within a household. She would have watched her parents pray. She would have heard the stories of Israel, the promises made to Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt, the words of the prophets, and the longing for the Messiah.
In Christian art, St. Ann is often shown teaching the young Mary to read. This image is not merely sentimental. It expresses the conviction that faith is handed on through patient instruction, daily example, and loving attention. St. Joachim is also portrayed as a righteous and prayerful father, a man who entrusted his family to God. Together they remind believers that the first school of holiness is often the family table, the bedside prayer, the small act of forgiveness, and the repeated lesson that God is faithful.
Mary’s own response to the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” did not arise in a vacuum. It was the perfect act of faith of one filled with grace, but it was also spoken by a daughter of Israel who had learned to trust God. Ann and Joachim, therefore, stand behind the Annunciation as hidden witnesses. Their faithful parenting prepared Mary’s total yes to God.
Because Ann and Joachim are honored as Mary’s parents, they are also remembered as the grandparents of Jesus. This title has become especially meaningful in modern Catholic devotion.
Grandparents often serve as guardians of memory. They tell the family stories, preserve traditions, model perseverance, and offer a kind of love that is both tender and steady.
In Ann and Joachim, the Church sees the dignity of older generations and the spiritual importance of those who hand on faith quietly. In recent years, the Church has placed renewed an emphasis on grandparents and the elderly.
The feast of Ann and Joachim naturally draws attention to this vocation. Their lives remind families that holiness is not limited to youth, public ministry, or dramatic achievements.
The elderly can be bearers of wisdom, intercession, patience, and hope. They can help younger generations remember who they are before God.
For grandparents today, Ann and Joachim offer encouragement. Some grandparents help raise grandchildren directly. Others pray from a distance. Some grieve family divisions or worry that faith is fading in the next generation.
Ann and Joachim teach that hidden prayer matters. A faithful presence matters. The witness of love may bear fruit in ways that are not immediately visible.
St. Ann and St. Joachim are also models for married couples and parents. Parents can learn from them that children are gifts, not possessions. The tradition says Ann promised to dedicate her child to God.
This is a profound lesson for every Christian parent. To raise a child in faith is not to control that child’s future but to help the child discover God’s call.
Ann and Joachim did not know the full mystery that would unfold through Mary. They could not have imagined Calvary, Pentecost, or the centuries of devotion that would surround their daughter. They simply received her, loved her, and gave her back to God.
Devotion to St. Ann developed early in the Christian East and later became widespread in the West. Churches were dedicated to her, prayers were composed, and artists depicted her with Mary and the Christ Child.
St. Joachim’s devotion also grew, though often more quietly. St. Ann has been especially loved in many cultures. She is invoked by mothers, grandmothers, women in labor, and those seeking family blessings.
Shrines dedicated to her have become places of pilgrimage and healing. St. Joachim is honored as a patron of fathers, grandfathers, and married couples. Their popularity also reveals a deep human need.
Believers want to know that the hidden years matter. Most people will not preach to crowds, write famous books, or become publicly known. They will cook meals, comfort children, care for aging relatives, go to work, pray in silence, and keep faith through ordinary days. Ann and Joachim assure the faithful that such lives can be holy and world-changing when surrendered to God.
Of course, the importance of Ann and Joachim is ultimately Jesus centered. Their dignity comes from their place in the history of salvation. They are not honored apart from Jesus but because God chose to enter human history through a real family line.
The Incarnation means that the Son of God took flesh from Mary, and Mary herself was born into a family. God did not bypass human relationships; He sanctified them from within. The genealogy of grace is not abstract. It passes through real people.
Their hidden holiness prepared the way for Mary, and Mary’s yes prepared the way for Christ’s birth. God works not only in great public events but in kitchens, workshops, gardens, and quiet rooms where people choose faithfulness.
The lives of St. Ann and St. Joachim offer several lessons for modern families.
First, they teach perseverance in prayer. Prayer is not a transaction by which people force God’s hand. It is a relationship of trust. Ann and Joachim prayed from their poverty and pain, and their prayer opened them more deeply to God. He answered by blessing them with a child, a very special one.
Second, they teach the sacredness of parenting. In a world that often measures success by achievement, wealth, or visibility, their holiness was expressed in forming a child for God. Parents may never know the full impact of their words, habits, sacrifices, and prayers. Yet the home remains one of the most powerful places where faith is formed.
Third, they teach reverence to the elderly. Older generations are not burdens to be set aside but living links in the chain of faith. Their memories, prayers, and experience can steady families in times of confusion. Ann and Joachim call the Church to honor grandparents and elders, to listen to them, and to recognize their vocation.
Finally, they teach hope. Their lives are remembered not because they were powerful but because they were faithful. God chose their ordinary household as part of the preparation for the extraordinary gift of Christ. This is good news for every believer.
In God’s plan, no act of love is insignificant.
In summary, St. Ann and St. Joachim stand quietly at the edge of the Gospel story, yet their presence is deeply meaningful. They are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the grandparents of Jesus, and the witnesses of a holiness rooted in marriage, family, prayer, and trust.
Their names are preserved by tradition; their greatness is revealed by the fruit of their lives.
To honor them is to honor the hidden foundations of faith. It is to remember that Mary was raised in a home, that Jesus entered a human family, and that God’s saving plan moves through generations.
Ann and Joachim invite parents to raise children for God, grandparents to cherish their spiritual mission, and all believers to trust that patient love can prepare the way for grace.
May St. Ann and St. Joachim pray for families, for grandparents, for those who long for children, for those who carry hidden sorrows, and for all who seek to say yes to God in ordinary life.
Through their intercession, may homes become places where faith is taught, love is practiced, hope is renewed, and Jesus is welcomed.
Peace my Brothers and Sisters, until next week…
(Photo by https://www.traditionallaycarmelites.com/talks/st-anne-st-joachim-parents-of-mary)
