Sainte Anne éduquant la Sainte Vierge Marie, 1878, vitrail , collatéral sud de
l'église de Saint-Front-de-Pradoux, Dordogne,
Mère et père de la Vierge Marie (Ier siècle)
Marie est
présentée dans les évangiles comme une jeune fille de Nazareth, fiancée
de Joseph dont
les ascendants sont longuement énumérés dans la généalogie du Seigneur.
Les quatre Évangiles, entièrement tournés vers la
Bonne Nouvelle du Christ, sa vie, ses paroles et sa Résurrection, ne font nulle
mention de la famille de Marie, sans doute fixée aussi à Nazareth.
La tradition, dès les premiers siècles, appellent les
parents de la Vierge Marie, Joachim ("Dieu accorde") et Anne
("La Grâce - la gracieuse").
L'imagination des auteurs des Évangiles apocryphes en
fait un couple discret, mais il était bien réel et il a su accueillir,
éduquer Marie et l'éveiller dans la grâce toute spéciale qui était la sienne,
et qu'ils ignoraient.
Le culte de sainte Anne apparaît dès le VIe siècle
dans certaines liturgies orientales et, au VIIIe siècle dans les liturgies
d'Occident. Son culte est généralisé avant la fin du XIVe siècle.
Sainte Anne est souvent représentée apprenant à
lire à sa fille dans le livre de la Bible. Une icône russe, image gracieuse de
l'amour conjugal, immortalise le baiser qu'ils se donnèrent lorsqu'ils
apprirent la conception de Marie. C'est ainsi qu'ils ont participé au
mystère de l'Incarnation.
"La mémoire des saints Joachim et Anne, parents
de la Vierge et donc grands-parents de Jésus, que l'on célèbre aujourd'hui,
m'offre un deuxième point de réflexion. Cette célébration fait penser au thème
de l'éducation, qui a une place importante dans la pastorale de l'Église. Elle
nous invite en particulier à prier pour les grands-parents, qui, dans la
famille, sont les dépositaires et souvent les témoins des valeurs fondamentales
de la vie. La tâche éducative des grands-parents est toujours très importante,
et elle le devient encore davantage quand, pour diverses raisons, les parents
ne sont pas en mesure d'assurer une présence adéquate auprès de leurs enfants,
à l'âge de la croissance. Je confie à la protection de sainte Anne et saint
Joachim tous les grands-parents du monde en leur adressant une bénédiction
spéciale. Que la Vierge Marie, qui - selon une belle iconographie - apprit à
lire les Saintes Écritures sur les genoux de sa mère Anne, les aide à toujours
nourrir leur foi et leur espérance aux sources de la Parole de Dieu. (Benoît
XVI - Angelus du 26 juillet 2009)
La Bretagne, après la découverte d'une statue
miraculeuse, dans le champ du Bocéno, lui a construit une basilique
à Sainte-Anne d'Auray, et en a fait sa "patronne". Les
marins par le fait même l'ont choisie comme protectrice.
Sainte Anne est la patronne de la province de Québec.
Tous les diocèses du Canada ont au moins une église dédiée à Sainte Anne.
Voir aussi:
- vidéo sur la webTV de la CEF: Sainte
Anne - La mère de Marie
- Les
saints du diocèse de Quimper et Léon.
- L'Église d'Apt est l'une des premières en Occident à
avoir, dès le XIIe siècle, mis à honneur le culte de Sainte Anne, aïeule du
Christ, dont la fête solennelle figure déjà, au 26 juillet, dans deux
manuscrits liturgiques locaux. (Sainte
Anne - diocèse d'Avignon)
Un internaute nous a suggéré de rajouter dans la liste
des Saints
Patrons Sainte Anne comme patronne des ébénistes. En effet, lorsque
que les menuisiers en meubles se sont séparés de la corporation des menuisiers,
sous le patronage de Saint Joseph, pour créer la corporation des Ébénistes, ils
ont choisi comme Patronne Sainte Anne, mère de la Sainte Vierge et ... belle mère
de Saint Joseph... Un curé a donné l'explication de ce choix: en concevant
Marie, Sainte Anne a simplement conçu le premier Tabernacle...
Mémoire (au Québec: Fête) des saints Joachim et Anne,
les parents de la Vierge Marie immaculée, Mère de Dieu, dont les noms ont été
conservés par d'antiques traditions chrétiennes.
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/fetes/26/7/2020/26-Juillet-2020.html
Sainte Anne ,Église Saint-Maurice de Marçais
Sainte Anne
Mère de la très Sainte Vierge Marie
Sainte Anne appartenait à ce peuple choisi qui, dans les desseins de Dieu, devait donner naissance au Sauveur des hommes; elle était de la tribu de Juda et de la race de David. Ses parents, recommandables par leur origine, devinrent surtout illustres entre tous leurs concitoyens par l'éclat d'une vie pleine de bonnes oeuvres et de vertus.
Dieu, qui avait prédestiné cette enfant à devenir l'aïeule du Sauveur, la combla des grâces les plus admirables. Après Marie, aucune femme plus que sainte Anne ne fut bénie et privilégiée entre toutes les autres. Mais si elle reçut tant de grâces, comme elle sut y répondre par la sainteté de sa vie!
Toute jeune enfant, elle était douce, humble, modeste, obéissante et ornée des naïves vertus de son âge. Plus tard, comme elle sut bien garder intact le lis de sa virginité! Comme elle dépassait toutes les filles, ses compagnes, par sa piété, par la réserve de sa tenue, son recueillement et la sainteté de toute sa conduite! Puis, quand il plut à Dieu d'unir son sort à celui de Joachim, combien Anne fut une épouse prévenante, respectueuse, laborieuse, charitable et scrupuleusement fidèle à tous les devoirs de son état, vaquant à propos au travail et à la prière.
Dieu lui refusa longtemps de devenir mère; elle se soumit humblement à cette épreuve et l'utilisa pour sa sanctification. Mais à l'épreuve succéda une grande joie, car de Joachim et d'Anne, déjà vieux, naquit miraculeusement Celle qui devait être la Mère du Sauveur et la Corédemptrice du genre humain. C'est sans doute un grand honneur pour sainte Anne, que d'avoir donné naissance à la Mère de Dieu; mais il lui revient beaucoup plus de gloire d'avoir formé le coeur de Marie à la vertu et à l'innocence! L'église célébrera dans tous les âges la piété maternelle de sainte Anne, et la gloire de sa Fille rejaillira sur elle de génération en génération.
Le culte de sainte Anne a subi diverses alternatives. Son corps fut transporté dans les Gaules, au premier siècle de l'ère chrétienne, et enfoui dans un souterrain de l'église d'Apt, en Provence, à l'époque des persécutions. A la fin du VIIIe siècle, il fut miraculeusement découvert et devint l'objet d'un pèlerinage. Mais c'est surtout au XVIIe siècle que le culte de sainte Anne acquit la popularité dont il jouit. De tous les sanctuaires de sainte Anne, le plus célèbre est celui d'Auray, en Bretagne; son origine est due à la miraculeuse découverte d'une vieille statue de la grande Sainte, accompagnée des circonstances les plus extraordinaires et suivies de prodiges sans nombre. Sainte-Anne d'Auray est encore aujourd'hui l'objet d'un pèlerinage national.
Abbé L. Jaud,Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
Giotto. Annonciation à sainte Anne, fresque, Chapelle des Scrovegni de Padoue
SAINTE ANNE.
L’histoire de sainte Anne est peu connue, le silence
enveloppe sa figure. Ce silence est profond, majestueux, sublime comme le
silence du sanctuaire ; ce silence est une louange inconnue, et je ne veux pas
le troubler. Mais ce silence est large, et je veux essayer de le parcourir. Le bruit
des pas qui retentissent dans un temple, sur la pierre et sous les voûtes,
ressemble à une prière. Promenons-nous un instant dans le temple.
Sainte Anne semble cachée derrière les éclats de la
lumière comme derrière un voile impénétrable. Pour la voir, il faut regarder à
travers d’insondables mystères qui arrêtent la vue. L’Immaculée-Conception lui
sert de rempart contre les regards de la terre. Elle disparaît derrière Marie.
Quiconque a lu l’histoire soupçonne l’importance des
noms. Le nom de sainte Anne est un mystère d’autant plus intéressant qu’il est
moins souvent remarqué. Anna en hébreu veut dire : grâce, amour, prière.
Or, le nom d’Anne a été donné á plusieurs femmes qui ont
obtenu des enfants par leurs prières et qui les ont consacrés d’avance á Dieu.
Ces coïncidences ne sont pas l’effet du hasard.
Et d’abord, dans l’Ancien Testament, voici Anne, mère
de Samuel. Il est difficile de lire sans saisissement ce récit, si vif qu’on
croit assister au fait qu’il raconte. La prière d’Anne était intense, profonde,
secrète. Ses lèvres remuaient, sa voix ne s’entendait pas. Un étranger, celui
qui ne connaît ni les secrets de l’homme ni les secrets de Dieu, la regarde et
la croit ivre. Illusion bizarre en elle-même, magnifique dans sa signification,
féconde en enseignements, illusion à la fois réelle et symbolique, historique
et prophétique. Combien de fois, depuis Anne, mère de Samuël, combien de fois l’étranger,
c’est-á-dire l’ennemi, Hostis, a-t-il confondu l’inspiration divine et l’ivresse ! Cette confusion merveilleuse entre
les choses supérieures et les choses inférieures à l’homme est un des traits
caractéristiques de l’aveuglement intellectuel. L’homme a besoin d’explication
; en face de l’inconnu, il cherche le mot de l’énigme- Cette femme remue les lèvres
et je ne l’entends pas parler. Qu’a-t-elle ? Et l’homme cherche l’explication
dans la sphère des choses qui lui sont connues. Et plus le mystère est haut,
plus il aime á le déshonorer, s’il refuse de l’honorer ; et pour le mieux déshonorer,
il va chercher très bas l’explication qu’il se donne, afin de se réfugier,
contre l’inconnu qui le menace, dans un lieu plus inaccessible.
Et la réponse d’Anne :
« Je n’ai bu ni vin, ni aucune liqueur capable
d’enivrer ; mais j’ai répandu mon âme en présence du Seigneur. »
Pas de gradations, pas de précautions, pas de préparation,
pas de transition d'une idée á l’autre, pas de crainte, pas d’ostentation !
Cette réponse est simple, et les termes opposés qu’elle contient sont mis sans
détour en présence l’un de l’autre, et le sublime apparaît dans les profondeurs
du désir d’Anne.
Le cantique d’Anne, après la naissance de Samuël,
présente, avec le cantique de Marie, d’admirables ressemblances que je me borne
á indiquer, pour ne pas être entraîné trop loin.
Les livres saints parlent longuement du premier Joseph
et nomment à peine le second. Ils parlent d'Anne, mère de Samuël, ils ne
parlent pas d’Anne, mère de Marie. On dirait que la parole recule, quand l’incarnation
du Verbe approche d’elle. Mais ce silence est plein de profondeurs
merveilleuses.
Tout le monde sait qu’Anne implora pendant de longues
années la naissance de Marie et la consacra d’avance au Seigneur.
Le nom d’Anne semble être, après le nom de Marie, le
nom de la mère par excellence, le nom de la mère qui présente à Dieu l’enfant.
Le nom d’Anne se retrouve plusieurs fois dans l’histoire, depuis la mère de
Samuël et depuis la mère de Marie.
Anne la prophétesse st présente au moment où Jésus-Christ
est présenté au temple.
Saint Nicolas, évêque de Myre, eut pour mère une femme
qui portait le nom d’Anne, et les circonstances de sa naissance rentrent dans
les caractères et les attributions avec lesquelles ce nom semble en rapport.
Le P. Giry dit dans la Vie de saint Nicolas : « Euphémius,
homme riche, mais extrêmement pieux et charitable, fut son père, et Anne, sœur de
Nicolas, l’ancien archevêque de Myre, fut sa mère. Il ne vint au monde que
quelques années après leur mariage, et lorsqu’ils n’espéraient plus avoir d’enfants.
Leur miséricorde envers les pauvres obtint ce que la nature leur refusait. Un
messager céleste leur annonça cette heureuse nouvelle, et, en leur promettant un
fils pour le soulagement de leur vieillesse, il les avertit de lui donner le
nom de Nicolas, qui signifie : victoire du peuple. »
Voici donc encore une femme qui porte le nom d’Anne,
et qui, après une longue stérilité, obtient un enfant par ses prières et reçoit
d’un ange la nouvelle que ses désirs, qui venaient de Dieu, sont exaucés.
Le bienheureux Pierre Fourier eut pour père Dominique
Fourier et pour mère Anne Vaquart.
Pierre, qui était leur premier-né, « fut en cette qualité,
dit le P. Giry, consacré à Dieu par ses parents, qui le destinèrent pour cet
effet aux saints autels dès le berceau, etc. »
Est-ce par hasard que cette mère qui porte encore le nom
d’Anne offre aussi son fils à Dieu? La gravité des noms, dans l’histoire des
plana divins, ouvre certains horizons sur la solennité du Nom adorable, sur le
respect dû au Nom de Dieu, et plus l’homme entre dans l’intimité des mystères éternels,
plus le Nom de Dieu grandit dans son âme, et plus il s’abîme dans les
profondeurs près desquelles passe, sans regarder, l’homme vulgaire qui nomme
Dieu légèrement.
Anne, mère de Marie, est un des types de la prière, de
l’attente et de la consécration.
Anne et Joachim virent s’ouvrir devant eux, entre leur
mariage et la naissance de Marie, la carriére de l’attente.
La stérilité, honteuse chez les Juifs, pesait sur eux
de tout son poids. Mais elle pesait d’un autre poids, plus lourd que son poids
ordinaire. Car elle était pour eux en contradiction directe avec leur destinée
et avec leur désir. Si toutes les femmes juives supportaient difficilement la
stérilité, comme une sorte d’inaptitude à entrer dans le plan divin, comme une
incapacité d'exaucer le désir du peuple et de donner naissance au Messie, quel
caractère particulier devait prendre cette douleur dans le coeur d’une femme
comme Anne ? Absorbée dans le désir du Messie, élevée par ce désir même aux contemplations
divines, attirée par la toute-puissance vers ce désir impérieux, terrible,
invincible, et arrêtée dans un élan qui était son coeur même et sa destinée par
une incapacité particulière d’accomplir la promesse à laquelle sa vie
appartenait, entraînée et repoussée, elle demandait à Dieu, par ordre de Dieu,
l’accomplissement des desseins de Dieu, et le secours de Dieu tardait à venir,
et cette prière tardait à être exaucée, et Anne, suspendue sur l’abîme, levait
les yeux vers le ciel, et le ciel semblait d'airain. Elle se sentait née pour
une oeuvre dont la grandeur l'écrasait, dont la beauté l’attirait, dont l’amour
la brûlait, et cette ceuvre restait provisoirement impossible. Dieu lui
inspirait sa prière, et Dieu n’exauçait pas encore la prière qu’il inspirait.
Dieu voulait, plus qu’elle-même, l’accomplissement qu’elle demandait, et Dieu
ne levait pas l’obstacle qui arrêtait l’accomplissement. Il le pouvait et il
tardait à le faire, lui qui le voulait et qui est Dieu.
L’apparence d’une contradiction épouvantable entre la
volonté de Dieu et la marche des choses devait peser sur Anne d’un poids que
Dieu voyait ; ce poids, c’était sa main, et il tardait à lever sa main. Anne et
Joachim étaient admirablement unis. Que devaient-ils se dire ? Essayaient-ils
de se consoler? Chacun d’eux cachait-il sa douleur à l’autre? Que de prières
solitaires durent monter vers le ciel avec les parfums du matin, avec les
parfums de midi, et avec les parfums du soir ! — Cependant le monde allait son
train : les nations se noyaient dans leurs pensées vaines et croyaient faire de
grandes choses. Rome étalait pompeusement le faste de ses derniers jours et
engraissait leur pâture aux vers de son tombeau. La société païenne, plus fière
que jamais, se drapait dans sa rhétorique vieillie; on parlait, on se battait,
on buvait, on massacrait. Marius et Sylla étaient les récents souvenirs de
cette société; Néron était son avenir, et elle se glorifiait de sa puissance, et
elle ne doutait pas de sa stabilité. Le mal triomphait dans la sécurité, et son
sommeil était paisible.
Et cependant Anne et Joachim priaient dans la maison
ou dans les champs. Qui donc savait, qui donc soupçonnait que ce désir si
humble, si impuissant en apparence, était le plus grand événement que vit la terre,
le point culminant que le monde eût atteint et la plus haute montagne que le
soleil éclairât ? Profondeur des profondeurs ! Quelle histoire lirons-nous
quand nous lirons l’histoire véritable !
Cette longue prière d’Anne et de Joachim est un des
grands souvenirs de l’Humanité ; mais comme l’Humanité est distraite. Il est
bon de suppléer à son inattention. Anne veut dire grâce, et Joachim, préparation
du Seigneur. Ce qui se préparait pendant les années de leur attente, c’est
l’Immaculée-Conception de Marie, Mère de Dieu. Si nous ne connaissons pas en
détail tous les jours qui remplirent ces années et tous les moments qui remplirent
ces jours, nous pouvons, pour nous aider à mesurer un peu la préparation,
contempler l’oeuvre qui se préparait. Celle qui devait naître, c’était Marie,
Mère de Dieu, le chef-d'oeuvre immaculé que la Trinité contemplait depuis l’éternité
dans le transport de la joie. II faut se plonger quelque temps dans la
profondeur de l’incompréhensible, et arrêter ses regards sur Dieu contemplant
dans son verbe le type de la Mère de Dieu, pour concevoir, d’une façon telle
quelle, l’oeuvre qu’il s’agissait d’opérer ; et plus notre conception sera
haute, plus elle sentira combien elle est imparfaite. O Sagesse éternelle ! Ipsa conteret caput tuum : l’antique
promesse qui avait consolé nos premiers pères planait sur le monde et son écho
vibrait d’une vibration particulière dans certains lieux et dans certains
temps. Même en dehors de la tradition pure, la Vierge promise était attendue;
les Druides pensaient à elle. Si les forêts de la Gaule la saluaient d’avance
sans savoir son nom, comment devait la saluer et l’attendre celle que Dieu lui
avait choisie pour mère ! La longue et immense prière d’Anne et de Joachim me
représente d’abord l’attente de l’Humanité, attente consciente ou inconsciente,
l’attente de la race d’Adam qui soupirait et demandait la seconde Ève. La prière
d’Anne et de Joachim me transporte dans une région encore plus haute et me
conduit là où les paroles me manquent. Elle me conduit dans la région des
décrets divins, là où il n’y a pas d’époques, là où Dieu contemple
éternellement dans son Verbe le type des créatures. Je relis alors les paroles
que l’Écriture dit de la Sagesse, et je dis, comme les marins dans la tempête :
Sainte Anne, priez pour nous !
Quand le regard se promène avec tremblement, du type
éternel de Marie en Dieu, á Marie, fille de sainte Anne qui a vécu dans le
Temps, il plonge dans deux océans, et je dis, comme les marins : Sainte Anne,
priez pour nous !
Le nom de Joachim, préparation du Seigneur, m’oblige á
citer quelques lignes du P. Faber : « Comment se fait-il que la préparation
occupe une place tellement plus large dans les oeuvres du Créateur que dans
celles de la créature ? Est-ce uniquement en faveur de la créature ou n’est-ce pas
la révélation de quelque perfection dans le Créateur ? C’est au moins une donnée
sur son caractère qui fixe notre attention et n’est pas sans exercer une influence
sur notre conduite? Pourquoi a-t-il été si longtemps à préparer le monde pour l’habitation
de l’homme ? Dans quel but l’antiquité reculée des rochers inanimés ? Pourquoi
ces vastes époques où croissait une végétation gigantesque, comme s’il n’était
pas indigne des soins de son amour de se dépenser en richesse et en puissance
pour des générations d’hommes qui n’étaient pas encore nées ? Pourquoi la terre
et la mer ont-elles été séparées, puis séparées de nouveau, et encore, et
encore ? A quelle fin ont servi ces périodes séculaires où des monstres énormes
peuplaient les mers et où des êtres effrayants rampaient sur les continents ? Pourquoi
l'homme est-il né si tard dans cette époque où ont vécu ces animaux parfaits
dans leurs espèces, qui étaient ou ses prédécesseurs ou ses contemporains ?
Pourquoi la terre devait-elle être un tombeau si rempli de dynasties détrônées
et de tribus éteintes, avant que la véritable vie, pour laquelle elle avait été
créée, fût appelée à l’existence à sa surface ? qui pourra le dire ? Peut-être
n’en fut-il ainsi. Mais, s’il en fut ainsi, ce fut sa volonté. Le délai de l’Incarnation
est parallèle à ce que la géologie prétend nous révéler de l’arrangement, de l’ornementation
de notre planète, et des retouches qui y furent faites, si l’on peut appeler
retouches ce qui n’était certainement que le développement d’une vaste et
tranquille uniformité (Bethléem, par
le P. Faber). »
Ces hautes pensées du P. Faber peuvent éclairer d’une
lueur tremblante les ténèbres qui enveloppent saint Joachim, préparation du
Seigneur. Dieu préparait en lui un nouveau monde, une création nouvelle qui
devait s’appeler Marie, c’est-á-dire l’abîme.
Peut-être, si nous entendions parler pour la première fois
de ces choses, nous apparaîtraient-elles avec plus de majesté. Peut-être
faudrait-il en entendre parler tous les jours. Peut-être faudrait-il en
entendre parler tous les jours pour la première fois. Ceux qui ont le sens des
choses éternelles me comprendront. C’est un de leurs privilèges d’être nouvelles
tous les jours, parce que tous les jours peuvent nous plonger plus profondément
dans leurs profondeurs et nous élever plus haut sur leurs hauteurs.
Ceux qui ont de grandes destinées ont ordinairement
porté la honte quelque temps, avant d’arriver à la gloire. Souvent cette honte
est en contradiction directe avec le genre de gloire qui les attend. Les
faveurs de Dieu, avant d’éclater, ont été quelque temps invraisemblables.
IL y a dans l’âme surnaturalisée des instincts extraordinaires
qui reposent á des profondeurs inconnues. En général, les chrétiens ne savent
presque rien de sainte Anne : les détails qu’on peut avoir sur elle ne sont ni
complets, ni populaires. Mais, vis-à-vis d’elle, si la connaissance est rare,
la confiance ne l’est pas. Peu de chrétiens peuvent mesurer, même de très loin,
peu de chrétiens peuvent même songer à mesurer l’abîme où elle a vécu, la
hauteur, la largeur, la profondeur de sa contemplation. Peu de chrétiens
jettent les yeux vers les hauteurs où elle habitait, à une distance inconnue
des bruits de la terre et des pensées des hommes, préparant dans le désert de
sa gloire l’Immaculée-Conception; et cependant les chrétiens sont inclinés vers
celle qu’ils ignorent par une confiance simple, immense et tendre. Que
sentent-ils confusément en elle? La grandeur. Et partout où nous sentons la
grandeur, nous allons avec confiance. Quelque chose nous dit que la grandeur
est miséricordieuse, et que l’abîme a toujours pitié ! Quiconque sent la hauteur
quelque part sent aussi la compassion; et quelquefois l’homme a le sentiment
distinct de la compassion et le sentiment indistinct de la grandeur. Cependant,
c’est ce dernier qui produit l’autre. Plus haute est l’idée de l’Être de Dieu,
plus haute est l’idée de sa Miséricorde. Et comment la bonne volonté se
défierait-elle de Celui á qui appartient la gloire?
Ernest HELLO. Physionomies de saints
SOURCE : https://archive.org/stream/PhysionomiesDeSaintsParErnestHello/physionomies%20de%20saints_djvu.txt
.jpg)
Goschhof-Retabel, Hans Brüggemann um 1515, Darstellung
der Heiligen Anna im Vordergrund des Schreins rechts, mit Altem Testament
Première prière (Pour obtenir une faveur spéciale.)
Souvenez-vous, ô Bonne Sainte Anne,
vous dont le nom signifie
grâce et miséricorde,
qu'on n'a jamais entendu dire
qu'aucun de ceux qui ont eu recours
à votre protection,
imploré votre assistance
ou réclamé votre secours,
ait été abandonné.
Animé d'une pareille confiance,
ô bonne et tendre Mère,
j'ai recours à vous;
je me réfugie à vos pieds,
tout pécheur que je suis,
et j'ose paraître devant vous,
gémissant sous le poids de mes péchés.
Ne méprisez pas mes prières,
ô Bonne Sainte Anne,
Mère de l'Immaculée Vierge Marie,
particulièrement celles
que je vous fais pour obtenir...
(Faites votre demande ici...)
mais écoutez-les,
favorablement et daignez les exaucer.
Ainsi soit-il.
Dire 9 fois: Je vous salue, Marie...
Dire 3 fois: Bonne Sainte Anne, priez pour nous.
Deuxième prière
O bienheureuse sainte Anne,
me voici prosterné devant vous,
le coeur plein de la plus sincère vénération.
Vous êtes cette créature privilégiée
et particulièrement chérie,
qui, par vos vertus extraordinaires
et votre sainteté,
avez mérité de Dieu l'insigne faveur
de donner le jour à la Trésorière
de toutes les grâces,
à la Femme bénie entre toutes les femmes,
à la Mère du Verbe incarné,
la très sainte Vierge Marie.
En considération de si sublimes privilèges,
daignez, je vous en prie,
ô très douce sainte,
me recevoir au nombre
de vos véritables serviteurs,
auxquels j'appartiens
et veux appartenir tous les jours de ma vie.
Entourez-moi de votre efficace protection,
et obtenez-moi de Dieu,
l'imitation des vertus dont
vous avez été si libéralement ornée.
Obtenez-moi la grâce de connaître mes péchés
et d'en concevoir une sincère douleur,
d'aimer ardemment Jésus et Marie,
et de remplir avec fidélité
et persévérance mes devoirs d'état.
Délivrez-moi de tous les dangers de la vie,
et assistez-moi à l'heure de ma mort,
afin que je sois sauvé,
et qu'arrivé au ciel je puisse avec vous,
ô très heureuse Mère,
louer et bénir le Verbe divin
qui s'est fait homme
dans le sein de votre Fille très pure,
la Vierge Marie.
Ainsi soit-il.
(300 jours d'indulgences une fois le jour.)
Troisième prière (Pour l'année mariale 1988)
Bénie sois-tu, sainte Anne,
pour être la mère de Marie!
Bénie sois-tu
d'être la grand-mère de Jésus!
En cette année mariale, avec toi,
nous voulons louer Marie;
Avec toi, nous voulons la prier.
Que Marie soit bénie
pour être la comblée de grâce!
Que Marie soit bénie
pour être la Mère du Rédempteur!
Que Marie nous apprenne à grandir sans la foi.
Que son "oui", son "Fiat", soit notre modèle
pour répondre à l'amour de Dieu.
Que sa façon de garder toutes les choses
de Dieu dans son coeur soit notre façon.
Que tous les pèlerins découvrent Celle
qui est "le commencement de l'Église".
Avec toi, ô bonne sainte Anne, nous confions
à Marie, notre ère, l'Église entière,
l'avenir de notre monde, les malades
et les souffrants de toutes sortes.
Nous disons, avec foi, prie pour nous,
pauvres pécheurs et quête d'espérance.
SOURCE : http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/french/fran065.htm
Ramón Destorrents (1333–1391) et Arnau Bassa (–1348). Santa Ana e a Virgem, vers 1350, tempera sur panneau de chêne, 156 x 112, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga de Lisbonne
Sainte Anne
Anne et Joachim, parents de Marie
La mère de la Vierge Marie était de la tribu de Juda et de la lignée royale de David. Anne et Joachim, son époux, lui aussi de la tribu de Juda, étaient riches et possédaient de grands troupeaux. Ils menaient une vie sainte, mais malgré leurs prières ferventes, n'avaient malheureusement pas d'enfant. C'était pour les Juifs la pire des malédictions et elle valut à Joachin de voir refusée l'offrande qu'il portait au temple. Enfin, après bien des prières et des humiliations, ils sont exaucés : Marie, mère de Dieu est conçue et sa conception est immaculée.
Tradition
Aucun texte du Nouveau testament ne mentionne le nom d'Anne. Elle apparaît pour la première fois dans le Protévangile de Jacques, évangile apocryphe du IIe siècle de notre ère. Les circonstances de sa maternité tardive sont empruntées à l'Ancien Testament et à l'histoire d'Anne, mère de Samuel (1 S 2, 11). Une scène de sa vie légendaire est la rencontre miraculeuse d'Anne et de son futur mari Joachim à la Porte dorée, à Jérusalem.
Sainte Anne est honorée en Orient dès le Ve siècle où l'empereur Justinien élève une basilique en son honneur. En Occident, la dévotion à sainte Anne semble avoir pris son essor à l'époque des croisades. Son culte est reconnu par Urbain VI en 1382. Sa fête sera successivement supprimée par saint Pie V, puis rétablie par Grégoire XIII, déclarée fête chômée par Grégoire XV, puis réduite au rite de 2e classe par Léon XIII. Enfin, c'est Paul VI qui fusionne la fête de sainte Anne avec les deux fêtes que possédait jusque-là saint Joachim le 20 mars et le 16 août.
Apt et Auray
On vénère dans l'ancienne cathédrale d'Apt une partie du corps de sainte Anne. D'après la tradition, le corps de sainte Anne aurait été apporté d'Orient à Marseille ou en Arles à l'époque gallo-romaine, confié à un évêque d'Apt par une religieuse, caché au temps des invasions et retrouvé sous le règne de Charlemagne. Une grande partie des reliques de sainte Anne maintenant dispersées proviennent d'Apt.
Mais nulle part au monde sainte Anne n'est honorée comme en Bretagne où, de 1623 à 1625, elle apparaît à Yves Nicolazic de Keranna, près d'Auray.
Représentations
Anne, dans un jardin, envie la fécondité d'un couple de passereaux dans le feuillage d'un laurier. Un ange lui annonce qu'elle enfantera une fille, Marie.
Joachim arrive à cheval à la Porte dorée (linteau de la porte Sainte-Anne, Notre-Dame de Paris, XIIIe siècle). Au XIVe siècle, Giotto peint le baiser des époux (La Rencontre à la Porte d'or, 1304-1306, chapelle de l'Arena à Padoue).
À partir de la fin du XIVe siècle, le thème de la rencontre des époux et de leur baiser est remplacé par le nouveau symbole de l'Immaculée Conception, évoquée par la Vierge des litanies descendant du ciel.
Anne est souvent représentée avec Marie enfant dans ses bras, ou l'instruisant dans l'art de lire ou de coudre (école de Caravage, début XVIIe siècle, Rome, galerie Spada). Ainsi est-elle la patronne de l'éducation chrétienne et des libraires.
Anne figure enfin dans différentes scènes de la vie de Marie. Léonard de Vinci peint Marie dans le giron de sainte Anne (La Vierge, l'Enfant et sainte Anne, 1510, Paris, Louvre).
Quelques exemples d'iconographie de sainte Anne.
Attributs
Lis. Livre ouvert (dans les scènes de l'éducation de Marie)
Bibliographie
[G. Duchet-Suchaux, M. Pastoureau, La Bible et les saints, guide iconographique, Flammarion, Paris, 1994]
[Le livre des bannières, Association pour le XVe centenaire de la France, 1996]
SOURCE : http://damien.jullemier.pagesperso-orange.fr/sts/ste-anne.htm
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/26-07-Ste-Anne-mere-de-la-T-S
Statue de saint Joachim et de sainte Anne à la Porte dorée. Troyes. Champagne. XVIIe.
Vie de sainte Anne
Sainte Anne etait la mère de la sainte Vierge et Mère de Dieu Marie. Le père de la Vierge Marie s'appelait Joachim. Il descendait de la tribu royale de David par la branche de Nathan, son fils. Nathan engendra Lévi, Lévi engendra Melchi et Panthère, Panthère engendra Barpanthère, père de Joachim. Anne, l'épouse de Joachim, descendait elle-aussi de la tribu royale; car elle était la petite-fille de Mattha, lui-même petit-fils de David par Salomon. Mattha épousa une certaine Marie de la tribu de Juda, et ils donnèrent naissance à Jacob, le père de Joseph le charpentier et à trois filles: Marie, Sobée et Anne. Marie donna naissance à Salomée la sage-femme; Sobée à Elisabeth, la mère du Précurseur, et Anne à la Mère de Dieu, Marie, qui portait ainsi le nom de sa grand-mère et de sa tante. Elisabeth et Salomée, les nièces d'Anne, étaient donc les cousines de la Mère de Dieu.
Selon une divine économie, et pour montrer la stérilité de la nature humaine avant la venue du Christ, Dieu avait laissé Joachim et Anne sans progéniture jusqu'à un âge avancé. Comme Joachim était riche et pieux, il ne cessait de s'adresser à Dieu par la prière et de Lui offrir des présents, pour qu'Il les délivre, lui et son épouse, de leur opprobre. Un jour de fête, alors qu'il s'était présenté au Temple pour déposer son offrande, un des fidèles s'adressa à lui en disant: «Il ne t'est pas permis de présenter ton offrande avec nous, car tu n'as pas d'enfant». Alors, le coeur ulcéré, Joachim ne rentra pas chez lui, mais se retira dans la montagne, seul, pour prier et verser des larmes devant Dieu. Pendant ce temps, Anne versait elle aussi d'abondantes larmes et élevait de ferventes supplications vers le ciel, dans son jardin. Notre Dieu, riche en miséricorde et plein de compassion, entendit leurs supplications et envoya auprès d'Anne l'Archange Gabriel, l'Ange de la bienveillance de Dieu et l'annonciateur du salut, pour lui annoncer qu'elle allait concevoir et donner naissance à un enfant, malgré son âge, et que l'on parlerait de cette progéniture par toute la terre. Elle répondit, pleine de joie et de surprise: «Aussi vrai que vit le Seigneur mon Dieu, si j'enfante soit un fils, soit une fille, je le consacrerai au Seigneur mon Dieu, pour qu'il Le serve tous les jours de sa vie». Joachim, lui aussi,reçut la visite d'un Ange qui lui ordonna de se mettre en chemin avec Ses troupeaux pour rentrer chez lui et se réjouir avec sa femme et toute leur maison, car Dieu avait décidé de mettre fin à leur opprobre.
En ce jour, par la conception de Sainte Anne, c'est la stérilité de toute la nature humaine, séparée de Dieu par la mort, qui prend fin, et par l'enfantement surnaturel de celle qui était restée stérile jusqu'à l'âge où les femmes ne peuvent plus porter de fruit, Dieu annonçait et confirmait le miracle plus étonnant de la conception sans semence et de l'enfantement immaculé du Christ dans le sein de la Très Sainte Vierge et Mère de Dieu.
Or, neuf mois étant passés, Anne enfanta. Elle demanda à la sage femme: - «Qu'ai-je mis au monde?» Celle-ci répondit: - « Une fille. » Et Anne reprit: - «Elle a été glorifiée en ce jour, mon âme!» Et elle coucha délicatement l'enfant. Les jours de la purification de la mère exigés par la Loi étant accomplis, elle se releva, se lava, donna le sein à son enfant, et lui donna le nom de Marie: le nom qu'avaient attendu confusément les Patriarches, les Justes et les Prophètes, et par lequel Dieu devait réaliser le projet qu'il tenait caché depuis l'origine du monde.
Bien qu'elle fut née par une intervention miraculeuse de Dieu, la Sainte Vierge Marie fut cependant conçue par l'union de l'homme et de la femme, selon les lois de notre nature humaine déchue et soumise à la mort et à la corruption depuis le péché d'Adam (voir Génèse 3:16). Vase d'élection, Ecrin précieux.préparé par Dieu depuis l'origine des siècles, elle est certes la représentante la plus pure et la plus parfaite de l'humanité, mais elle n'a pas été toutefois mise à part de notre héritage commun et des conséquences du péché de nos premiers parents. Tout comme il convenait que le Christ, en son Incarnation, se rendît semblable aux hommes en tout hormis le péché, afin de les délivrer de la mort par sa mort volontaire (cf. Hébreux 2:14), de même il fallait que Sa Mère, dans le sein de laquelle le Verbe de Dieu allait s'unir à la nature humaine, fût en tout point semblable à nous, soumise à la mort et à la corruption, de peur que le Salut et la Rédemption ne nous concernent pas pleinement, nous tous fils d'Adam. La Mère de Dieu a été élue et choisie entre toutes les femmes, non pas de manière arbitraire, mais parce que Dieu vit à l'avance qu'elle saurait préserver et garder parfaitement sa pureté pour être digne de Le recevoir. Conçue et née comme nous tous, elle a été digne de devenir la Mère du Fils de Dieu et notre mère à tous. Tendre et compatissante, elle peut ainsi intercéder pour nous devant son Fils, pour qu'Il nous prenne en pitié.
Tout comme le Seigneur Jésus-Christ fut le fruit de sa virginité, la Sainte Mère de Dieu fut quant à elle le fruit de la chasteté de Joachim et Anne. Et c'est en suivant cette voie de la pureté que nous aussi, moines et chastes couples chrétiens, feront naître et grandir en nous le Christ Sauveur.
Après sa naissance de jour en jour, l'enfant Marie se fortifiait. Quand elle eut six mois, sa mère la posa à terre, pour voir si elle tiendrait debout. Marie avança alors de sept pas assurés, puis revint se blottir dans le giron de sa mère. Anne la souleva en disant: «Aussi vrai que vit le Seigneur mon Dieu, tu ne fouleras plus ce sol avant que je ne t'emmène au Temple du Seigneur. » Et elle établit un sanctuaire dans la chambre de l'enfant, où rien de vil ni de souillé par le monde n'entrait. Et elle fit venir des filles d'Hébreux de race pure, pour jouer avec l'enfant.
La première année de la petite étant écoulée, Joachim donna un grand festin. Il invita des Prêtres, des scribes et les membres du Conseil, et tout le peuple d'Israël. Joachim présenta aux Prêtres la petite fille, ceux-ci la bénirent en disant: «Dieu de nos pères, bénis cette petite fille et donne lui un nom qui soit nommé éternellement et par toutes les générations. » Et tout le peuple répondit: «Qu'il en soit ainsi, qu'il en soit ainsi! Amen!» Joachim la présenta aussi aux princes des Prêtres. Ceux-ci la bénirent en disant: «Dieu des hauteurs sublimes, abaisse Ton regard sur cette petite fille, et donne lui une bénédiction suprême, une bénédiction à nulle autre pareille!»
Sa mère emporta Marie dans le sanctuaire de sa chambre et lui donna le sein, en adressant au Seigneur Dieu cette hymne:
-«Je veux chanter au Seigneur mon Dieu une hymne, parce qu'Il m'a visitée et qu'Il a écarté de moi l'outrage de mes ennemis. Car le Seigneur m'a donné un fruit de Sa justice, cette justice qui est une et multiple tout ensemble. Qui annoncera maintenant aux fils de Ruben qu'Anne est Mère? Apprenez, apprenez, vous les douze tribus dIsraël, qu'Anne est mère!» Puis elle posa l'enfant dans la chambre du sanctuaire, sortit et alla servir les invités, qui se réjouissaient et louaient le Dieu.
Après avoir placé l'enfant dans le Temple, à l'âge de trois ans, telle une offrande pure et immaculée, Saint Anne passa le reste de sa vie dans le jeûne, la prière et les oeuvres de miséricorde, attendant l'accomplissement des promesses divines. Elle remit en paix son âme à Dieu à l'âge de soixante-neuf ans.
Saint Joachim, lui, mourut à l'âge de quatre-vingts
ans; mais l'on ignore lequel des deux décéda le premier. La seule chose que la
Tradition de l'Église nous ait transmise est que la toute Sainte Mère de Dieu
se trouva privée de ses parents à l'âge de onze ans, alors qu'elle était encore
dans le Temple.
SOURCE : http://www.st-anne.be/fr/node/10
École de Josef Moroder-Lusenberg, vers 1890. Sainte
Anne et la Vierge Marie, Badia
Profile
Mother of Our Lady. Grandmother of
Jesus Christ. Wife of Saint Joachim.
Probably well off. Tradition says that Anne was quite elderly when Mary was born, and
that she was their only child.
The belief that Anne remained a virgin in the conception and birth of Mary was condemned
by the Vatican in 1677. Believed
to have given Mary to
the service of the Temple when the girl was
three years old. Devotion to her has been popular in the East from the very
early days of the Church;
widespread devotion in the West began in the 16th century,
but many shrines have developed since.
devotion is Pre-Congregation
cultus extended to the whole Church in 1584
Name Meaning
gracious one; grace (= Anne)
—
—
Detroit, Michigan, archdiocese of
Norwich, Connecticut, diocese of
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Québec, diocese of
—
in Brazil
in Italy
in Malta
Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec
holding Mary or Jesus in her
arms or lap
teaching Mary to read the
Bible
greeting Saint Joachim at
Golden Gate
Storefront
Additional Information
Short Writings on
this site
Bethlehem,
by Father Frederick
William Faber
Book of
Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book of
Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Anne de Beaupre
Catholic
Encyclopedia: Saint Anne
Devotion
to Saint Anne, by Father Reginald
Good
Saint Anne, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik
Good
Saint Anne, Her Power and Dignity, by the Benedictine Convent of
Perpetual Adoration of Clyde, Missouri
Good
Saint Anne, Mother of Our Lady
Handbook
of Christian Feasts and Customs
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Mothers
of History, by J T Moran, C.SS.R.
Saint Anne,
by Maud Lynch
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Sermon
on Saint Anne, by Saint Vincent
Ferrer
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
The
Mother of Our Lady, Good Saint Anne, by a Devotee
Act
of Consecration to Saint Anne
A
Mother’s Prayer to Saint Anne
Beads
of Saint Anne, Mother of Mary
Indulgenced
Prayer of Saint Anne
Pledge
of Devotion to Saint Anne
Prayer
of the Childless Spouse
Prayers
from the Liturgy about Saint Anne
Prayer
to Saint Anne for the Conversion of One Dearly Beloved
Prayer
to Saint Anne on Behalf of a Sick Person
Prayer
to Saint Anne to Obtain Some Special Favour
Prayer
to Saint Joachim and Saint Anne
Prayer
to the Blessed Virgin in Honor of Saint Anne
Saint
Anne, Patroness of Christian Mothers
Solemn
Prayer in Honor of Saint Anne
The
Five Perogatives of Saint Anne
The
Invalid’s Prayer to Saint Anne
The
Little Rosary of Saint Anne
The
Pilgrim’s Prayer to Saint Anne
Universal
Prayer to Saint Anne
Novena
in Honor of Saint Anne I
Novena
in Honor of Saint Anne II
Novena
in Honor of Saint Anne III
Novena
to Saint Anne, by Father Daniel
Aloysius Lord
Novena
to Saint Anne, Grandmother of Jesus
To
Saint Ann, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other sites in english
Father Richard Gennaro Cipolla
Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, by the Australian Catholic
Truth Society
Saint Charles Borromeo Church, Picayune, Mississippi
images
video
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites en français
Abbé Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti in italiano
Wikipedia: Santi patroni della città di Venezia
nettsteder i norsk
Readings
Joachim and
Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands
the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who
alone was worthy of him. Joachim and
Anne, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you
have borne, as the Lord says: “By their fruits you will know them.” The conduct
of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and
holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who
remained a virgin before, during, and after giving birth. She alone for all
time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body. Joachim and
Anne, how chaste a couple! While leading a devout and holy life in your human
nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she
now is. – from a sermon by Bishop Saint
John Damascene
Many early Canadian fur
traders were Catholic; not
only the French-Canadian voyageurs, but their mostly-Scottish employers as
well; it’s not surprising that they should have had a patron saint. In the
memoirs of Alexander Henry (the Elder), written in 1804, he wrote of his first
venture into the Canadian fur trade in 1761:
“Saint Anne is the patroness of the Canadians, in all
their travels by water.”
Henry was a partner in the North West Company, the fur
trading company which employed the largest number of voyageurs for the longest
time. From the Narrative of Peter Pond, a founding partner of the
North West Company, written c.1800, and recounting his experiences in 1773: (My
transliteration, from his very idiosyncratic spelling system!).
…This church is dedicated to Saint Anne who protects
all voyageurs. Here is a small box with a hole in the top for the reception of
a little money for the holy father to say a small mass for those who put a
small sum in the box. Scarce a voyageur but stops here and puts in his mite and
by that means they suppose that they are protected while absent. The church is
not locked but the money box is well secured from thieves. After the ceremony
of crossing themselves and repeating a small prayer we crossed the lake…
From the 1793 journal
of John Macdonnell, clerk of the North West Company:
At the church of Saint Anns the crews of the canoes
collected a voluntary donation amongst themselves to which I contributed my
mite, in order to have prayers said for the prosperity of the voyage and a safe
return to those engaged in it, to their friends and families…. The next day, we
reached Saint Ann’s, thirty miles from Montreal. Here we passed the day in
repairing the Canoes. I went with others to see the Church & was persuaded
to ‘promise a Mass’ to ‘beseech Gods blessing’. I did, and put a shilling in
the box of the Roman Church in Montreal, when I returned in 1816 for I had no
money then.
This church was at Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec,
on the west end of Montreal Island, and was the last one that the voyageurs
passed before returning from their work in the fur trade, months or years
later. The voyageurs had a very hazardous profession; many voyageurs drowned
running treacherous rapids in frail birchbark canoes (sometimes entire canoe crews
perished). Other times, voyageurs survived the rapids only to starve to death
during the winter. My area of study and research ends at 1821, so I
don’t know much about Saint Anne’s role
in the fur trade after that. However, Fort Michilimackinac excavated a Saint
Anne’s medal which was dated to c.1840-1860. – Angela Gottfred Editor,
Northwest Journal
MLA Citation
“Saint Anne“. CatholicSaints.Info. 4 July 2021.
Web. 27 July 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anne/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anne/
St. Anne
Anne (Hebrew, Hannah, grace; also spelled Ann,
Anne, Anna) is the traditional name of the mother of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
All our information concerning the names and lives of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, is derived from apocryphal literature, the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Protoevangelium of James. Though the earliest form of the latter, on which directly or indirectly the other two seem to be based, goes back to about A.D. 150, we can hardly accept as beyond doubt its various statements on its sole authority. In the Orient the Protoevangelium had great authority and portions of it were read on the feasts of Mary by the Greeks, Syrians, Copts, and Arabians. In the Occident, however, it was rejected by the Fathers of the Church until its contents were incorporated by Jacobus de Voragine in his "Golden Legend" in the thirteenth century. From that time on the story of St. Anne spread over the West and was amply developed, until St. Anne became one of the most popular saints also of the Latin Church.
The Protoevangelium gives the following
account: In Nazareth there
lived a rich and pious couple, Joachim and
Hannah. They were childless. When on a feast
day Joachim presented himself
to offer sacrifice in the temple, he was repulsed by a
certain Ruben,
under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted.
Whereupon Joachim, bowed down with grief, did not return home, but went
into the mountains to make his plaint to God in
solitude. Also Hannah, having learned the reason of the prolonged absence of
her husband, cried to the Lord to take away from her the curse of
sterility, promising to dedicate her child to the service of God.
Their prayers were
heard; an angel came
to Hannah and said: "Hannah, the Lord has looked upon thy tears;
thou shalt conceive and give birth and the fruit of thy womb shall be blessed by
all the world". The angel made
the same promise to Joachim, who returned to his wife. Hannah gave birth
to a daughter whom she called Miriam (Mary). Since this story is
apparently a reproduction of the biblical account
of the conception of Samuel,
whose mother was also called Hannah, even the name of the mother of Mary seems
to be doubtful.
The renowned Father
John of Eck of Ingolstadt,
in a sermon on St.
Anne (published at Paris in
1579), pretends to know even
the names of the parents St.
Anne. He calls them Stollanus and Emerentia. He says
that St. Anne was born
after Stollanus and Emerentia had been childless for twenty
years; that St.
Joachim died soon after the presentation of Mary in
the temple; that St. Anne then married Cleophas,
by whom she became the mother of Mary
Cleophae (the wife of Alphaeus and mother of the Apostles James the
Lesser, Simon and Judas,
and of Joseph the Just); after the death of Cleophas she is
said to have married Salomas, to whom she bore Maria Salomae (the
wife of Zebedaeus and mother of
the Apostles John and James the Greater). The same
spurious legend is found in the writings of Gerson (Opp.
III, 59) and of many others. There arose in the sixteenth century an animated
controversy over the marriages of St. Anne, in which Baronius and Bellarmine defended
her monogamy. The Greek Menaea (25
July) call the parents of St.
Anne Mathan and Maria, and relate that Salome
and Elizabeth, the mother of St.
John the Baptist, were daughters of two sisters of St. Anne. According
to Ephiphanius it was maintained even in the fourth century by some
enthusiasts that St. Anne conceived without
the action of man. This error was
revived in the West in the fifteenth century. (Anna concepit per
osculum Joachimi.) In 1677 the Holy
See condemned the error of Imperiali who
taught that St. Anne in the conception and birth of Mary remained virgin (Benedict
XIV, De Festis, II, 9). In the Orient the cult of St.
Anne can be traced to the fourth century. Justinian
I (d. 565) had a church dedicated to her.
The canon of the Greek Office of St. Anne was
composed by St.
Theophanes (d. 817), but older parts of the Office are
ascribed to Anatolius of Byzantium (d. 458). Her feast is
celebrated in the East on the 25th day of July, which may be the day
of the dedication of her
first church at Constantinople or the anniversary of the
arrival of her supposed relics in Constantinople (710).
It is found in the oldest liturgical document
of the Greek
Church, the Calendar of Constantinople (first half of
the eighth century). The Greeks keep a
collective feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne on the 9th
of September. In the Latin
Church St. Anne was not venerated,
except, perhaps, in the south of France,
before the thirteenth century. Her picture, painted in
the eighth century, which was found lately in the church of Santa
Maria Antiqua in Rome,
owes its origin to Byzantine influence. Her feast, under the
influence of the "Golden Legend", is first found (26 July) in the
thirteenth century, e.g. at Douai (in
1291), where a foot of St. Anne was venerated (feast
of translation, 16 September). It was introduced in England by Urban
VI, 21 November, 1378, from which time it spread all over
the Western
Church. It was extended to the universal Latin
Church in 1584.
The supposed relics of St.
Anne were brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 and
were still kept there in the church of
St. Sophia in 1333. The tradition of
the church of Apt in southern France pretends
that the body of St. Anne was brought to Apt by St. Lazarus, the
friend of Christ,
was hidden by St. Auspicius (d. 398), and found again during the reign
of Charlemagne (feast,
Monday after the octave of Easter);
these relics were
brought to a magnificent chapel in
1664 (feast, 4 May). The head of St. Anne was kept at Mainz up
to 1510, when it was stolen and
brought to Düren in Rheinland. St. Anne is the patroness of Brittany.
Her miraculous picture
(feast, 7 March) is venerated at Notre
Dame d'Auray, Diocese
of Vannes. Also in Canada,
where she is the principal patron of the province
of Quebec, the shrine of St.
Anne de Beaupré is well known. St. Anne
is patroness of women in
labour; she is represented holding the Blessed
Virgin Mary in her lap, who again carries on her arm the child Jesus.
She is also patroness of miners, Christ being compared to
gold, Mary to silver.
Holweck, Frederick. "St.
Anne." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1907. 4 Jul.
2017 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01538a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. In Memoriam, Mrs. Margaret Crowley &
Mrs. Margaret McHugh.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March
1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01538a.htm
Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
Article
The Hebrew word Anne signifies gracious. Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the parents of the blessed Virgin Mary, are justly honoured in the church, and their virtue is highly extolled by Saint John Damascen. The emperor Justinian I. built a church at Constantinople in honour of Saint Anne, about the year 550. Codinus mentions another built by Justinian II in 705. Her body was brought from Palestine to Constantinople in 710, whence some portions of her relics have been dispersed in the West. F. Cuper the Bollandist has collected a great number of miracles wrought through her intercession.
God has been pleased by sensible effects to testify how much he is honoured by the devotion of the faithful to this saint, who was the great model of virtue to all engaged in the married state, and charged with the education of children. It was a sublime dignity and a great honour for this saint to give to a lost world the advocate of mercy, and to be parent of the mother of God. But it was a far greater happiness to be, under God, the greatest instrument of her virtue, and to be spiritually her mother by a holy education in perfect innocence and sanctity. Saint Anne being herself a vessel of grace, not by name only, but by the possession of that rich treasure, was chosen by God to form his most beloved spouse to perfect virtue; and her pious care of this illustrious daughter was the greatest means of her own sanctification and her glory in the church of God to the end of ages. It is a lesson to all parents whose principal duty is the holy education of their children. By this they glorify their Creator, perpetuate his honour on earth to future ages, and sanctify their own souls. Saint Paul says, that it is by the education of their children that parents are to be saved. Nor will he allow any one who has had children, ever to be admitted to serve the altar, whose sons do not, by their holy conduct, give proofs of a virtuous education. Nevertheless, we see parents solicitous about the corporal qualifications of their children, and earnest to procure them an establishment in the world; yet supinely careless in purchasing them virtue, in which alone their true happiness consists. This reflection drew tears from Crates, a heathen philosopher, who desired to mount on the highest place in his city and cry out with all his strength: “Citizens, what is it you think of? You employ all your time in heaping up riches to leave to your children; yet take no care to cultivate their souls with virtue, as if an estate were more precious than themselves.”
MLA Citation
Father Alban Butler. “Saint Anne, Mother of the
Blessed Virgin”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info.
2 July 2014. Web. 15 July 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin/
Goffine’s Devout Instructions – Feast of Saint Ann, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
July 26
All that we know of Saint Ann is that she was married to Saint Joachim of the tribe of David, and lived with him in all virtue and piety, but for a long time was childless. This she bore with all patience, till at last the Lord heard her supplications, and made her the mother of the most blessed Virgin. This distinction on the part of God is praise enough for her. On this account the faithful have always shown great veneration for her, and continually invoke her intercession.
At the Introit of the Mass the Church sings:
“Let us all rejoice in the Lord, keeping festival in honor of Saint Ann, on whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and with one voice praise the Son of God. My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Prayer
O God, Who wast pleased to confer upon Saint Ann the grace whereby she became the mother of her who brought forth Thine only-begotten Son, mercifully grant that we, who keep her festival, may, through her intercession, find help with Thee. Through the same Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc. Amen.
Epistle: Proverbs 31:10-31
Who shall find a valiant woman? the price of her is as of things brought from afar off and from the uttermost coasts. The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils. She will render him good; and not evil, all the days of her life. She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands. She is like the merchant’s ship, she bringeth her bread from afar. And she hath risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and victuals to her maidens. She hath considered a field, and bought it with the fruit of her hands she hath planted a vineyard. She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath strengthened her arm. She hath tasted, and seen that her traffic is good; her lamp shall not be put out in the night. She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hand to the poor. She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow; for all her domestics are clothed with double garments. She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry, fine linen, and purple is her covering. Her husband is honorable in the gates, when he sitteth among the senators of the land. She made fine linen, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Chananite. Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in the latter day. She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue. She hath looked well to the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle, Her children rose up, and called her blessed; her husband, and he praised her. Many daughters have gathered together riches; thou hast surpassed them alL Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise her in the gates.
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
At that time Jesus said to His disciples this parable:
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hideth and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had fouud one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes. Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have ye understood all these things?
They say to Him: Yes.
He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.
Explanation
The hidden treasure is faith in the Crucified, Who remains concealed from the wise of this world by reason of their pride; the hiding of the treasure denotes that faith is to be preserved only by humility; the selling of all that he hath teaches that, for the sake of the faith, we must sacrifice all things, do all things, suffer all things. The parable of the merchant furnishes the same lesson. By the parable of the net the Lord teaches that the universal visible Church of Christ, the kingdom of God upon earth, contains not only the elect, but those also who shall be condemned – the bad as well as the good. At the end of the world there will be a separation, and the bad shall be cast into everlasting fire.
Aspiration to Saint Ann
Hail, O blessed mother Ann! Blessed art thou, who, for
our consolation, didst bear the Mother of our Redeemer. With the greatest,
veneration, therefore, and full of confidence, we approach thee, beseeching
thee that thou wouldst supplicate our divine Saviour to bestow upon us the
graces which we need to follow thy ardent devotion, thy fear of God, and to
render us worthy one day to behold in heaven the blessed fruit of thy virgin
daughter’s womb, Jesus, and to rejoice forever in the contemplation of Him.
Goffine’s Devout Instructions
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/feast-of-saint-ann-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin/
Weninger’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
Article
Saint Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin, was a native of Bethlehem, a city two miles distant from Jerusalem, frequently mentioned in Holy Writ. Having passed her youth in unstained purity, she was married to a man named Joachim, who was born at Nazareth in Galilee, with whom she lived in such love and harmony, and at the same time so piously, that one could justly say of them what Saint Luke writes of Zachary and Elizabeth: “They were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame.” They divided their income into three parts, the first of which was used for the honor of God and to adorn the Temple, the second to assist the poor, and the third for their own subsistence. They employed the day in prayer, work suitable to their station in life, and charitable deeds.
Their only grief was, that, although so long married, they had no issue; and a barren marriage was at that time considered a disgrace, nay almost a sign of a divine curse. Saddened by this sorrow, Saint Anne, as well as her spouse, prayed with many sighs and tears, that God would take pity on them and remove the disgrace that was weighing them down. But when, after having prayed long and earnestly, they were not heard, they determined to bear patiently the will of the Almighty. As, however, Saint Anne knew that God required continual prayer, and that He had not given to men a certain time to ask for grace, she ceased not to implore heaven with great confidence, for all that she believed was for His honor and her own salvation. Being one day in the Temple, she felt her distress so deeply, that she wept bitterly, but she remembered, at the same time, that there had been another Anne, spouse of Elcana, who had been afflicted as she was, but whose prayers God at last had answered, making her the mother of the great prophet Samuel. While thinking of this, she perceived in herself an invincible desire to beg the Lord for a like grace. Hence she repeated her prayer with earnest fervor, promising at the same time, that if God would grant her a child, she would consecrate it in the Temple to His divine service, as the above-mentioned Anne had done.
God answered the trusting, tearful prayer of His servant, and sent her, according to the opinion of the Holy Fathers, an angel, who announced to her that she would give birth to a child which, blessed among women, would become the mother of the long-expected Saviour of the world. It is also believed that the angel told Saint Anne the name which she should give to the blessed fruit of her womb. The same revelation was made to Saint Joachim, and the happiness of both and their gratitude to the Almighty can be easily imagined. Their happiness was crowned when Saint Anne gave birth to her who was elected by God from all eternity to become the mother of His only Son. Who can describe the joy with which Anne pressed her new- born child to her heart, or the solicitude and love with which she brought it up? The knowledge that her blessed daughter was chosen by God to so great a dignity was incentive enough to leave nothing undone for her welfare. The mind of the blessed child was so far beyond her years, and her whole being so angelically innocent, that her education was an easy task, and Saint Anne deemed herself the happiest mother in the world, because God had entrusted to her so priceless a child. The graces which, through the presence of the Blessed Virgin, she received from Heaven, cannot but have been innumerable. For if, in after times, the house of Elizabeth and Zachary was, by a visit from Mary, filled with heavenly blessings, who can doubt that Saint Anne, who was the mother of the Blessed Virgin, was gifted with extraordinary graces? Knowing, however, that Mary was not only a precious treasure lent her by heaven, but also had consecrated herself to the service of the Almighty, Saint Anne did not fail to return to God what she had received from Him and to offer willingly what she had so willingly promised. Hardly had Mary reached the age of three years, when Anne and Joachim went with her to the temple at Jerusalem, and presenting her to the Priest, consecrated her through him to the Almighty. Nothing could have been more painful to the pious parents than to separate from so perfect a child; but as they were more zealous for the glory of God than for their own joy, even though it was so pious, they made this sacrifice without complaining. Thus Mary was received among the number of those who, under the direction of the priests, served God in the Temple, and were led in the path of virtue. After they had piously offered this agreeable sacrifice, the parents of the Blessed Virgin returned home, and spent the remainder of their days in good works, which were continued by Saint Anne, when she became a widow by the death of her holy spouse. As she had been an example to the virgins before her marriage, as well as a perfect model of a wife, so also was she in her widowhood, a shining light, for all those qualities which Saint Paul afterwards required of a Christian widow, in his first Epistle to Timothy. She went frequently to Jerusalem to see her holy daughter, and died, according to several authors, in the 79th year of her age. Mary, who at that time still lived in the temple, closed her eyes.
As one cannot give to the Blessed Virgin a higher title than to call her Mother of God, thus Saint Anne cannot be more exalted than when she is called the mother of her who bore the Son of God. And for the very reason that she was chosen to be her mother, we must believe that the Almighty favored her here upon earth, with grace above all the Saints, and raised her to high glory in heaven. Hence we may rightly suppose, that her intercession with God is most powerful; and this is also testified by many examples.
Practical Considerations
• When Saint Anne perceived that, notwithstanding her many prayers, the Almighty gave her no issue, she submitted to His divine will, and bore her trial with patience. Thus also should Christian people act, when God proves them in a similar manner, for all He does is the best for them. He has His reasons for acting thus, and these reasons are just. Perhaps they would go to perdition if they had children, as many a parent sins greatly in regard to his children, and is condemned on their account. When Saint Anne at length received from God what she had so constantly prayed for during many years, she gave due thanks to Him, educated her daughter piously, and early consecrated her to the service of Heaven. Thus should all Christian parents act. Their greatest care should be to teach their children early to serve God and bring them up for heaven. If one of their children has a calling for a religious life, they must not oppose it, nor, by any unrighteous means, keep the child from it. Saint Anne deprived herself of the great comfort which her daughter’s presence gave her, when for the love of God, she consecrated her, by the hands of the priest, to the service of the Most High. Why shall not Christian parents do the same and willingly consecrate their child to God, to whom it belongs much more than to themselves? They may commit great sin, and may even draw upon themselves eternal condemnation, and may be the cause of their child’s destruction, if they oppose the divine call.
• Saint Anne prayed long, yet was not heard. She, however, complained not against God, but continued in her prayers with undiminished confidence until she at last received what she had asked. God has many reasons for not always hearing our prayers immediately. We sometimes pray when we are not in a state of grace; or we live in sin without repenting, or without the intention of bettering our life. In such cases, our prayers cannot be acceptable to God. We also sometimes pray without devotion and reverence. And can such a prayer have power? At another time, we pray only for things which God knows to be hurtful to us, although we may imagine that they are for our good. In such cases, God bestows a grace upon us by not hearing us. Often also the Almighty does not hear us, in punishment of our iniquities. We have so often offended Him, and have forfeited His grace, that we cannot reasonably expect that He should grant our request immediately. We have so frequently been deaf when God called to us; how can we ask that He should directly hear us? “What right have we,” asks Saint Salvianus, “to complain, when God does not hear us, or, so to speak, despises our prayers when we have so often not listened to Him, and so frequently despised His laws? What is more just than that He should not listen to us, because we heard not Him, and that He should despise our prayers, as we did His laws?” Further, God docs not always hear us immediately, in order that we may pray more fervently and esteem so much more highly the favors He bestows. He does it also to try our patience and our trust in His mercy, or that we may be more deserving of His grace by continual prayers. Finally, besides other reasons, He may do it also to give us something better than we asked for. When all this is rightly considered, tell me, can you justly complain when the Almighty hears not your prayers immediately? Continue in them. Perform them in the right spirit, and you will experience the truth of the words of Saint Bernard: “God either gives us what we ask, or something else, which is more useful to us.”
MLA Citation
Father Francis Xavier Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Anne,
Mother of the Blessed Virgin”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
24 March 2018. Web. 15 July 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin/
Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs – Saint Anne, July 26
Article
Saint Anne, or Ann, is not mentioned in the Bible. It was only in legendary books of the early Christian centuries that the names of Mary’s parents were given as Joachim and Anne. Since the Fathers of the Church rejected the use of such legendary sources, the faithful in Europe had no feast in honor of our Lord’s grandparents. In the Middle East, however, the veneration of Saint Anne can be traced back to the fourth century.
The Crusaders brought the name and legend of Saint Anne to Europe, and the famous Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (1298) printed the story in his Golden Legend. From that time on the popular veneration of the saint spread into all parts of the Christian world. It was encouraged by the religious orders of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Carmelites. In southern France a Feast of Saint Anne was celebrated as early as the fourteenth century. Pope Urban VI in 1378 extended it to England at the king’s request. Not until 1584, however, did the feast become universal, when Pope Gregory XIII prescribed it for the whole Church.
As grandmother of Christ and mother of Mary, Saint Anne soon became the patron of married women, and for childless couples a special aid in obtaining children. According to legend she was married three times, first to Joachim, after his death to Cleophas, and finally to Salomas. This detail of the ancient story inspired young women to turn to her for help in finding a husband. After all, since she had had three husbands herself, should she not be able and willing to provide at least one bridegroom for those who trustingly appealed to her? In the languages of all European nations young women implored her:
I beg you, holy mother Anne
Send me a good and loving man.
Her patronage of fertility was extended also to the soil. Thus she became a patron of rain. It is a popular saying in Italy that “rain is Saint Anne’s gift”; in Germany, July rain was called “Saint Anne’s dowry.”
Finally, the gentle grandmother of the Lord is everywhere invoked as one of the great helpers for various needs of body and soul. Many churches have been erected to her, most of them becoming famous centers of pilgrimages. One of the best-known shrines in this part of the world is Saint Anne de Beaupre in Quebec, Canada.
From the eighteenth century on, Anne, which means “grace,” was used more and more as a favorite name for girls. At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was the most popular girls’ name in central Europe, surpassing even that of Mary. This preference was based on a famous saying of past centuries, “All Annes are beautiful.” Naturally, parents wanted to assure this benefit for their baby daughters by calling them Anne or by adding Anne to a first name. Thus we have the many traditional names containing Anne or Ann (Mary Ann, Marianne, Marian, Ann Marie, Joanne, Elizabeth Ann, Lillian, Martha Ann, Louise Ann, Patricia Ann).
A hundred years ago there still remained the custom in many parts of Europe of celebrating Saint Anne’s Day as a festival “of all Annes,” meaning all beautiful girls. Dressed in their finery the bevy would parade through the streets with their escorts, bands would serenade them in parks and squares, balls would be held (both Johann Strausses composed “Anne Polkas” for this festival). Saint Anne’s Eve was the day of receptions for debutantes at court and in private homes. Public amusements, including fireworks, entertained the crowds. The warm summer night was alive with laughter, beauty, music, and lights. And all of it was still connected in the hearts and minds of the participants with a tribute to Saint Anne, whose feast day shed its radiance upon this enchanting celebration.
Liturgical Prayer: O God, who didst deign to confer on Saint Anne the grace to be the mother of her who was to give birth to Thy only-begotten Son: mercifully grant us, who celebrate her feast, that we may be helped by her intercession.
MLA Citation
Francis X Weiser, SJ. “Anne, July 26”. Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, 1952. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 February 2017. Web. 15 July 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/handbook-of-christian-feasts-and-customs-anne-july-26/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/handbook-of-christian-feasts-and-customs-anne-july-26/
Jean Jouvenet. L’éducation de la Vierge Marie, 1700
Mothers of History – Saint Anne, the Mother of Our Lady
A proverb, we are told, is the crystallisation of the experience and consent of ages. It is from a proverb that we could, perhaps, best derive the greatness of Saint Anne, the mother of Our Lady.
One proverb has it that the greatness of a mother is her children. Our Lady is the greatest Mother of history, but She is also the daughter of Saint Anne, the only daughter, in fact the only child.
Saint Anne’s claim to greatness is not a multiple claim; She has only one claim; but that one is all sufficient, all explanatory. She is the mother of Mary, who is the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Singularly blessed by God was she who is the Mother of ‘Our tainted nature’s solitary boast.’ Expression of the place Saint Anne holds in the affection of her devout clients is nowhere better illustrated than by the fact that she is called ‘Good Saint Anne.’ What a wealth of meaning is implied in that simple little adjective ‘good’. It expresses in a word all we would like to say in praise of Mary’s mother.
It must surprise us somewhat that Holy Scripture, while it speaks much of other great women, as Judith or Esther, makes no mention of Saint Anne, who was mother of the Blessed Virgin, and of whom these other women were only types. We cannot penetrate the hidden designs of God, but from this silence of Sacred Scripture, we dare infer that Saint Anne led a retired life.
We depend upon what has been handed down to us by tradition for our knowledge of Saint Anne.
Saint Anne’s husband was Saint Joachim. An ancient tradition tells us that Joachim and Anne had long been childless. To be childless was considered a wife’s greatest disgrace among the Israelites. For many years, the hand of the Lord weighed heavily upon Saint Anne. She was tried in the furnace of humiliation before her race.
When God intends to elevate a person to great dignity and sanctity, He invariably humbles that person in various ways. Anne, the wife, was humbled for years, nor was the reproach removed until, in God’s good time, she became Anne, the mother of Mary. In patience and resignation Saint Anne, the childless wife, endured all the contempt heaped upon her and ceased not, in humble unshaken confidence, to pray to Almighty God, for Saint Anne well knew that ‘no word shall be impossible with God.’
Such virtue must needs call down the favour of the Almighty. Purified in adversity, found worthy in humiliations, and confirmed in sanctity, as she was, the Lord could now give to her the child of grace, that should tend to bring joy to the whole world.
Saint Anne was great before God, not only on account of her humility, but also on account of her magnanimity – her greatness of soul; her big generous desires to please God; for she had vowed to offer her holy child, the blessed fruit of her fervent prayers, to the Lord. What renunciation! What a sacrifice! But Saint Anne knew that a mother’s love is not a rival of Divine Love; only the foolish make it so, and begrudge their son or daughter to the service of God.
Far from being a rival of Divine Love, a mother’s love is a reflection of it. God is Love, and to give us some idea of Divine Love, God gives us mothers. A mother’s love is a tiny spark in the heart of a woman from the mighty furnace, which is Divine Love. Saint Anne loved her daughter dearly; but she remembered with gratitude that a child is God’s gift, and so love of God triumphed over mother love.
Just where Saint Anne lived when Our Lady was born is uncertain. The strongest opinion seems to be that of Saint John Damascene, who spent a great deal of his life quite close to the Holy City, and is thus an excellent witness to the Christian traditions of Jerusalem. He tells us that the Holy Virgin first saw the light of day in her father’s house of which we read in the Gospel, where Our Lord cured the paralytic.
It was the custom among the Jews to name their children, in the midst of the assembled family, the ninth day after birth. Saint Joachim’s own name means Expectation; Anne signifies Grace. Gracious assuredly in the eyes of God was she who now named her child Miriam, a name of Egyptian origin; in Greek or Latin, Maria, which signifies both Sovereign Lady, or Princess, and Sea of Sorrow.
But we who wish to show Saint Anne’s greatness always remember that her child was saluted by the Angel: ‘Hail, full of Grace’ – the destined Mother of God.
Saint Anne’s feast is kept on July 26th. The Church has chosen a passage from Saint John Damascene’s writings to be read at Matins (the Office of Readings, in the morning) on the feast. It sums up for us the greatness of Saint Anne. ‘Now even as Anna of the Old Testament, when she was stricken with barrenness, gave birth to Samuel as the fruit of prayer and promise; in like manner the second Anna received from God, the Mother of God promised to her entreaties so that in fruitfulness she had not to yield to any of the illustrious matrons who had gone before her. Thus Grace (for this is the meaning of the word Anna) is mother of the Lady (the signification of the name of Mary), who in truth was made the Lady over all created things when she became the Mother of the Creator.’
– text taken from Mothers of History, by J T Moran, C.SS.R., Australian Catholic Truth Society, 1954>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/mothers-of-history-saint-anne-the-mother-of-our-lady/
La Sainte Vierge Marie et Sainre Anne. Iglesia del Salvador, Seville
New Catholic
Dictionary – Saint Anne
Article
(Hebrew: grace) Traditional name of the wife of
Joachim and mother of the Blessed Virgin. No records of her life are found
outside of the apocryphal literature, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the
Protoevangelium of James. From these we learn that Anne and Joachim had reached
old age and still remained childless; their prayers were answered, an angel of
the Lord announcing to Anne that the fruit of her womb would be blessed by all
the world. The belief that Anne, in the conception and birth of Mary, remained
a virgin was condemned by the Holy See, 1677.
Devotion to her, popular from an early date in the East, began in the West at
Douai and spread rapidly through the Church after 1584.
There are shrines to her in many churches, and those at Saint Anne d’Auray,
Brittany, and Saint Anne de Beaupre, Canada,
are popular places of pilgrimage. Patroness of Brittany, France, Canada,
housewives, women in labor, cabinet-makers, and miners. Emblem:
a door. Feast,
Roman Calendar, 26
July.
MLA Citation
“Saint Anne”. New
Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 29
July 2012.
Web. 15 July
2020. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-anne/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-anne/
Patron
Saints for Girls – The Life of Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
The name of Anne, which in Hebrew signifies
“gracious,” shall always be venerated amongst Christians, for it is the name of
the mother of Mary. How great was Anne’s glory in having given birth to her who
was the mother of God! “How,” exclaims Saint John Damascene, “shall we worthily
praise her from whom we have received the admirable and precious fruit that has
given Jesus to us ?”
Saint Anne lived at Nazareth, a town of Lower Galilee,
a short distance from Mount Carmel. According to the opinion of Saint
Augustine, she was of the priestly tribe. She married a just man, named
Joachim, of the tribe of Juda, and of the race of David by Nathan.
Those spouses walked before God in the ways of the
most perfect justice, spending their days in prayer, labor, and almsgiving;
they awaited, with all the ardent faith of ancient days’, the Messiah that had
been announced by the prophets, the Messiah so long promised to Israel; and
according to the predictions, the time in which he should appear was not far off.
Anne, having arrived at an advanced age without
children, could not, like the other women of Israel, cherish a hope that the
Messiah would spring from her blood; but at the moment when this great blessing
seemed to escape her, the all-powerful Wisdom ordained quite the contrary. The
laws of nature are reversed before the Lord’s designs: Anne, sterile for twenty
years, conceives miraculously, and gives birth to her who was to bring forth
the Son of God, the desired of nations, the divine Redeemer of the human race.
Thenceforth Anne could not but call herself blessed;
and, in fact, was she not so? she who gave birth to her who was supereminently
blessed amongst women! Ponder on the beautiful canticle of thanksgiving which
she pronounced – “I will sing the praise of my God,” cries the blessed mother
in the transports of her joy; “I will sing the praise of my God, because He has
visited me in His love, and has not left my name to opprobrium.”
Twenty-four days after the birth of her child, Anne
repaired to the Temple to obey a precept of the law; and, like Anne, wife of
Elcana, consecrating Samuel to God, the spouse of Joachim devoted her dear Mary
to the service of the Temple – Mary, that sweet flower wherewith the Lord had
perfumed her old age. How much must this sacrifice have cost this tender
mother! but in her gratitude she was only too happy to present to the Lord that
which in His love He had bestowed on her. Three years afterwards, and when
Mary’s reason was shining forth brilliantly, even at that early period, Anne
returned to Jerusalem to fulfil her vow. Mary being solemnly consecrated to the
Lord, was left in the Temple of Jerusalem, and the pious mother went back to
her home, but not without shedding tears, for upon Mary, ever since God had
given her, were concentrated all the thoughts and aspirations of the pious
mother.
A pious writer thus represents Saint Anne, going from
time to time to Jerusalem to visit her daughter – “With what joy did this pious
mother put on her travelling veil to go to the holy city!”
“Whether Joachim, on his death-bed, had entrusted the
Virgin to the special protection of the priesthood, or whether the magistrates,
on whom devolved the duty of providing for orphans, had themselves selected
guardians from the illustrious family of Aaron, to whom she was allied on the
maternal side, or that the guardianship of children, devoted to the service of
the Temple, belonged by right to the Levites, one thing is, however, certain,
that after the death of the pious authors of her existence, Mary had guardians
from among the sacerdotal race. If we be allowed to hazard an opinion, we
should say that it is very probable that the duties of this guardianship were
particularly entrusted to the pious spouse of Elizabeth, as his high reputation
of virtue, together with her claim of a near relative, would point him out as
peculiarly fitted for that office. The anxiety and desire which the Blessed
Virgin manifested, two or three years later travelling all Judea, to present
her congratulations to the mother of Saint John the Baptist, and her prolonged
stay in the highlands of Hebron, would, indeed, point out that closer ties than
those of mere relationship existed between them. According to the modes of
observance strictly adopted among the Hebrews, the roof under which Mary dwelt,
during a visit so prolonged, must be as sacred as the paternal roof itself.
Whoever the priests were on whom devolved the guardianship of the blessed
daughter of Saint Anne, they strictly acquitted themselves of the obligations
imposed on them; and when the Virgin had attained her fifteenth year, they
thought to unite her in marriage to a spouse worthy of her. This project filled
Mary with no little anxiety. Her lofty, pure, and contemplative soul had
divined the Gospel, and virginity appeared to her to be the most honorable
state which a woman could embrace. A very ancient author, cited by Saint
Gregory of Nyssa, relates that she refused for a long time, but with a great
deal of modesty, complying with the intentions of her guardians, and that she
supplicated in humble tones her family to consent to the life which she was
leading in the Temple – a life innocent, retired, and exempt from every tie,
except the ties of the Lord. Her request caused no little surprise among those
who had the disposal of her person. That which she implored as a favor was
nothing less than sterility, that is, opprobrium, a state solemnly accursed by
the law of Moses; a state of celibacy she made choice of, that is, a total
extinction of the name of her father, a thought little less than impious among
the Jews, who considered it a dire calamity if their name should not be
perpetuated in Israel. The vow of virginity, by which she bound herself to God,
could not be urged by her as a plea, for such could be annulled by the mere
will of her family. Woman at any epoch of her life was always considered a
minor before the establishment of that immortal code which has enfranchised and
placed the woman and the slave on terms of equality with him.”
The young virgin had passed about nine years in the
Temple, when Joachim, the patriarch of pure and simple life, slept his last
sleep to go and repose for ever in Abraham’s bosom.
Saint Anne followed her spouse soon afterwards to the
tomb. Some pious authors have thought that at his last hour, a revelation from
on high allowed the holy mother of Mary to behold the glorious destinies to
which Heaven called her daughter. A celestial joy illuminated her countenance
as she gazed on this glory; and it was in this state of blessedness that she
bowed her head and breathed her latest sigh.
Otto Bitschnau, Sainte Anne (Die Heilige Anna), la Vierge Marie et l’Enfant Jésus, 1883
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Anne
Article
Saint Anne was the spouse of Saint Joachim, and was
chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own Blessed Mother on earth. They
were both of the royal house of David, and their lives were wholly occupied in
prayer and good works. One thing only was wanting to their union—they were childless,
and this was held as a bitter misfortune among the Jews. At length, when Anne
was an aged woman, Mary was born, the fruit rather of grace than of nature, and
the child more of God than of man. With the birth of Mary the aged Anne began a
new life: she watched her every movement with reverent tenderness, and felt
herself hourly sanctified by the presence of her immaculate child. But she had
vowed her daughter to God, to God Mary had consecrated herself again, and to
Him Anne gave her back. Mary was three years old when Anne and Joachim led her
up the Temple steps, saw her pass by herself into the inner sanctuary, and then
saw her no more. Thus was Anne left childless in her lone old age, and deprived
of her purest earthly joy just when she needed it most. She humbly adored the
Divine Will, and began again to watch and pray, till God called her to unending
rest with the Father and the Spouse of Mary in the home of Mary’s Child.
Reflection – Saint Anne is glorious among the
Saints, not only as the mother of Mary, but because she gave Mary to God. Learn
from her to reverence a divine vocation as the highest privilege, and to
sacrifice every natural tie, however holy, at the call of God.
MLA Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea. “Saint Anne”. Pictorial Lives of the Saints, 1922. CatholicSaints.Info.
13 December 2018. Web. 15 July 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-anne/
Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Quebec, Canada.
Sainte Anne de Beaupré
Devotion to Saint
Anne, in Canada,
goes back to the beginning of New
France, and was brought thither by the first settlers and early
missionaries. The hardy pioneers soon began to till the fertile soil of the
Beaupré hillside; in the region which now forms the parish of
Sainte Anne de Beaupré the first houses date from the year 1650. Nor was it
long before the settlers built themselves a chapel where
they might meet for Divine worship. One of their number, the Sieur Etienne
Lessard, offered to give the land required at the spot which the church
authorities should find suitable. On 13 March, 1658, therefore, the missionary,
Father Vignal, came to choose the site and to bless the
foundation of the proposed chapel which,
by general consent, was to be dedicated to St. Anne. The very day the Saint
showed how favourably she viewed the undertaking by healing Louis Guimont, an
inhabitant of Beaupré, who suffered terribly from rheumatism of the loins. Full
of confidence in St. Anne, he came forward and placed three stones in the
foundations of the new building, whereupon he found himself suddenly and
completely cured of his ailment.
This first authentic miracle was
the precursor of countless other graces and
favours of all kinds. For two centuries and a half the great wonder-worker has
ceaselessly and lavishly shown her kindness to all the sufferers who from all
parts of North America flock every year to Beaupré to implore her help. The old
church was begun in 1676, and used for worship until 1876, when it was replaced
by the present one, opened in October of that year. This last was built of cut
stone, by means of contributions from all the Catholics of Canada.
The offerings made by pilgrims have
defrayed the cost of fittings and decoration. It is two hundred feet long, and
one hundred wide, including the side chapels. Leo
XIII raised it to the rank of a minor basilica 5 May, 1887; on 19 May,
1889, it was solemnly consecrated by Cardinal
Taschereau, Archbishop of
Quebec. It has been served by the Redemptorists since
1878. On either side of the main doorway are huge pyramids of crutches,
walking-sticks, bandages, and other appliances left behind by the cripples,
lame, and sick, who, having prayed to
St. Anne at her shrine, have gone home healed.
Relics
The canons of Carcassonne,
at the request of Monseigneur de Laval, first Bishop of
Quebec, sent to Beaupré a large relic of
the finger-bone of Saint Anne, which was first exposed for veneration on 12
March, 1670, and has ever since been an object of great devotion. Three
other relics of
the saint have
been added in later times to the treasures of this shrine. In 1892 Cardinal
Taschedreau presented the Great Relic to the basilica, the wrist-bone of St.
Anne. It measures four inches in length, and was brought from Rome by
Msgr. Marquis, P.A.
Pilgrimage
The pilgrimage to
Beaupré has not always had the importance which it has gained in our time. Only
in the last quarter of the nineteenth century did it attain to the growth,
organization, and fame which now render it comparable with the great pilgrimages to
Lourdes. Until 1875 the yearly number of pilgrims did
not exceed 12,000, but to judge by the heap of crutches left at the saint's feet,
there must always have been many marvellous cures wrought at Beaupré. More
favourable conditions — including the strong impulse given by Cardinal
Taschereau and his suffragans, the zeal of
the Canadian clergy in
organizing pilgrimages,
improved modes of transportation, and the monthly "Annales de la Bonne
Sainte Anne" — made possible the truly wonderful growth of these pilgrimages in
the early twentieth century. Devotion to St. Anne is today more than ever the
devotion of the Canadians.
Leclerc, Clément. "Sainte Anne de
Beaupré." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 15 Jul.
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01539b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Roy.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01539b.htm
Evangile du Pseudo Matthieu. Livre de la
naissance de la naissance de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie et de l’enfance du
Sauveur : http://seigneurjesus.free.fr/evangilepseudomatthieu.htm
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew : https://catholicsaints.info/gospel-of-pseudo-matthew/
PROTÉVANGILE DE JACQUES LE MINEUR. Traduction
française : Gustave Brumet. Oeuvre numérisée par Marc
Szwajcer : http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/apocryphes/jacques.htm
Protoevangelium of James : https://catholicsaints.info/protoevangelium-of-james/
Catholic Truth Society – Good Saint Anne, The Mother of Our Lady : https://catholicsaints.info/catholic-truth-society-good-saint-anne-the-mother-of-our-lady/
Sainte Anne, la Vierge Marie et l’Enfant Jésus, Church of Santiago de Compostela
Voir aussi : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/anne.html
http://notredamedesneiges.over-blog.com/article-11174591.html
http://www.maria-valtorta.org/Personnages/AnneAaron.htm#MA1
