Reflection for the Feast of St Anne, July 26 for our parish of St Ann Turtle Lake, WI

St. Anne was the wife of St. Joachim. They were both from the Royal House of David and had lived there lives in prayer and in good works.  After 20 years of marriage, they were childless and this was considered to be a very great misfortune among the Jews.  An angel appeared to St. Anne and St. Joachim one day after all their prayers and beseeches to God for a child; the angel told them of God's plan for them which was that they would have a child that they would name Mary, who would be the Mother of the Son of God. 

St. Anne promised the angel that she would dedicate her child, Mary, to God and would teach her about him. St. Anne soon gave birth to Mary. She and St. Joachim watched Mary's every move as she grew up for her first few years in the world and then at the age of 3, they took Mary to the temple for the very first time and they watched her pass by herself into the sanctuary and then they saw her no more.

St. Anne and St. Joachim were left childless once again, which deprived St. Anne of her true purest earthly child which she didn't have any more. She humbly lived the rest of her life in God's faith and humbly adored the Divine Will of God. She prayed until God called her to unending rest in his heavenly home. 

As the Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the devotion to St Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between the Virgin Mary and Christ and precious metals - silver and gold. Anne's womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined. St Anne is also said to be a patron saint of sailors and a protector from storms.

As I reflect on this story and many others about the sad deprivation felt, yet the belief, the faith and the hope that reigned in their hearts as they turned to God in prayer. . . I am in awe. A child is born! . . . I ask myself when I see and am saddened by the events and situations in our world, do I simply lament and complain or do I turn to prayer, prayer with conviction, faith, hope and confidence?

Perhaps we as “Catholics on Fire” could do as an officer of Churchill asked in World War II, that at 8 pm each night we pause in prayer and silence to seek God’s help in keeping our country safe and rich with the peace and presence of God in our midst.
Perhaps we could model St. Anne’s deep faith to our children and grandchildren, our friends and neighbors. Please pray. . .

by Jane Dietzman