Feast of St. Anne

Today is the Feast of St. Anne, the mother of our Blessed Mother Mary. I like to call her the ark of the ark of the covenant. The Jewish nation had the holy 'Ark of the Covenant'. That is no more, despite what the Jews of today think. It is done. Finito! Jesus is the New and everlasting Covenant. In a mystical way, because of this, Mary is an ark in a sense. Hence, she is the Ark of the New Covenant. She carried this New Covenant within her for nine months. And, if she is the ark, her mother Anne is an ark also. Mary was Immaculately conceived in this womb, and was made clean of all original sin, which we all inherited. She didn't get this mark upon her soul. St. Anne, along with her husband Joachim, are honored together on this day. She can help us also in our daily struggles if we ask.

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger states is as such:

'Anne was, as it were, the starting point of redemption, the horizon scanned by the prophets, the first span of the heavens to be empurpled with the rising fires of dawn; the blessed soil whose produce was so pure as to make the angels believe that Eden had been restored to us. But in the midst of the incomparable peace that surrounds her, let us hail her as the land of victory surpassing the most famous fields of battle; as the sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception, where our humiliated race took up the combat begun before the throne of God by the angelic hosts; where the serpent's head was crushed, and Michael, now surpassed in glory, gladly handed over to his sweet Queen, at the first moment of her existence, the command of the Lord's armies.'

She had been barren well into her old age, and, because of this, was kind of shunned by those around her daily. They considered this a punishment from God. She could not bear children. People are so petty, aren't they? Our Abbot continues: 'She furnished the body of her who was to give flesh to the Son of God; she nourished her with floods of milk; she gave to her, who was inundated with floods of divine light, the first practical notions of life. In the education of her illustrious daughter, Anne played the part of a true mother: not only did she guide Mary's first steps, but she co-operated with the Holy Ghost in the education of her soul and the preparation for her incomparable destiny; until, when the work had reached the highest development to which she could bring it, she, without a moment's hesitation or a thought of self, offered her tenderly loved child to Him from whom she had received her. "Sic fingit tabernaculum Deo", which means: 'Thus she frames a tabernacle for God.'

The following is taken from the web site: calefactory.org
If you go to it, click on the calendar for Holy days and Saints. I hope they don't mind if I copied this. I don't mind if somebody wants to copy and paste what they see here.


SAINT ANNE
Mother of the Blessed Virgin
(†ca. 3 B.C.)

Saint Anne, chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own Blessed Mother on earth, was the spouse of Saint Joachim. Ancestor of the Eternal King and High Priest, Joachim was of the royal house of David, while Anne was of Levitical descent. Their lives were wholly occupied with 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 well advanced in age, 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 holy matron began a new life; she watched Her every movement with reverent tenderness, and, aware of the little one's destiny, felt herself hourly sanctified by the presence of her Immaculate Child. But she had vowed her daughter to God; to God the child Mary had already consecrated Herself, and to Him Anne gave Her back. Mary was three years old when Anne and Joachim led Her to 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 old age, and deprived of her purest earthly joy. The holiest parents on earth could not, in the plan of God, raise this Child as was needed: Mary had to suffer from Her earliest years. Saint Anne and Saint Joachim humbly adored the Divine Will, and continued to watch and pray, until God called them to unending rest.

France and Canada possess the principal sanctuaries of Saint Anne: in France, at Apt in Provence, and at Auray in Britanny; in Canada at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in the Province of Quebec. At Apt the discovery in 792 of Saint Anne's relics, brought by Lazarus and his two sisters to France, was wholly miraculous, authenticated by the presence of Charlemagne during the discovery, and the signature of Pope Adrian I on the written account of the facts.

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 religious vocation as the highest privilege, and to sacrifice every natural bond, however holy, at the call of God.

The folllowing is a picture Of St. Anne, the Grandmother of Jesus, alongside of Mary and Jesus.