Saint Anne

{{Short description|Mother of Mary in Christian tradition}} {{About||the figure of Luke 2|Anna the Prophetess|other uses|Saint Anne (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox saint |honorific_prefix = [[Saint]] |name = Anne |death_date=After {{circa|4 AD}}| feast_day = '''Catholic Church''': 26 July<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/07/26.html|title=Saint of the Day|work=Vatican News|date=n.d.|access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> '''Eastern Orthodox Church''': 9 September<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/saints/all-lives/0999/09/09|title=Lives of all saints commemorated on September 9|work=oca.org|date=n.d.|access-date=3 August 2025}}</ref> 25 July |venerated_in = [[Catholic Church]] [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] [[Oriental Orthodox Church]] [[Anglican Communion]] [[Lutheranism]] [[Islam]] [[Afro-American religions]] |image = Chanter Angelos Akotandos - St Anne with the Virgin - Google Art Project.jpg |imagesize = 290px |caption = [[Greece|Greek]] [[icon]] of ''[[Saint Anne with the Virgin]]'', by [[Angelos Akotantos]] (c. 1420–1450) |titles = Mother of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|the Virgin]], Maternal Heroine Woman of Amram |birth_date=Before {{circa|49 BC}}|birth_place=[[Bethlehem]], [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean Judea]]|canonized_date =[[Pre-Congregation]] |canonized_place = |canonized_by = |attributes = Book; door; with Mary, Jesus or Joachim; woman dressed in red or green<ref name="Fongemie">{{cite web|last1=Fongemie |first1=Pauly |title=Symbols in Art |url=http://catholictradition.org/Anne/anne6c.htm |website=Catholic tradition |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref> |patronage = {{hlist|Mothers|grandparents|pregnant women|children|unmarried people|teachers|carpenters|child care providers|seamstresses|lacemakers|secondhand-clothes dealers|equestrians|stablemen|miners|lost things|loving homes|poverty|sterility| [[Brittany]]|[[Canada]]|[[Detroit]]|[[Taguig]]|[[Triana, Seville]]|[[Hagonoy, Bulacan]]|[[Barili, Cebu]]|[[Molo, Iloilo City]]|[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurunegala|Kurunegala Catholic Diocese, Sri Lanka]]|[[Fasnia|Fasnia, Tenerife]]|[[Mainar]]|[[Marsaskala]]|[[Carmelites]]}} |major_shrine =[[Apt Cathedral]], [[Sainte-Anne-d'Auray|Basilica of Sainte-Anne d'Auray]], [[Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré]] }} According to [[Christianity|Christian]] tradition, '''Saint Anne''' (also known as '''Ann''' or '''Anna''') was the mother of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]], the wife of [[Joachim]] and the maternal grandmother of [[Jesus]]. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's [[Gospel#Canonical gospels|canonical gospels]]. In writing, Ann's name and that of her husband [[Joachim]] come from [[New Testament apocrypha]], of which the [[Gospel of James]] (written perhaps around 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in the [[Quran]].

==Christian tradition== The story is similar to that of [[Samuel]], whose mother [[Hannah (biblical figure)|Hannah]] ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|חַנָּה}}}} ''Ḥannāh'' "favour, grace"; etymologically the same name as Anne) had also been childless. The [[Immaculate Conception]] was eventually made dogma by the [[Catholic Church]] following an increased devotion to Anne in the twelfth century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nixon |first=Virginia |title=Mary's Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe |url=https://archive.org/details/marysmothersaint00nixo |url-access=limited |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/marysmothersaint00nixo/page/n26 12]–14 |isbn=978-0-271-02466-0}}</ref> Dedications to Anne in [[Eastern Christianity]] occur as early as the sixth century.<ref>Procopius' Buildings, Volume I, Chapters 11–12.</ref> In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox tradition]], Anne and [[Joachim]] are ascribed the title ''Ancestors of God'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2020/09/09/102546-holy-and-righteous-ancestors-of-god-joachim-and-anna |title=Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna |work=The Orthodox Faith – Lives of the Saints |publisher=The Orthodox Church in America |access-date=13 September 2020 }}</ref> and both the [[Nativity of Mary]] and the [[Presentation of Mary]] are celebrated as two of the twelve [[Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church]]. The [[wikt:dormition|Dormition of Anne]] is also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. In [[Lutheran]] [[Protestantism]], it is held that [[Martin Luther]] chose to enter religious life as an [[Augustinians|Augustinian friar]] after invoking St. Anne while endangered by lightning.<ref name="Brecht1985">{{cite book|last=Brecht |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Brecht |title=Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, 1483–1521 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hH6nI6Q6qBIC&pg=PA48 |year=1985 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-1414-1 |page=48}}</ref>

==Beliefs== Although the [[Biblical canon#Christian canons|canonical books of the New Testament]] never mention the mother of the Virgin Mary, traditions about her family, childhood, education, and eventual betrothal to Joseph developed very early in the history of the church. The oldest and most influential source for these is the apocryphal [[Gospel of James]], first written in [[Koine Greek]] around the middle of the second century AD. In the West, the Gospel of James fell under a cloud in the fourth and fifth centuries when it was accused of "absurdities" by [[Jerome]] and condemned as untrustworthy by [[Pope Damasus I]], [[Pope Innocent I]], and [[Pope Gelasius I]].<ref name=reames>{{cite book |editor-last=Reames |editor-first=Sherry L. |chapter=Introduction to Legends of St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary |title=Middle English Legends of Women Saints |location=Kalamazoo, Michigan |year=2003 |publisher=Medieval Institute Publications |url=https://metseditions.org/read/0NG22p4URgXu3EkhVZq1Hrg7Zevggd |access-date=31 August 2025}}</ref> However, despite having been condemned by the Church, it was taken over almost ''in toto'' by another apocryphal work, the [[Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew]], which popularised most of its stories.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ehrman |first1=Bart |last2=Plese |first2=Zlatko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xqQ9LSzs8hgC |title=The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations |date=21 July 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-983128-9}}</ref>

Ancient belief, attested to by a sermon of [[John of Damascus]], was that Anne married once.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wehling |first=Fr John |date=2 September 2017 |title=Excerpts from St John of Damascus: An Oration on the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos Mary |url=https://www.ocanwa.org/single-post/2017/09/02/excerpts-from-st-john-of-damascus-an-oration-on-the-nativity-of-the-holy-theotokos-mary |access-date=29 July 2024 |publisher=St John of Chicago Orthodox Church |location=Rogers, Arkansas}}</ref> The sister of Saint Anne was [[Sobe (sister of Saint Anne)|Sobe]], mother of [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]]. In the fifteenth century, the Catholic cleric [[Johann Eck]] related in a sermon that St Anne's parents were named Stollanus and [[Emerentia]]. [[Frederick George Holweck]], writing in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1907) regards this genealogy as spurious.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Holweck |first=Frederick |title=St. Anne |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=1 |location=New York |year=1907 |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01538a.htm |publisher=Newadvent.org |access-date=15 August 2013 |quote=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.}}</ref>

In the 4th century and then much later in the fifteenth century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne without [[original sin]]. This belief in the [[Immaculate Conception]] states that God preserved Mary's body and soul intact and sinless from her first moment of existence, through the merits of Jesus Christ.<ref name=holweck>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Holweck |first=Frederick |title=St. Anne |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=1 |location=New York |year=1907 |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01538a.htm |publisher=Newadvent.org |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref> The Immaculate Conception, often confused with the [[Annunciation]] of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]] (Mary's virgin birth of Jesus), was defined [[Dogma in the Catholic Church|dogma]] in the Catholic church by [[Pope Pius IX]]'s [[papal bull]], [[Ineffabilis Deus|''Ineffabilis'' ''Deus'']], in 1854. The 13th century ''[[Speculum Maius]]'' of [[Vincent of Beauvais]] incorporates information regarding the life of Saint Anne from an earlier work by [[Hrotsvitha]] of Gandersheim Abbey.{{sfn|Nixon|2004|p=12}}

==Veneration== [[File:Adriaen van Overbeke - Birth of St. Anne - Petrikirche altarpiece.jpeg|thumb|left|''Birth of St. Anne'', by [[Adriaen van Overbeke]] ({{Circa|1521}}–1525)]]

In the Eastern church, the [[Veneration#Christianity|veneration]] of Anne herself may go back as far as {{Circa|550}}, when [[Justinian]] built a church in [[Constantinople]] in her honour.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DosEAAAAQAAJ&q=Justinian+Constantinople+church+%22St+Anne%22&pg=PA97 |title=The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints |editor=F. C. Husenbeth |editor-link=Frederick Charles Husenbeth |others=Compiled from the Original [[Muniment]]s and other Authentic Records. ([With] "The History of the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Abbé [[Matteo Orsini|Mathieu Orsini]], transl. by F. C. Husenbeth) |last1=Butler |first1=Alban |author-link=Alban Butler |date=1857 |publisher=Henry & Co |location=London |pages=97 f|volume=II}}</ref> The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West is an eighth-century fresco in the church of [[Santa Maria Antiqua]], Rome.<ref name="reames" /> The [[Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary]] had reached southern Italy by the ninth century. In the Latin Church St. Anne was not venerated, except, perhaps, in the south of France, before the thirteenth century.<ref name="holweck" /> A shrine at Douai, in northern France, was one of the early centres of devotion to St. Anne in the West.<ref name="crawley">{{cite web |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/ANNE.HTM |title=Lives of Saints, John J. Crawley & Co., Inc |publisher=Ewtn.com |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=18 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718101138/http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/anne.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The ''[[Virgin and Child with Saint Anne|Anna Selbdritt]]'' was a type of iconography depicting the three generations of Saint Anne, Mary, and the child Jesus. Emphasizing the humanity of Jesus, it drew on the earlier conventions of the [[Seat of Wisdom]], and was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.<ref>Welsh, Jennifer. ''The Cult of St. Anne in Medieval and Early Modern Europe'', Routledge, 2016, {{ISBN|9781134997879}}</ref> During the High Middle Ages, Saint Anne became increasingly identified as a maritime saint, protecting sailors and fisherman, and invoked against storms.<ref name=ottawa/>

Two well-known shrines to St. Anne are that of [[Sainte-Anne-d'Auray|Ste-Anne-d'Auray]] in Brittany, France; and that of [[Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré|Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré]] near the city of Québec. The number of visitors to the Basilica of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré is greatest on St Anne's Feast Day, 26 July, and the Sunday before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, 8 September. In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St Anne to the church.<ref name=ottawa>{{cite web |url=http://www.olomc-ottawa.com/Anne&Joachim.html |title=Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Ottawa, Ontario |publisher=Olomc-ottawa.com |access-date=15 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810123226/http://www.olomc-ottawa.com/Anne%26Joachim.html |archive-date=10 August 2014 }}</ref>

In the [[Maltese language]], the [[Milky Way]] galaxy is called ''It-Triq ta' Sant'Anna'', literally "The Way of St. Anne".<ref name="malt_TheM">{{Cite web| title = The Milky Way Project – It-Triq ta' Sant'Anna {{!}} What is the Milky Way?| work = maltastro.org| access-date = 2 November 2015| url = http://www.maltastro.org/milkyway/?page_id=56| archive-date = 4 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093003/http://www.maltastro.org/milkyway/?page_id=56| url-status = dead}}</ref> In the United States, the [[Daughters of the Holy Spirit]] named the former [[Annhurst College]] in her honor.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/367744245/ |title=State Board Accredits New College |newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]] |location=[[Hartford, Connecticut]] |page=2 |date=26 May 1944 |access-date=2 November 2019 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

[[File:Church of St Anne (Jerusalem) (04)-edit.jpg|thumb|Church of St. Anne in [[Jerusalem]], c. 1140]] [[File:Feast of Saint Anne in Marsaskala Malta.jpg|thumb|Feast of Saint Anne in {{Ill|Marsaskala Parish Church|fr|Église Sainte-Anne de Marsaskala}}, [[Malta]]]]

==Commemoration== By the middle of the 7th century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anna) celebrating the conception of Mary by Saint Anne, was observed at the [[Mar Saba|Monastery of Saint Sabas]].<ref>[https://www.archpitt.org/the-immaculate-conception-the-conception-of-st-anne-when-she-conceived-the-holy-mother-of-god-according-to-the-ruthenian-tradition/ "The Conception of St. Anne 'When She Conceived the Holy Mother of God', The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh]</ref> It is now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of "[[Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary|The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos]]", and celebrated on 9 December.<ref>[https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=329 "Saints and Feasts"], on Goarch.org, the homepage of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]].</ref> In the [[Catholic Church]], the Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim is celebrated on 26 July.

===Feast Day=== ==== Catholic Church ==== * 26 July

==== Eastern Orthodox Church ==== * 25 July: ([[Death anniversary|Dormition of the Righteous Anna, the Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos]]) * 9 September: ([[List of Eastern Orthodox saint titles|Holy and Righteous]] [[Ancestor|Ancestors of God]], [[Joachim]] and Anna, [[Afterfeast]] of the [[Nativity of the Mother of God]]) * 9 December ([[Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary|The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God]])

==== Anglican Communion ==== * 26 July: Anne is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] (with [[Joachim]]) in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Lesser Festival (Anglicanism)|Lesser Festival]] on 26 July.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=27 March 2021|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>

==== Lutheranism ==== * 26 July

==== Coptic Orthodox Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church==== * 7 November ([[Death anniversary|The Departure of St. Anna (Hannah)]], [[Theotokos|the mother of the Theotokos]])<ref name="ИОАКИМ И АННА">{{Cite web |title=ИОАКИМ И АННА |url=https://www.pravenc.ru/text/468935.html#part_5 |access-date=29 May 2022 |website=www.pravenc.ru}}</ref>

==== Armenian Apostolic Church ==== * 9 December ([[Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary|The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God]]) * Tuesday, 2nd week after [[Dormition of the Mother of God]]<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Armenian Church |title=Commemoration of Sts. Joachim and Anna, Parents of the Holy Mother of God, and Oil-Bringing Women |url=https://armenianchurch.ge/en/kalendar-prazdnikov/description-2/august/commemoration-of-sts-joachim-and-anna-parents-of-the-holy-mother-of-god-and-oil-bringing-women |access-date=29 May 2022 }}</ref> (with [[Joachim]])<ref name="ИОАКИМ И АННА" />

==== Syro-Malabar Church ==== * 26 July (Anne and [[Joachim]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Syro-Malabar Liturgical Calendar |url=https://www.syromalabarliturgy.org/assets/assettt/Panchangam%20English%20short%202021.pdf}}</ref>

==== Syro-Malankara Catholic Church ==== * 9 September (Mar [[Joachim]] and Martha Anna)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church – The Sacred Lectionary |url=https://www.syromalankarausa.org/sites/default/files/epl/Panchangom%202020-2021%20English.pdf}}</ref>

==== Maronite Church ==== * 9 September (St. Anne and [[Joachim]], [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saint Joseph Maronite Catholic Church |url=https://sjmcc.org/documents/2020/12/Maronite%20Calendar-1.pdf}}</ref>

[[File:Annaschrein.jpg|thumb|St. Anne's Shrine, with the [[reliquary]] of her skull, Annakirche, [[Düren]]]]

===Relics=== The alleged relics of St. Anne were brought from the [[Holy Land]] to [[Constantinople]] in 710 and were kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.<ref name="holweck" /> During the 12th and 13th centuries, returning crusaders and pilgrims from the East brought relics of Anne to a number of churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, and Chartres.<ref name="reames" /> St. Anne's relics have been preserved and venerated in the many cathedrals and monasteries dedicated to her name, for example in [[St. Anne's Church, Vienna|Austria]], Canada,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shrinesaintanne.org/eng/2_5_relics.htm |title=Arm Reliquary Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Shrine, Quebec |publisher=Shrinesaintanne.org |date=3 July 1960 |access-date=15 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508054442/http://www.shrinesaintanne.org/eng/2_5_relics.htm |archive-date=8 May 2013 }}</ref> Germany, Italy,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/faszination-welterbe/5059266513/ |title=Flickr photograph of the so-called 'speaking reliquary' (tells the pilgrim what is venerated) |language=de |publisher=Flickr.com |date=6 October 2010 |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref> and Greece in the semi-autonomous [[Mount Athos]], and the city of Katerini.<ref>{{cite web|author=Bender |url=http://vita-nostra-in-ecclesia.blogspot.com/2010/07/feast-of-joachim-and-anne.html |title=Arm relic Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls |publisher=Vita-nostra-in-ecclesia.blogspot.com |date=26 July 2010 |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref> Medieval and baroque craftsmanship is evidenced in, for example, the metalwork of the life-size reliquaries containing the bones of her forearm. Examples employing folk art techniques are also known. [[Düren]] has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when [[Pope Julius II]] decreed that her relics should be kept there, after they were stolen from the church of [[St. Stephan, Mainz|St. Stephen]] in [[Mainz]].

[[File:Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré 5.jpg|thumb|[[Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré]], [[Quebec]], Canada]]

==Patronage== The Church of Saint Anne in [[Beit Guvrin National Park]] was built by the [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantines]] and the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] in the 12th century, known in Arabic as Khirbet ({{lit|ruin}}) Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna. Saint Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labour or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, mothers and educators. She is also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makers<ref name=crawley/> and miners. As the mother of Mary, this devotion to Saint Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary and Christ and the precious metals silver and gold. Anne's womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Alban |editor=Michael Walsh |title=Lives of the Patron Saints |publisher=Burns and Oates |location=Kent |year=1987 |pages=53 f |chapter=Anne, Mother of Our Lady |via=Mcah.columbia.edu |url=http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/courses/medmil/pages/non-mma-pages/text_links/st_anne.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417131450/http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/courses/medmil/pages/non-mma-pages/text_links/st_anne.html |archive-date=17 April 2016 |access-date=14 July 2022 }}</ref>

Saint Anne is the [[patron saint]] of [[Goiás]] ([[Brazil]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.a12.com/academia/palavra-do-associado/nossa-senhora-de-santana|title=Palavras do Associado-Nossa Senhora de Santana |publisher=Academia Marial |access-date=10 May 2026}}</ref>, [[Anahy]], [[Castro, Paraná|Castro]], [[Laranjeiras do Sul]], [[Paulo Frontin]], [[Pitanga, Paraná|Pitanga]], [[Ponta Grossa]], Santana do Iapó, [[Santana do Itararé]] ([[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], Brazil) <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.turismo.pr.gov.br/Pagina/Datas-Civis-e-Dias-de-Padroeiros|title= Datas Civis e Dia do Padroeiro |publisher=Departament of Tourism of Paraná |access-date=9 May 2026}}</ref>, [[Analândia]], [[Areias, São Paulo|Areias]], [[Botucatu]], [[Herculândia]], [[Iporanga]], [[Ipuã]], [[Itapeva, São Paulo|Itapeva]], [[Itapirapuã Paulista]], [[Mogi das Cruzes]], [[Pedreira, São Paulo|Pedreira]], [[Pedro de Toledo, São Paulo|Pedro de Toledo]], [[Roseira]], [[Santana da Ponte Pensa]], [[Santana de Parnaíba]], [[Sumaré]], [[Trabiju]], [[Vargem Grande do Sul]], [[Vinhedo]] ([[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], Brazil) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.municipios.sp.gov.br/municipios/portal.nsf/RelMunicipios?OpenAgent |title=Portal dos Municípios |publisher=State of São Paulo |access-date=10 May 2026}}</ref>, the [[Mi'kmaq]] people, [[Quebec]] ([[Canada]]), [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]] ([[Ecuador]]), [[Santa Ana, El Salvador|Santa Ana]], [[Jucuarán]] ([[El Salvador]]), [[Brittany]] ([[France]]), [[Castelbuono]] ([[Italy]]), [[Bukit Mertajam]], [[Port Klang]] ([[Malaysia]]), [[Chinandega]] ([[Nicaragua]]), [[Santa Ana, Pampanga|Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga]], [[Molo, Iloilo City]], [[Balasan|Balasan, Iloilo]], [[Hagonoy, Bulacan|Hagonoy]], Santa Ana, [[Taguig City]], [[Saint Anne Parish and Diocesan Shrine (Malicboy)|Saint Anne Shrine]], Malicboy, [[Pagbilao]], [[Quezon]] and [[Malinao, Albay]] ([[Philippines]]), [[Adjuntas, Puerto Rico|Adjuntas]] ([[Puerto Rico]]), Sainte Anne Island, [[Baie Sainte Anne]] and [[Praslin Island]] ([[Seychelles]]), Kľúčové ([[Slovakia]]) [[Chiclana de la Frontera]], [[Marsaskala]], [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela]], [[Atarfe]] and [[Fasnia]] ([[Spain]]), [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]] ([[California]]), [[Norwich, Connecticut|Norwich]] ([[Connecticut]]), [[Saint Anne, Illinois|Saint Anne]] ([[Illinois]]), [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]] ([[Michigan]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aod.org/patron-saint/ |title=St. Anne – Archdiocese of Detroit |publisher=Aod.org |access-date=15 August 2013}}</ref>, [[Berlin, New Hampshire|Berlin]] ([[New Hampshire]]), [[Santa Ana Pueblo]], [[Seama, New Mexico|Seama]], [[Taos, New Mexico|Taos]] ([[New Mexico]]), and [[South Vietnam]]. The [[parish church]] of [[Vatican City]] is [[Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri]]. There is a shrine dedicated to Saint Anne in the Woods in [[Bristol]], United Kingdom.

==In art== ===Iconography=== The subject of Joachim and Anne ''[[Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate|The Meeting at the Golden Gate]]'' was a regular component of artistic cycles of the [[Life of the Virgin]]. The couple meet at the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Golden Gate]] of [[Jerusalem]] and embrace. They are aware of Anne's pregnancy, of which they have been separately informed by an archangel. This moment stood for the conception of Mary, and the feast was celebrated on the same day as the [[Immaculate Conception]]. Artworks representing the Golden Gate and the events leading up to it were influenced by the narrative in the widely read ''Golden Legend'' of Jacobus de Voragine. The [[Nativity of Mary|Birth of Mary]], the [[Presentation of Mary]] and the [[Marriage of the Virgin]] were usual components of cycles of the Life of the Virgin in which Anne is normally shown here. Her emblem is a door.<ref name="crawley" /> She is often portrayed wearing red and green, representing love and life.<ref name="Fongemie" />

Anne is never shown as present at the [[Nativity of Jesus in art|Nativity of Christ]] but is frequently shown with the infant Christ in various subjects. She is sometimes believed to be depicted in scenes of the [[Presentation of Jesus at the Temple]] and the [[Circumcision of Christ]], but in the former case, this likely reflects a misidentification through confusion with [[Anna the Prophetess]]. There was a tradition that Anne went (separately) to Egypt and rejoined the [[Holy Family]] after their [[Flight to Egypt]]. Anne is not seen with the adult Christ, so was regarded as having died during the youth of Jesus.<ref>Some writers gave her age at death, as part of a general family chronology, but no generally accepted tradition developed on this point, even during the Middle Ages.</ref> Anne is also shown as the matriarch of the [[Holy Kinship]], the extended family of Jesus, a popular subject in late medieval Germany; some versions of these pictorial and sculptural depictions include [[Emerentia]] who was reputed in the fifteenth century to be Anne's mother. In modern devotions, Anne and her husband are invoked for protection for the unborn.

[[File:John Everett Millais - Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop') - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Christ in the House of His Parents]]'' by [[John Everett Millais]], 1849–50]]

===Virgin and Child with Saint Anne=== The role of the Messiah's grandparents in salvation history was commonly depicted in early medieval devotional art in a vertical double-Madonna arrangement known as the [[Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]], and developed into less hierarchical compositions. The painted or sculpted group is called in Italian ''Metterza'', in French ''Sainte Anne trinitaire'', and in German ''Anna selbdritt''. Another typical subject has Anne teaching the Virgin Mary the scriptures.

===''Christ in the House of His Parents''=== In [[John Everett Millais]]'s 1849–50 work, ''[[Christ in the House of His Parents]]'', Anne is shown in her son-in-law [[Saint Joseph|Joseph's]] carpentry shop. Her daughter [[Mary, Mother of Jesus|Mary]], and Joseph are caring for a young Jesus who had cut his hand on a nail, prefiguring the wounds of his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]]. The coeval [[John the Baptist]] carries a bowl of water to clean the injured hand of Jesus, also prefiguring the [[Baptism of Jesus]].

==In Islam== Anne ({{langx|ar|حنة بنت فاقوذ|''Ḥannah bint Faḳūdh''}}) is also revered in [[Islam]], recognized as a highly spiritual woman and as the mother of Mary. [[Women in the Quran|She is not named in the Quran]], where she is referred to as "the wife of Imran". The Quran describes her remaining childless until her old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have children of her own. She prayed for a child and eventually conceived; her husband, [[Joachim#In Islam|Imran]], died before the child was born. Expecting the child to be male, Anne vowed to dedicate him to isolation and service in the [[Second Temple]];<ref group="N">"O my Lord! I do dedicate into Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: So accept this of me: For Thou hearest and knowest all things." (Quran 3:35).</ref><ref name="Wheeler">{{cite book|last=Wheeler |first=Brannon M. |title=Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis |publisher=Continuum International |year=2002 |isbn=0-8264-4957-3}}</ref><ref name="DaCosta">{{cite book|last=Da Costa |first=Yusuf |title=The Honor of Women in Islam |publisher=LegitMaddie101 |year=2002 |isbn=1-930409-06-0}}</ref> however, Anne bore a daughter instead, and named her Mary. Her words upon delivering Mary reflect her status as a great [[mysticism|mystic]], realising that while she had wanted a son, this daughter was God's gift to her:<ref name="Wheeler" /><ref name="DaCosta" />{{quote|When she delivered, she said, "My Lord! I have given birth to a girl," —and Allah fully knew what she had delivered—" and the male is not like the female. I have named her Mary, and I seek Your protection for her and her offspring from Satan, the accursed." So her Lord accepted her graciously and blessed her with a pleasant upbringing—entrusting her to the care of Zachariah...|{{qref|3|36-37|c=y}}}}

==Gallery== <gallery align="left" caption="Various depictions of Saint Anne" |perrow="6"> File:Adorazione dei magi, metà del V sec. Santa Miaria Maggiore Roma, Arco trionfale -FG.jpg|''Adoration of the Magi,'' with (supposedly) St. Anne in the center (5th ct.), [[Santa Maria Maggiore]], Rome File:Faras Saint Anne.jpg|[[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic]] ''[[Saint Anne (wall painting)|Saint Anne]]'' from [[Faras]], [[Nubia]] (8th century), [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum]] in [[Warsaw]] File:Annuciation to Anne-edit.jpg|''Annunciation to Anne,'' [[mosaic]] (11th ct), [[Chora Church]], Istanbul File:La Martorana (39521628772).jpg|[[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] church [[Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio|la Martorana]] (12th ct.), Palermo, Sicily File:Annarelief.jpg|[[International Gothic|Late Gothic]] [[Relief]] bust of crowned St. Anne (as [[spolia]] in the rebuilt) Annakirche, [[Düren]], Germany File:Frankfurt Karmeliterkloster Annenaltar.jpg|''Legends of St. Anne'' (15th ct.), altar of St. Anne, cloister of the [[Carmelites]], [[Frankfurt]] File:Sainte Anne et les trois Marie.jpg|''Saint Anne and [[the Three Marys]],'' ''[[Hours of Étienne Chevalier|Book of [[Hours of Étienne Chevalier]],'' illuminated by [[Jean Fouquet]] (late 15th ct.), [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], Paris File:Lignee-Ste-Anne v1500.jpg|''[[The Line of Saint Anne]]'', [[Gérard David]] (c. 1500), [[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon]] File:Oberwesel, Liebfrauenkirche 20170322 047-edit.jpg|''The Holy Kinship'' (early 16th ct.), Liebfrauenkirche [[Oberwesel]], Germany File:BMVB - Doménico Theotokópoulus - La Sagrada Família amb Santa Anna i Sant Joanet - 8606.jpg|''The Holy Family with St. Anne and St. John'' by [[El Greco]] (c. 1600), [[Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer]], Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) File:Brooklyn Museum - Saint Anne (Sainte Anne) - James Tissot - overall.jpg|''Saint Anne'', [[James Tissot]] (late 19th ct.), [[Brooklyn Museum]], New York </gallery>

<gallery caption="[[Virgin and Child with Saint Anne|The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]"> File:Firenze aka Florence, Italy (28328693228)-edit.jpg|French [[polychrome]]d wood sculpture (late 14th century), [[Bargello]], Florence File:Memling-DipticMunic-revers.jpg|[[Hans Memling]], reverse of ''Munich Diptych'' (1480), [[Alte Pinakothek]], Munich File:Gundelsheim - Altstadt - St. Nikolaus - Frühmess-Kapelle - Anna-Altar - Anna selbdritt.jpg|''Anna selbdritt'' (1500), St. Nicholas, [[Gundelsheim, Baden-Württemberg|Gundelsheim]], Germany File:Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with St Anne C2RMF retouched.jpg|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)|Virgin and Child with Saint Anne]]'' (c. 1501–19), [[Louvre]], Paris File:Seghers, Daniel - Cartouche with the Virgin and Child and Saint Anne - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Cartouche (design)|Cartouche]] with the Virgin and Child and Saint Anne by [[Daniel Seghers]] (c. 1590–1661), [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]], London </gallery>

<gallery caption="The Education of the Virgin"> File:Guido Reni - Education of the Virgin - WGA19315.jpg|[[Guido Reni]] (1640–1642) File:Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet - The Education of the Virgin - WGA12032.jpg|[[Jean Jouvenet]] (1700) File:Josef Winterhalder Anna unterweist Maria.jpg|[[Josef Winterhalder the Younger]] (1766) File:L'Education de la Vierge.jpg|[[Eugène Delacroix]] (1842) File:Mary and St. Anne - Iglesia del Salvador - Seville-edit.jpg|[[Church of San Salvador (Seville)|Iglesia del Salvador]], Seville File:Ana uči Marijo brati (panjska končnica, 1842).jpg|Panel of a [[beehive]] decorated with St. Anne flanked by flowers, [[folk art]] of [[Slovenia]] (1842) </gallery>

==Music== * [[Marc-Antoine Charpentier]] composed two ''motets'': ** ''Pour Ste Anne'', H.315, for two voices and continuo (around 1675) ** ''Canticum Annae'', H.325, for three voices, two treble instruments, and continuo (around 1680).

== See also == {{portal|Catholic Church}} * {{annotated link|Church of Saint Anne, Jerusalem}} * {{annotated link|Church of St. Ann (disambiguation)}} * {{annotated link|Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary}} * {{annotated link|Molo Church}} * {{annotated link|Molo, Iloilo City}} * {{annotated link|Statue of Saint Anne, Charles Bridge}} * {{annotated link|St Anne's College, Oxford}} * {{annotated link|The Line of Saint Anne}} * {{annotated link|Virgin and Child with Saint Anne}}

==Notes== {{Reflist|group="N"}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Saint Anne}} {{Wikiquote}} * [https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-joachim-and-anne/ Brief Franciscan Media article on "Sts. Joachim and Ann"] * [http://www.christianiconography.info/anne.html "Saint Anne"] at the [http://www.christianiconography.info Christian Iconography] website * [http://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/maryNativity.htm "Here Followeth the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady"] from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend * [http://www.christianiconography.info/protevangelium.htm The Protevangelium of James] * [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.vii.v.i.html The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew] * [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/44sr.htm Reames, Sherry L. ed.,"Legends of St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary: Introduction", ''Middle English Legends of Women Saints'', Medieval Institute Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2003] * [https://www.routledge.com/The-Cult-of-St-Anne-in-Medieval-and-Early-Modern-Europe/Welsh/p/book/9781138690080 Welsh, Jennifer. ''The Cult of St. Anne in Medieval and Early Modern Europe''. Routledge, 2017.]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anne}} [[Category:Saint Anne| ]] [[Category:Ancient Christian female saints]] [[Category:1st-century BCE Jews]] [[Category:Angelic visionaries]] [[Category:Anglican saints]] [[Category:Genealogy of Jesus]] [[Category:Joachim]] [[Category:Mary, mother of Jesus]] [[Category:New Testament apocrypha people]] [[Category:People of the Quran]] [[Category:Saints from the Holy Land]] [[Category:Judean people]]