Righteous Ancestor of God, Anna

When St Anna learned what humiliation her husband had endured, she sorrowfully entreated God with prayer and fasting to grant her a child. In his desolate solitude the righteous Joachim also asked God for this. The prayer of the saintly couple was heard. An angel told them that a daughter would be born to them, Who would be blessed above all other women. He also told them that She would remain a virgin, would be dedicated to the Lord and live in the Temple, and would give birth to the Savior. Obeying the instructions of the heavenly messenger, Sts Joachim and Anna met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. Then, as God promised, a daughter was born to them and they named her Mary.

St Joachim died a few years later at the age of 80, after his daughter went to live in the Temple. St Anna died at the age of 70, two years after her husband.

Sts Joachim and Anna are often invoked by couples trying to have children.