Saints Joachim and Anne

Joachim and Anne are not named in the canonical Scriptures, but ancient Christian tradition — especially the Protoevangelium of James, a second-century text — has long held them to be the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and therefore the maternal grandparents of Jesus. The Catholic Church celebrates their feast on July 26 and has venerated them since at least the sixth century in the East and the medieval period in the West.

The traditional account tells of a couple who were childless for many years, faithful in their longing and prayer, and who finally received the announcement of a daughter who would be set apart from her birth. The story echoes the great Old Testament narratives of barren couples blessed in their old age — Sarah and Abraham, Hannah and Elkanah — and prepares the way for the deeper miracle of the Virgin Birth itself. Whatever the historical specifics behind the tradition, the Catholic Church has consistently honored Joachim and Anne as the holy parents who raised the woman who became the Mother of God.

For Catholic couples, they are particularly invoked by those longing for children. Their long childless waiting, followed by the gift of a daughter who would change the world, has been a source of hope for centuries of Catholic families struggling with infertility. Their intercession is sought not as a guarantee of biological children but as accompaniment in the longing — and as a reminder that God's timing and his gifts are often larger than our expectations.

Pope Francis instituted the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on the Sunday closest to the feast of Joachim and Anne. The choice was deliberate: this couple, the grandparents of Jesus, are the great patrons of the bond between generations and of the irreplaceable role of grandparents in passing on the faith.