Saint Joachim. Father of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.
English: Saint Joachim, Saint Anne (with Mary and Jesus, as children), Saint Joseph,
statues on Aachen Cathedral, Germany.
Français: Saint Joachim, Sainte Anne (avec l'enfant Jésus et Marie), Saint Joseph,
statues au dessus d'un porche de la cathédrale, Aix-la-Chapelle, Allemagne.
Photo: 21 December 2013.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following paragraph is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
Joachim ("he whom YHWH has set up", Hebrew: יְהוֹיָקִים Yəhôyāqîm, Greek Ἰωακείμ Iōākeím) was the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, The Mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the apocryphal Gospel of James. Joachim and Anne are not mentioned in the Bible.
Saint Joachim, Our Lady and Saint Anne.
Church of Saint Anne,
Butajnove, Slovenia.
Date: 1846.
Source: www.restavratorstvo-sentjost.si
(Wikimedia Commons)
Desiring to associate the name of Joachim with the triumph of his Blessed Daughter, The Church has Transferred his Feast Day from 20 March to the day following The Assumption.
Pope Leo XIII, whose Baptismal name was Joachim, in 1879 raised Saint Joachim's Feast, and that of Saint Anne, to the Rank of Double of The Second-Class.
"Joachim and Anne," says Saint Epiphanes, "earned Divine Favour by an irreproachable life and merited that their union should bear for its beautiful fruit, The Blessed Virgin Mary, The Temple and Mother of God. Joachim, Anne, and Mary, offered manifestly together a sacrifice of praise to The Holy Trinity. The name of Joachim signifies "Preparation of The Lord". Is it not he, in fact, who prepares The Temple of The Lord, The Blessed Virgin ? " [Fourth Lesson at Matins.]
Wherefore, the Introit and Gradual enhance the Virtues of this great Confessor and recall the frequent Almsgiving of the Saint, for, according to Tradition, he divided what he had into three parts, of which the first was given to the Temple and its Ministers, the second to The Poor, and the third was all he kept for himself.
Church of Saint Anne,
Butajnova, Slovenia
(see painting, above)
Photo: 2 July 2012.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
"Most Blessed Couple," says, in his turn, Saint John of Damascus, "the whole Creation is in your debt. For it is through you that it has been enabled to offer The Creator a present above all presents, the chaste Mother, who alone was worthy of The Creator. Rejoice, Joachim, for unto us a Son is born of thy daughter." [Fifth and Sixth Lessons at Matins.]
And the Gospel selected shows us the Royal Lineage of this Son, for, by his marriage with Mary, daughter of Joachim (or Heliachim), Joseph, son of Jacob, made Jesus the legal heir of David.
As Grace perfects nature without destroying it, it may be affirmed that Joachim, united like Saint Joseph and Saint Anne by a very intimate tie to The Mother of God and her Son, is called to exercise his perpetual patronage (Collect) with regard to The Church, The Body of Christ, or with regard to our Souls, of which Mary is Mother.
Let us, on this day, offer to God The Holy Sacrifice in honour of The Holy Patriarch, Joachim, father of The Virgin Mary, in order that his Prayer, added to that of his spouse and of their Blessed Child, may obtain the full remission of our sins and Eternal Glory (Secret).
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