Sts. Joachim and Anne

July 26 is the joint feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. Their names come from the 2nd-century Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel that tells of the childless couple's prayer for a child, the angel's promise, and Mary's birth and presentation in the Temple. The Western cult of St. Anne is attested from the 6th century; Joachim's feast was added to the Roman calendar in 1584.

The shrine of St. Anne at Sainte-Anne-d'Auray in Brittany is one of the great pilgrimage sites of France. The apparition of St. Anne to the peasant Yves Nicolazic in 1623 — the saint told him where to find her ancient statue — was approved by the bishop of Vannes, and the basilica built on the site has drawn pilgrims ever since. The July 26 feast brings tens of thousands to the village.

From Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec, where the basilica stands above the St. Lawrence, to Sainte-Anne-d'Auray in Brittany, to the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda — the traditional birthplace of Mary — the grandparents of Jesus are honoured by the grandmothers and grandfathers who come to ask their intercession for their grandchildren.