| SAINT JOACHIM, FATHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN |
| Feast: July 26
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| Nothing
is known of St. Joachim save what is told in apocryphal literature. He was a man
of Galilee, husband of Anne, and both he and Anne were in the decline of life
when Mary was born. Tradition relates that while Joachim was away from home he
had a vision that Anne was to be blessed with a child, and that on his return
home, his wife ran forth to tell of the visitation of an angel who had revealed
to her the same good tidings. There was ancient belief that a child born of an
elderly mother who had given up hope of having offspring was destined for some
high purpose and would be blessed by all the world. Parallels occur in the Old
Testament in the cases of Rachel, mother of Joseph, and that of Hannah, mother
of Samuel. The traditional tomb of St. Anne and St. Joachim was rediscovered in
Jerusalem in 1889.
Saint Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin. Scriptural Saint. Celebration of Feast Day is July 26. Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc. |
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