Saint Anna

The life of St. Anna

In the Bible itself, there is no mention of Saint Anne. Instead, several apocryphal writings report about Anna, whose name can be translated as "Yahweh had mercy". Numerous churches are named after the grandmother of Jesus.

Legend has it that Anna was married to Joachim. The couple wished for a child. After years of waiting and prayer, Joachim was visited by an angel who foretold him to give birth to a girl. Anna had the same vision. The prediction came true: the couple gave birth to a girl - Mary. Anna and Joachim brought Mary to the temple when the girl was three years old to be brought up in faith. It is worth mentioning that the Catholic Church describes the birth of Mary as an immaculate conception. This means that although the child was conceived by Joachim and born by Anna, God showed the child special grace and absolved it from original sin. In some stories it is reported that Joachim, Anna's husband, died, and Anna and her two later husbands gave birth to two more daughters, who were also to be called Mary. This special constellation is called the "Holy Kinship".

Worship and customs

The veneration of St. Anna began in the early Middle Ages and is still kept alive in some regions. The fact that a real cult developed around the figure of St. Anne is also due to the Byzantine imperial house. Emperor Justinian had a church built around the year 550, which was consecrated to St. Anne. In the West, the legend of St. Anne was less known for a long time and was only spread by the crusaders. Especially the Franciscans were interested in the cult of St. Anne, which they helped to popularize by transferring several relics.

Pope Sixtus IV finally included the commemoration day of Anne in the Roman calendar, Gregory XIII determined a separate feast day for the saint, who was venerated as an exceptionally strong woman. From then on, Saint Anne became a person who was worshipped to increase his wealth. The story about the late fulfillment of Anna and Joachim's urgent desire to have children contributed to the fact that women who suffered from infertility were tied a so-called "Anna belt" to help them become pregnant. In several pilgrimage sites there are references to Saint Anna. There are bells dedicated to St. Anna and numerous churches named after her.

Relics play an outstanding role in the cult of Anna: Anna's head is said to be in Düren to this day. Even today numerous pilgrims travel to Düren to worship Anna. Relics of the saint are also to be kept in Vienna. According to legend, Anna died on a Tuesday, which is why Tuesdays are especially important in the veneration of Anna.

Patron saint and iconography

St. Anne is the patron saint of several cities: Florence, Naples and Innsbruck are among the cities that seek the protection of Anna. She is the patron saint against thunderstorms, of mothers, mines, servants and weavers. She is also supposed to ensure a happy marriage and a rich blessing for children. For this reason, a wooden figure of St. Anna is an excellent gift idea for weddings.

Here in the store you can buy woodcarvings showing Anna in different versions. To identify a carving as a depiction of Saint Anna is relatively easy, because Anna is usually depicted in her role as a mother: Often a carved wooden figure shows Anna even together with Mary and the newborn Jesus.

The Catholic day of remembrance for Anna and her husband Joachim is July 26. On November 21, believers celebrate the feast of "Sacrifice of Mary", which refers to the day on which Anna was brought by her parents to the Jerusalem Temple.