Today, July 26, is the feast day celebrating St. Anne and St. Joachim – the parents of the Virgin Mary.

Information about these two saints is available via Britannica and the Catholic News Agency.

One might think, “The Church sets aside a day (known as a feast day) to recognize the maternal grandparents of Jesus? Hmmm…. A person has to be very church-involved to think about there being a feast day recognizing Jesus’ maternal grandparents.”

Yes, there is a feast day to recognize Jesus’ maternal grandparents. This does make sense…. After all, they raised a daughter who was “immaculately conceived” so as to be worthy – without sin – of giving birth to a sinless son. They are involved lineally, therefore, in Christ’s presence on earth for humanity. Momentous indeed – worthy of a feast day.

One has to wonder what grandparents would have thought about Mary’s pregnancy and about the identity – status – of her son as Savior. Apparently, Joachim died before May became a mother. However, reports indicate that her parents had dedicated Mary to the “service of the Lord,” bringing her to the Temple of Jerusalem at age three to be raised at the Temple; they are said to have done so out of thanksgiving for having been given a child after their period of barrenness. (Hmmm….. I don’t know enough theology….I think of “The Lord” as referencing Jesus; the story goes that her parents brought Mary to be raised at the Temple before she conceived the Jesus. So, either her parents knew Mary’s intended fate or I’m missing something linguistically).

So, Mary’s parents were devout. They could have accepted being the grandparents of a Savior? Would it have been difficult for Mary’s mother to anticipate such a trajectory when Mary became pregnant prior to her marriage? Perhaps not, since they offered her to be raised at the Temple….. Further, they had been told by an angel that their child would be a “most wondrous child.”

Was Anne aware of Mary’s pre-marital conception prior to Mary’s marriage? Anne had given Mary to the Temple to be raised, so how aware was Anne of the daily details of Mary’s life – was Anne in a position to know that Mary had conceived pre-maritally? Joseph, Mary’s fiance, found out about Mary’s pre-marital pregnancy before he married her and considered “divorcing her quietly,” so it’s possible that Anne also knew about the pregnancy. It would be sociologically curious to find out more about the social mores of the time – to find out the social dynamics of how much Anne would have likely known about the daily life of her teenager who Anne had given to be raised at the Temple of Jerusalem. Did Anne see Mary daily, weekly, or monthly? Did Anne and Mary talk about Mary’s daily life? Was Anne involved in choosing a spouse for Mary, given that Mary was being raised at the Temple? Did Mary of regular contact with her extended family?

Family and lineage is known to have been socially important in Jesus’ time. Therefore, I would think it’s possible that Anne and Mary kept in touch. Further, it’s thought that Anne – after Joachim’s death – may have became a step-grandmother to several of the people who became Jesus’s apostles; if true, this would suggest close social ties within the community of which Mary lived (close social ties seem likely from what I do know).

Perhaps there are literary scholars and sociologists who know more about the time in which Mary lived…..who would have insights about how likely it would have been for Anne to know of Mary’s pre-marital conception of Jesus. Hmmm…..An archangel invited Mary to accept become the mother of Jesus. Then, Mary’s betrothed – Joseph – didn’t know how Jesus was conceived until an angel came to him when he was thinking of walking away from Mary for her pre-marital pregnancy. Would a similar angelic communication been brought to Anne about her grandchild prior to Jesus’ birth? An angel had told Anne (and Joachim) prior to Mary’s birth that Mary would be “a wondrous child” – did Mary tell her own mother that she had also been visited by an angel and that the angel had asked her to conceive? Hmm…. I pondered in a previous post about Mary (here) saying yes to God when asked to be Jesus’ mother – Mary had said yes willingly, I pondered the possibility that there may have been a previous potential mother who had “said no” to that request (given that the Mary response was optional); it now seems unlikely that there a previous request would have been needed given that an angel told Joachim and Anne that Mary would be a “wondrous child” (i.e., God and the angels must have thought it likely that Mary would say yes to God). While Mary’s “yes to God” was voluntary, it seems that she was created with an inclination toward a saintly response to God.

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog post, please share it with them (thank you!).