Saint Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor
S. Ioachim Patris B.M.V. Confessoris
Saint Joachim, honoured by the tradition of the Church as the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandfather of our Lord according to the flesh, is venerated together with his wife, Saint Anne.
Saint Joachim is venerated by the Church as the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus, with his wife Saint Anne, as the grandparent of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his human nature. The Sacred Scriptures do not record their names; they have come down to us through the early tradition of the Church, and the faithful have honoured them from ancient times as the holy parents of the Mother of God.
Father of the Mother of God
Of the life of Saint Joachim little is known with historical certainty, for the Gospels are silent concerning the parents of the Blessed Virgin. The Church, however, has always held in reverence those from whom, under God, the Mother of the Redeemer was born. In honouring Saint Joachim, the faithful honour the household into which Mary, full of grace, was given; and they call to mind that the great work of our salvation, which came to its fullness in Christ, was prepared in the quiet holiness of a family.
The Church places Saint Joachim above her other saints in a singular dignity, for, as the collect of his feast declares, God willed that he should be the father of the Mother of his Son. In this we may see the honour that belongs to him for the sake of his daughter and of her divine Child, and the holiness that the tradition has always attributed to one so closely bound to the mystery of the Incarnation.
His veneration
The devotion of the faithful to Saint Joachim, like that to Saint Anne, grew through the centuries, and his feast came in time to be kept throughout the Western Church. The collect prays that we who venerate his feast may also ever feel the help of his patronage. He is fittingly invoked together with Saint Anne, and the two are honoured as patrons of grandparents and of the Christian family.
His feast is kept on the sixteenth of August, the day after the great solemnity of the Assumption of his daughter into heaven. In Saint Joachim the Church honours one whom God chose to stand near the beginnings of our redemption, and reminds the faithful that holiness is nurtured in the home, and that the family is the soil in which the saints of God are formed.
The Collect
O God, who, in preference to all thy Saints, didst vouchsafe that blessed Joachim should be the father of her who brought forth thy Son: grant, we beseech thee, that we who venerate his festival may evermore feel the help of his patronage.
Deus, qui præ ómnibus Sanctis tuis beátum Ióachim Genetrícis Fílii tui patrem esse voluísti: concéde, quæsumus; ut, cuius festa venerámur, eius quoque perpétuo patrocínia sentiámus.
Patronage
He is venerated as the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, with Saint Anne, as a patron of grandparents, of fathers, and of the Christian family.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar Saints Joachim and Anne are honoured together in a single memorial on 26 July.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Joachim?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 16 August, the day after the Assumption, as a Second Class feast. In the modern calendar he is honoured together with Saint Anne on 26 July.
Who was Saint Joachim?
He is honoured by the tradition of the Church as the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the husband of Saint Anne, and thus as the grandfather of our Lord according to the flesh. Their names are not given in the Scriptures but have come down through the early tradition of the Church.
Why is Saint Joachim honoured if the Gospels do not name him?
Though the Gospels are silent about the parents of the Blessed Virgin, the Church has from ancient times venerated those from whom, under God, the Mother of the Redeemer was born. In honouring Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the faithful honour the holy household that gave Mary to the world.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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