Most Episcopal churches are traditionally named for saints on the Church calendar. You’ve probably heard of St. Paul, St. Patrick, or St. Nicholas, but chances are you’ve never heard of St. Anne. Why? Well, her story admittedly relies on more legend than fact.
St. Anne by Theophilia on Deviant Art
The Legend of St. Anne
Long ago, devout Christians began to wonder, “What were Mary’s parents–the grandparents of Jesus–like?” Legends emerged, and Mary’s parents were given the names of Anne and Joachim, an elderly couple who longed for a child. As the story goes, one day an angel answered their prayers and said, “The Lord has looked with favor on your tears. You will conceive and give birth, and the fruit of your womb shall be blessed by all the world.” They didn’t know it when they first held Mary in their arms, but they were holding the very person through whom God would bring his only Son into our world.
Why Name a Church After Her?
Even though the details of Anne’s story may be a bit off from historical reality, the example of St. Anne describes our church well. St. Anne gave Mary to the world, and Mary gave Jesus. At St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, we seek to do the same thing. Like Anne, we nurture people within our walls to live loving, giving, faithful, compassionate, sincere lives under the promise and freedom of God’s grace. In living those lives, our members, like Mary, bear Christ into the world every day. We do not pray to or worship Anne (or Mary for that matter), but we look to her example as we strive to serve God in faithfulness and love. We celebrate Anne and Joachim’s feast day each year on the Sunday closest to July 26.
St. Anne’s Verse, Hymn 232
The following verse was written for hymn 232, “By All Your Saints Still Striving,” by our former rector, the Rev. Lonnie Lacy:
For Anne, the mother of Mary,
forebear of Christ our Lord:
from her own line descended
the blest incarnate Word.
Her witness may stand silent,
her life a mystery,
but in the Father’s heaven
she sings eternally.