Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-26-14, M, Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents, Bl. Virgin Mary

Information: St. Joachim

Feast Day: July 26

Patron of: Fathers, Grandparents

Information: St. Anne

Feast Day: July 26

Patron of: Housewives, women in labor, cabinet-makers, and miners

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Joachim and St. Anne

Feast Day: July 26

St. Anne and St. Joachim are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. They spent their lives worshiping God and doing good. For many years after they were married, God did not bless them with children and this made them sad. For years and years, Anne had begged the Lord to give her a child and she promised to consecrate the baby to him.

When she was already old, God answered her prayer in a far better way than she could ever have dreamed. The child born to St. Joachim and St. Anne was the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Mary, the holiest of all women was to become the Mother of God. Anne took tender care of little Mary for a few years. Then she gave her to the service of God, as she had promised she would.

Mary went to live in the holy Temple of Jerusalem. St. Joachim and St. Anne continued their lives of prayer until they died and God called them home to heaven. Christians have always been especially devoted to St. Anne. Many beautiful churches have been built in her honor. Perhaps one of the most famous is the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada. Great crowds go there all year around to ask St. Anne's help in their sufferings.

Reflection: Today, let us pray especially for the gift of our grandparents as we wish them a happy feast day.

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 13
24.	Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field.	Aliam parabolam proposuit illis, dicens : Simile factum est regnum cælorum homini, qui seminavit bonum semen in agro suo :	αλλην παραβολην παρεθηκεν αυτοις λεγων ωμοιωθη η βασιλεια των ουρανων ανθρωπω σπειροντι καλον σπερμα εν τω αγρω αυτου
25.	But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.	cum autem dormirent homines, venit inimicus ejus, et superseminavit zizania in medio tritici, et abiit.	εν δε τω καθευδειν τους ανθρωπους ηλθεν αυτου ο εχθρος και εσπειρεν ζιζανια ανα μεσον του σιτου και απηλθεν
26.	And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle.	Cum autem crevisset herba, et fructum fecisset, tunc apparuerunt et zizania.	οτε δε εβλαστησεν ο χορτος και καρπον εποιησεν τοτε εφανη και τα ζιζανια
27.	And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle?	Accedentes autem servi patrisfamilias, dixerunt ei : Domine, nonne bonum semen seminasti in agro tuo ? unde ergo habet zizania ?	προσελθοντες δε οι δουλοι του οικοδεσποτου ειπον αυτω κυριε ουχι καλον σπερμα εσπειρας εν τω σω αγρω ποθεν ουν εχει ζιζανια
28.	And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up?	Et ait illis : Inimicus homo hoc fecit. Servi autem dixerunt ei : Vis, imus, et colligimus ea ?	ο δε εφη αυτοις εχθρος ανθρωπος τουτο εποιησεν οι δε δουλοι ειπον αυτω θελεις ουν απελθοντες συλλεξομεν αυτα
29.	And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it.	Et ait : Non : ne forte colligentes zizania, eradicetis simul cum eis et triticum.	ο δε εφη ου μηποτε συλλεγοντες τα ζιζανια εκριζωσητε αμα αυτοις τον σιτον
30.	Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.	Sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem, et in tempore messis dicam messoribus : Colligite primum zizania, et alligate ea in fasciculos ad comburendum : triticum autem congregate in horreum meum.	αφετε συναυξανεσθαι αμφοτερα μεχρι του θερισμου και εν καιρω του θερισμου ερω τοις θερισταις συλλεξατε πρωτον τα ζιζανια και δησατε αυτα εις δεσμας προς το κατακαυσαι αυτα τον δε σιτον συναγαγετε εις την αποθηκην μου

24. Another parable put he forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened to man which sowed good seed in his field:
25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27. So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field; from whence then has it tares?
28. He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Will you then that we go and gather them up?
29. But he said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.
30. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

CHRYS; In the foregoing parable the Lord spoke to such as do not receive the word of God; here of those who receive a corrupting seed. This is the contrivance of the Devil, ever to mix error with truth.

JEROME; He set forth also this other parable, as it were a rich householder refreshing his guests with various meats, that each one according to the nature of his stomach might find some food adapted to him. He said not 'a second parable,' but another; for had He said 'a second,' we could not have looked for a third; but another prepares us for many more.

REMIG; Here He calls the Son of God Himself the kingdom of heaven; for He said, The kingdom of heaven is like to a man that sowed good seed in his field.

CHRYS; He then points out the manner of the Devil's snares, saying, While men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat, and departed. He here shows that error arose after truth, as indeed the course of events testifies; for the false prophets came after the Prophets, the false apostles after the Apostles, and Antichrist after Christ. For unless the Devil sees somewhat to imitate, and some to lay in wait against, he does not attempt any thing. Therefore because he saw that this man bears fruit an hundred, this sixty, and this thirty fold, and that he was not able to carry off or to choke that which had taken root, he turns to other insidious practices, mixing up his own seed, which is a counterfeit of the true, and thereby imposes upon such as are prone to be deceived. So the parable speaks, not of another seed, but of tares which bear a great likeness to wheat corn. Further, the malignity of the Devil is shown in this, that he sowed when all else was completed, that he might do the greater hurt to the husbandman.

AUG; He says, While men slept, for while the heads of the Church were abiding in sleep, and after the Apostles had received the sleep of death, then came the Devil and sowed upon the rest those whom the Lord in His interpretation calls evil children. But we do well to inquire whether by such are meant heretics, or Catholics who lead evil lives. That He says, that they were sown among the wheat, seems to point out that they were all of one communion. But forasmuch as He interprets the field to mean not the Church, but the world, we may well understand it of the heretics, who in this world are mingled with the good; for they who live amiss in the same faith may better be taken of the chaff than of the tares, for the chaff has a stem and a root in common with the grain. While schismatics again may be likened to ears that have rotted, or to straws that are broken, crushed down, and cast forth of the field. Indeed it is not necessary that every heretic or schismatic should be corporally severed from the Church; for the Church bears many who do not so publicly defend their false opinions as to attract the attention of the multitude, which when they do, then are they expelled. When then the Devil had sown upon the true Church diverse evil errors and false opinions; that is to say, where Christ's name had gone before, there he scattered errors, himself was the rather hidden and unknown; for He says, And went his way though indeed in this parable, as we learn from His own interpretation, the Lord may be understood to have signified under the name of tares all stumbling-blocks and such as work iniquity

CHRYS; In what follows He more particularly draws the picture of an heretic, in the words, When the blade grew, and put forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. For heretics at first keep themselves in the shade; but when, they have had long license, and when men have held communication with them in discourse, then they pour forth their venom.

AUG; Or otherwise; when a man begins to be spiritual, discerning between things, then he begins to see errors; for he judges concerning whatsoever he hears or reads, whether it departs from the rule of truth; but until he is perfected in the same spiritual things, he might be disturbed at so many false heresies having existed under the Christian name, whence it follows, And the servants of the householder coming to him said to him, Did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it tares? Are these servants then the same as those whom He afterwards calls reapers? Because in His exposition of the parable, He expounds the reapers to be the Angels, and none would dare say that the Angels were ignorant who had sowed tares, we should the rather understand that the faithful are here intended by the servants. And no wonder if they are also signified by the good seed; for the same thing admits of different likenesses according to its different signification; as speaking of Himself He says that He is the door, He is the shepherd.

REMIG. They came to the Lord not with the body but with the heart and desire of the soul; and from Him they gather that this was done by the craft of the Devil, whence it follows, And he said to them, An enemy has done this.

JEROME; The Devil is called a man that is an enemy because he has ceased to be God; and in the ninth Psalm it is written of him, Up, Lord, and let not man have the upper hand. Wherefore let not him sleep that is set over the Church, lest through his carelessness the enemy should sow therein tares, that is, the dogmas of the heretics.

CHRYS; He is called the enemy on account of the losses he inflicts on men; for the assaults of the Devil are made upon us, though their origin is not in his enmity towards us, but in his enmity towards God.

AUG; And when the servants of God knew that it was the Devil who had contrived this fraud, whereby when he found that he had no power in open warfare against a Master of such great name, he had introduced his fallacies under cover of that name itself, the desire might readily arise in them to remove such men from out of human affairs if opportunity should be given them; but they first appeal to God's justice whether they should so do; The servants said, Will you that we go and gather them out?

CHRYS; Wherein observe the thoughtfulness and affection of the servants; they hasten to root up the tares, thus showing their anxiety about the good seed; for this is all to which they look, not that any should be punished, but that which is sown should not perish. The Lord's answer follows, And he said to them, No.

JEROME; For repentance is left, and we are warned that we should not hastily cut off a brother, since one who is today corrupted with an erroneous dogma, may grow wiser tomorrow, and begin to defend the truth; wherefore it is added, Lest in gathering together the tares you root out the wheat also.

AUG; Wherein He renders them more patient and tranquil. For this He says, because good men while yet weak, have need in some things of being mixed up with bad, either that they may be proved by their means, or that by comparison with them they may be greatly stimulated and drawn to a better course. Or perhaps the wheat is declared to be rooted up if the tares should be gathered out of it, on account of many who though at first tares would after become wheat; yet they would never attain to this commendable change were they not patiently endured while they were evil. Thus were they rooted up, that wheat which they would become in time if spared, would be rooted up in them. It is then therefore He forbids that such should be taken away out of this life, lest in the endeavor to destroy the wicked, those of them should be destroyed among the rest who would turn out good; and lest also that benefit should be lost to the good which would accrue to them even against their will from mixing with the wicked. But this may be done seasonably when, in the end of all, there remains no more time for a change of life, or of advancing to the truth by taking opportunity and comparison of others' faults; therefore He adds, Let both grow together until the harvest, that is, until the judgment.

JEROME; But this seems to contradict that command, Put away the evil from among you. For if the rooting up be forbidden, and we are to abide in patience till the harvest time, how are we to cast forth any from among us? But between wheat and tares (which in Latin we call 'lolium') so long as it is only in blade, before the stalk has put forth an ear, there is very great resemblance, and none or little difference to distinguish them by. The Lord then warns us not to pass a hasty sentence on an ambiguous word, but to reserve it for His judgment, that when the day of judgment shall come, He may cast forth from the assembly of the saints no longer on suspicion but on manifest guilt.

AUG; For when any one of the number of Christians included in the Church is found in such sin as to incur an anathema, this is done, where danger of schism is not apprehended, with tenderness, not for his rooting out, but for his correction. But if he be not conscious of his sin, nor correct it by penitence, he will of his own choice go forth of the Church and be separated from her communion; whence when the Lord commanded, Suffer both to grow together till the harvest, He added the reason, Saying, lest when you would gather out the tares you root up the wheat also. This sufficiently shows, that when that fear has ceased, and when the safety of the crop is certain, that is when the crime is known to all, and is acknowledged as so execrable as to have no defenders, or not such as might cause any fear of a schism, then severity of discipline does not sleep, and its correction of error is so much the more efficacious as the observance of love had been more careful. But when the same infection has spread to a large number at once, nothing remains but sorrow and groans. Therefore let a man gently reprove whatever is in his power; what is not so let him bear with patience, and mourn over with affection, until He from above shall correct and heal, and let him defer till harvest time to root out the tares and winnow the chaff. But the multitude of the unrighteous is to be struck at with a general reproof, whenever there is opportunity of saying anything among the people; and above all when any scourge of the Lord from above gives opportunity, when they feel that they are scourged for their deserts; for then the calamity of the hearers opens their ears submissively to the words of their reprover, seeing the heart in affliction is ever more prone to the groans of confession than to the murmurs of resistance. And even when no tribulation lays upon them, should occasion serve, a word of reproof is usefully spent upon the multitude; for when separated it is wont to he fierce, when in a body it is wont to mourn.

CHRYS; This the Lord spoke to forbid any putting to death. Or we ought not to kill an heretic, seeing that so a never-ending war would be introduced into the world; and therefore He says, Lest you root out with them the wheat also; that is, if you draw the sword and put the heretic to death, it must needs be that many of the saints will fall upon them. Hereby He does not indeed forbid all restraint upon heretics, that their freedom of speech should be cut off, that their synods and their confessions should put broken up - but only forbids that they should be put to death.

AUG; This indeed was at first my own opinion, that no man was to be driven by force into the unity of Christ; but he was to be led by discourse, tended with in controversy, and overcome by argument, we might not have men feigning themselves to be Catholic whom we knew to be declared heretics. But this opinion of mine was overcome not by the authority of those who contradicted me, but by the examples of those that showed it in fact; for the tenor of those laws in enacting which Princes serve the Lord in fear, has had such good effect, that already some say, This we desired long ago; but now thanks be to God who has made the occasion for us, and has cut off our pleas of delay. Others say, This we have long known to be the truth; but we were held by a kind of old habit, thanks be to God who has broken our chains Others again; We knew not that this was true, and had no desire to learn it, but fear has driven us to give our attention to it, thanks be to the Lord who has banished our carelessness by the spur of terror. Others, We were deterred from entering in by false rumors, which we should not bare known to be false had we not entered in, and we should not have entered in had we not been compelled; thanks be to God who has broken up our preaching by the scourge of persecution, and has taught us by experience how empty and false things lying fame had reported concerning His Church. Others say, We thought indeed that it was of no importance in what place we held the faith of Christ but thanks be to the Lord who has gathered us together out of our division, and has shown us that it is consonant to unity of God that He should be worshipped in unity. Let then the Kings of the earth show themselves the servants of Christ by publishing laws in Christ's behalf.

ID; But who is there of you who has any wish that a heretic should perish, nay, that he should so much as lose all? Could the house of David have had peace in no other war but by the death of Absalom in that war which he waged against his father; notwithstanding his father gave strict commands to his servants that they should save him alive and unhurt, that on his repentance there might be room for fatherly affection to pardon; what then remained for him but to mourn over him when lost, and to console his domestic affliction by the peace which it had brought to his kingdom Thus our Catholic mother the Church, when by the loss of a few she gains many, soothes the sorrow of her motherly heart, healing it by the deliverance of so much people. Where then is that which those are accustomed to cry out, That it is free to all to believe? Whom has Christ done violence to? Whom has He compelled? Let them take the Apostle Paul; let them acknowledge in him Christ first compelling and afterwards teaching; first smiting and afterwards comforting. And it is wonderful to see him who entered into the Gospel by the force of a bodily infliction laboring therein more than all those who are called by word only. Why then should not the Church constrain her lost sons to return to her, when her lost sons constrained others to perish?

REMIG; It follows, And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them. The harvest is the season of reaping which here designates the day of judgment, in which the good are to be separated from the bad.

CHRYS; But why does He say, Gather first the tares? That the good should have no fears lest the wheat should be rooted up with them.

JEROME; In that He says that the bundles of tares are to be cast into the fire, and the wheat gathered into barns, it is clear that heretics also and hypocrites are to be consumed in the fires of hell, while the saints who are here represented by the wheat are received into the barns, that is into heavenly mansions.

AUG; It may be asked why He commands more than one bundle or heap of tares to be formed? Perhaps because of the variety of heretics differing not only from the wheat, but also among themselves, each several heresy, separated from communion with all the others, is designated as a bundle; and perhaps they may even then begin to be bound together for burning, when they first sever themselves from Catholic communion, and begin to have their independent church; so that it is the burning and not the binding into bundles that will take place at the end of the world. But were this so, there would not be so many who become wise again, and return from error into the Catholic Church. Wherefore we must understand the binding into bundles to be what shall come to pass in the end, that punishment should fall on them not promiscuously, but in due proportion to the obstinacy and willfulness of each separate error.

RABAN; And it should be noted that, when He says, Sowed good seed, He intends that good will which is in the elect; when He adds, An enemy came, He intimates that watch should be kept against him; when as the tares grow up, He suffers it patiently, saying, An enemy has done this, He recommends to us patience; when He says, Lest in gathering the tares, &c. He sets us an example of discretion; when hen He says, Suffer both to grow together till the harvest He teaches us long-suffering; and, lastly, He inculcates justice, when He says, Bind them into bundles to burn.

Catena Aurea Matthew 13

Christ in Majesty

c. 1180
Fresco
Doppelkirche, Schwarzrheindorf

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, July 26

Liturgical Color: White

Blessed Titus Brandsma died on this day
in 1942. He was a Dutch priest who
wrote against Nazism. He was arrested
and sent to a prison camp. As he was
tortured he encouraged fellow prisoners
to pray for the salvation of the guards.

Day 225 - Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment? // Why were images in the Old Testament forbidden and now not?

Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment?

Atheism is not a sin if a person has learned nothing about God or has examined the question about God's existence conscientiously and cannot believe.

The line between being unable to believe and being unwilling to believe is not clear. The attitude that simply dismisses faith as unimportant, without having examined it more closely, is often worse than well-considered atheism.

Why does the Old Testament forbid images of God, and why do we Christians no longer keep that commandment?

In order to protect the mystery of God and to set the people of Israel apart from the idolatrous practices of the pagans, the First Commandment said, "You shall not make for yourself a graven image" (Ex 20:4). However, since God himself acquired a human face in Jesus Christ, the prohibition against images was repealed in Christianity; in the Eastern Church, icons are even regarded as sacred.

The knowledge of the patriarchs of Israel that God surpasses everything (transcendence) and is much greater than anything in the world lives on today in Judaism as in Islam, where no image of God is or ever was allowed. In Christianity, in light of Christ's life on earth, the prohibition against images was mitigated from the fourth century on and was abolished at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). By his Incarnation, God is no longer absolutely unimaginable; after Jesus we can picture what he is like: "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). (YOUCAT questions 357-358)

Dig Deeper: CCC section (2129-2132) and other references here.

Part 3: Life in Christ (1691 - 2557)

Section 2: The Ten Commandments (2052 - 2557)

Chapter 1: You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, and with All Your Soul, and with All Your Mind (2083 - 2195)

Article 1: The First Commandment (2084 - 2141)

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.³

It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."⁴ ⇡

IV. "YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF A GRAVEN IMAGE..." ⇡

1159-1162
2500
300
(all)

2129

The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure. ... "⁶⁶ It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time "he is greater than all his works."⁶⁷ He is "the author of beauty."⁶⁸

3.

Ex 20:2-5; cf. Deut 5:6-9.

4.

66.

67.

68.

Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.⁶⁹

69.

Cf. Num 21:4-9; Wis 16:5-14; Jn 3:14-15; Ex 25:10-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28; 7:23-26.

476
(all)

2131

Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons — of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new "economy" of images.

2132

The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it."⁷⁰ The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone: Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.⁷¹

70.

St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto 18,45:PG 32,149C; Council of Nicaea II: DS 601; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1821-1825; Vatican Council II: SC 126; LG 67.

71.

St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II,81,3 ad 3.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:July 26, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O Lord, God of our Fathers, who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace, that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son, grant, through the prayers of both, that we may attain the salvation you have promised to your people. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o Langouste à la Crème

o Nameday Strawberries Mold

o Rock Lobster Newburg

ACTIVITIES

o Family and Friends of Jesus Scrapbook Album

o Patron Saint: Ann

o Saint Ann, Grandmother of Jesus

o St. Ann and Joachim

o St. Anne's Day

PRAYERS

o Prayer to St. Anne

o Saint Anne, Bless My Family

o Litany of Good St. Anne

o Novena to St. Anne

o Memorare to St. Anne to Obtain a Special Favor

o Prayer to St Anne on Behalf of a Sick Person

· Ordinary Time: July 26th

· Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary

Old Calendar: St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary

It was in the home of Joachim and Ann where the Virgin Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Thus, devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the affection Christians have always professed toward our Blessed Mother. We, too, owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for their help in our Christian formation.

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Ann; St. Joachim's feast in this rite is celebrated on August 16.

Sts. Joachim and Ann
Who does not know about the great shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupre in Canada, where miracles abound, where cured cripples leave their crutches, and where people come from thousands of miles to pray to the grandmother of Jesus? At one time, July 26 was the feast of St. Anne only, but with the new calendar the two feasts of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary have been joined and are celebrated today. Our information about Mary's parents comes from an apocryphal Christian writing, the Protoevangelium Jacobi (or Gospel of James), written about the year 170. According to this story, Joachim was a prominent and respected man who had no children, and he and his wife, Anne, looked upon this as a punishment from God. In answer to their prayers, Mary was born and was dedicated to God at a very early age.

From this early Christian writing have come several of the feast days of Mary, particularly the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of Mary, and her Assumption into Heaven. Very early also came feast days in honor of SS. Joachim and Anne, and in the Middle Ages numerous churches, chapels, and confraternities were dedicated to St. Anne. The couple early became models of Christian marriage, and their meeting at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem has been a favorite subject of Christian artists.

Anne is often shown in paintings with Jesus and Mary and is considered a subject that attracts attention, since Anne is the grandmother of Jesus. Her two great shrines — that of Ste. Anne d'Auray in Britanny, France, and that of Ste. Anne de Beaupre near Quebec in Canada — are very popular. We know little else about the lives of Mary's parents, but considering the person of Mary, they must have been two very remarkable people to have been given such a daughter and to have played so important a part in the work of the Redemption.

There is a church of St. Anne in Jerusalem and it is believed to be built on the site of the home of SS. Joachim and Anne, when they lived in Jerusalem.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens

The Mysterious Relics of Saint Anne
On Easter AD 792, Charlemagne discovered the relics of Saint Anne with the help of a deaf handicapped boy. It’s a wonderful tale for this feast day of Saint Anne.

Below is the account, preserved in the correspondence of Pope Saint Leo III, concerning the mysterious discovery of the relics of Saint Anne in the presence of the Emperor Charlemagne.

Fourteen years after Our Lord’s death, Saint Mary Magdalen, Saint Martha, Saint Lazarus, and the others of the little band of Christians who were piled into a boat without sails or oars and pushed out to sea to perish — in the persecution of the Christians by the Jews of Jerusalem — were careful to carry with them the tenderly loved body of Our Lady’s mother. They feared lest it be profaned in the destruction, which Jesus had told them was to come upon Jerusalem. When, by the power of God, their boat survived and finally drifted to the shores of France, the little company of saints buried Saint Anne’s body in a cave, in a place called Apt, in the south of France. The church, which was later built over the spot, fell into decay because of wars and religious persecutions, and as the centuries passed, the place of Saint Anne’s tomb was forgotten.

The long years of peace, which Charlemagne’s wise rule gave to southern France, enabled the people to build a magnificent new church on the site of the old chapel at Apt. Extraordinary and painstaking labor went into the building of the great structure, and when the day of its consecration arrived [Easter Sunday, 792 A.D.], the beloved Charlemagne, little suspecting what was in store for him, declared himself happy indeed to have journeyed so many miles to be present for the holy occasion. At the most solemn part of the ceremonies, a boy of fourteen, blind, deaf and dumb from birth — and usually quiet and impassive — to the amazement of those who knew him, completely distracted the attention of the entire congregation by becoming suddenly tremendously excited. He rose from his seat, walked up the aisle to the altar steps, and to the consternation of the whole church, struck his stick resoundingly again and again upon a single step.

His embarrassed family tried to lead him out, but he would not budge. He continued frantically to pound the step, straining with his poor muted senses to impart a knowledge sealed hopelessly within him. The eyes of the people turned upon the emperor, and he, apparently in spired by God, took the matter into his own hands. He called for workmen to remove the steps.

A subterranean passage was revealed directly below the spot, which the boy’s stick had indicated. Into this pas sage the blind lad jumped, to be followed by the emperor, the priests, and the workmen.
They made their way in the dim light of candles, and when, farther along the pas sage, they came upon a wall that blocked further advance, the boy signed that this also should be removed. When the wall fell, there was brought to view still another long, dark corridor. At the end of this, the searchers found a crypt, upon which, to their profound wonderment, a vigil lamp, alight and burning in a little walled recess, cast a heavenly radiance.

As Charlemagne and his afflicted small guide, with their companions, stood be fore the lamp, its light went out. And at the same moment, the boy, blind and deaf and dumb from birth, felt sight and hearing and speech flood into his young eyes, his ears, and his tongue.

“It is she! It is she!” he cried out. The great emperor, not knowing what he meant, nevertheless repeated the words after him. The call was taken up by the crowds in the church above, as the people sank to their knees, bowed in the realization of the presence of something celestial and holy.

The crypt at last was opened, and a casket was found within it. In the casket was a winding sheet, and in the sheet were relics, and upon the relics was an inscription that read, “Here lies the body of Saint Anne, mother of the glorious Virgin Mary.” The winding sheet, it was noted, was of eastern design and texture.

Charlemagne, overwhelmed, venerated with profound gratitude the relics of the mother of Heaven’s Queen. He remained a long time in prayer. The priests and the people, awed by the graces given them in such abundance and by the choice of their countryside for such a heavenly manifestation, for three days spoke but rarely, and then in whispers.

The emperor had an exact and detailed account of the miraculous finding drawn up by a notary and sent to Pope Saint Leo III, with an accompanying letter from himself. These documents and the pope’s reply are preserved to this day. Many papal bulls have attested, over and over again, to the genuineness of Saint Anne’s relics at Apt.

Excerpted from Canterbury Tales

Patron:
Anne: against poverty; barren; broommakers; cabinetmakers; carpenters; childless couples; equestrians; grandmothers; grandparents; homemakers; housewives; lace makers; lace workers; lost articles; miners; mothers; old-clothes dealers; pregnancy; pregnant women; horse riders; seamstresses; stablemen; sterility; turners; women in labour; Brittany; Canada; France; Quebec; archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan; diocese of Norwich, Connecticut; Santa Ana Indian Pueblo; Taos, New Mexico.

Joachim: fathers, grandfathers, grandparents.

Symbols:
Anne: Book, symbol of her careful instruction of Mary; flowering rod; crown; nest of young birds; door; Golden Gate of Jerusalem; book; infant Virgin in crib; Shield has silver border masoned in black, with silver lily on a blue field referring to the girlhood of the Virgin.
Often Portrayed As: Woman holding Mary or Jesus in her arms or lap; Woman at her betrothal to Joachim; Mother teaching Mary to read the Bible; Woman greeting Saint Joachim at Golden Gate; Woman with a book in her hand.

Joachim: Basket containing doves; model of Golden Gate of Jerusalem.
Often Portrayed As: Man bringing a lamb to the altar and being turned away by the priest; greeting and/or kissing Saint Anne at the Golden Gate; elderly man carrying a basket of doves and a staff; elderly man with the child Mary.

Things to Do:

See more about the Shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupré in Quebec, Canada. Several relics of St. Anne are also located in this shrine. Take a video tour of the Shrine here accompanied by beautiful Gregorian chant.
Foods related to St. Ann and Joachim: It seems shellfish, particularly lobster, is one traditional type of food served in France for this feastday. See the suggested recipes in the left column.

This feast falls right in the middle of summer season, so keep in mind the variety of wonderful summer fruits and make something special with them, particularly fruit pies or tarts. A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year mentions that "[i]n both France and French Canada what would commonly be served on this occasion is a fruit tart: such exquisite desserts are traditional at all patronal festivals (as well as other special occasions), especially those falling in the summer, when such a luscious assortment of fruits is available." She includes two recipes, plum tart and apple tart. From Ignatius Press another cookbook called Cooking With the Saints includes recipes for St. Anne's Cream (Crème Sainte-Anne) and Anna Torte (Gateau Sainte-Anne).

One could also try to find "Bible foods" that St. Anne or the Blessed Virgin Mary would have cooked in their time. (But usually those aren't very festive!) This site gives some ideas on Biblical foods.

As Joachim and Ann are the grandparents of Jesus, today has traditionally been a day to honor one's grandparents.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 13:24-30

Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Let them grow together until harvest. (Matthew 13:30)

Have you ever planted grass seed, only to see it come up half crabgrass? Then you probably know what the servants in today’s parable were thinking: Get rid of the weeds right away. Yank them all up. They’re ruining the crop!

But what about the man who sowed the wheat? How did he react? He knew where the weeds came from. But unlike his servants, he was slow to get angry about his enemy’s malice, and this enabled him to think clearly and to make good decisions about how to proceed. Patient, even merciful, he was willing to bear with the weeds for the sake of the good crop. It was just as well, for though he waited, he did destroy the weeds in the end, when he gathered the wheat into his barn.

This parable shows us that when God reveals himself, we might feel confounded, for his thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). “Why not pull up all the weeds immediately and let the wheat flourish?” we ask. But such a rash response shows that we need to reflect further on who God reveals himself to be. He is not a God who punishes immediately. He is a patient God who offers each “weed” every single chance to be transformed into “wheat.” As we grasp a little bit of God’s mercy and patience, our hearts can be moved and stirred with a desire to share in his mission of transforming our world so that it can become a lush, fruitful landscape. We all recognize that the enemy may have sown weeds, but God remains confident that he can bring good out of evil.

St. Catherine of Siena once referred to God as a “deep ocean” in which “the more [we] seek, the more [we] find; and the more [we] find, the more [we] seek.” When we pray, when we read Scripture, even the simplest parables, he surprises us with unexpected revelations of his love, his mercy, and his delight in his creation. He overturns our assumptions and proves himself to be far more faithful and far more powerful than we could ever expect or imagine.

“Father, as I pray and read Scripture today, show me more of who you are. I want to know your power to change hearts—even mine—into the finest wheat.”

Jeremiah 7:1-11; Psalm 84:3-6, 8, 11

A Christian Pilgrim

SAINTS JOACHIM AND ANN

Feast day: July 26

THE LEGEND portrays Joachim and Ann as bound to each other by love. They were God-fearing and wealthy. For the longest time they had no children (like the parents of Samuel and of John the Baptist). Their neighbors accordingly suspected that all was not right with their piety (since childlessness was considered to be a punishment for personal sins).

Joachim and Ann were deeply saddened by all this. They began to converse with God over the childlessness. Joachim withdrew for forty days into the desert, to do penance with God through fasting and prayer. Ann lamented her childlessness (as did Samuel’s mother) before Yahweh.

God’s Intervention. By message from God, Joachim and Ann received the promise of offspring. Both were overjoyed and went forth to meet each other. The scene of the spouse’s reunion is described with feeling: “And lo, Joachim came leading his flocks, and Ann stood at the door and saw him coming. She ran to him and clung to his neck, saying, ‘Now I know that the Lord God has richly blessed me. For now the widow is no longer a widow, and I, childless, am to bear a child.’”

The pregnancy began with the spouses’ coming together, and after nine months Mary was born. The legend of Mary’s birth came to a close: “And so, just as she herself was miraculously born of a barren woman, she also, was, through an incomparable miracle in which she remained a virgin, to bring into the world the Son of the Most High …… the Savior of all nations.

All in all: the major concern of this legend is clearly the statement that Mary was chosen by God in a special way, and has a particular role in the history of salvation. Joachim and Ann are simply background figures.

Joachim and Ann. Yet the pair do not fade into the background. They are portrayed as holy people in the Old Testament sense. Joachim constantly brings double his portion of gifts to the Temple. Each dwells with Yahweh as a matter of course. God is evidently pleased with their piety.

And yet, he does test their faithfulness (as He also tested the piety of Job). The fate of childlessness (which they had to take as a sign of divine punishment) burdened them, but it did not shake their trust in God. The wrestled with God, just as the patient on in the Old Testament did. God finally gave them an answer, showing that He had heard their prayer.

Their faith in God is also manifest in that they gave their three-year-old daughter over to the Temple (in fulfillment of the vow Ann had made before the birth) and allowed her to live in the Temple. They gave back generously to God what God had sent them as a gift, without wishing to cling to it for themselves.

Joachim and Ann: faithful to God even in trials of faith, they take their proper place in the history of salvation (namely, to be the parents of Mary) and place themselves completely at God’s disposal through their child. They are a standard for all who bear their names.

Note: Taken from Albert Schneider OMI, COMMUNION WITH THE SAINTS, Chicago, Illinois: Franciscan Herald Press, 1983, pages 289-291.

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for July 26, 2014:

St. Joachim and St. Anne carried the cross of infertility for many years before they were blessed to become the parents of our Blessed Mother. Pray today for married couples still waiting for the blessing of children.

Regnum Christi

Rolling Up the Sleeves and Gathering the Sheaves

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

July 26, 2014, Memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Matthew 13: 24-30

Jesus proposed another parable to them. "The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ´Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?´ He answered, ´An enemy has done this.´ His slaves said to him, ´Do you want us to go and pull them up?´ He replied, ´No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."´

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in your Church. I believe that it is the sacrament of salvation, and that you have chosen to lead me to heaven. Lord, I hope in you. I hope in you because you have gone to prepare a place for me in heaven. Lord, I love you because you loved me first. I love you for giving yourself up for me on the cross.

Petition: Forgive me, Lord, for offending you, and help me to make reparation.

1. Verdant Farm or Barren Wasteland? Lord, you have given me the gift of Baptism and of being your child. “Baptism is God´s most beautiful and magnificent gift” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1216). This gift you have given me is something that I do not deserve. I was born with original sin, and yet, out of your infinite goodness and mercy, you have chosen to nourish my barren field and offer me the Kingdom of heaven. Through the life-giving waters of the sacrament of Baptism, you have taken my field that used to be wasteland and desert and have made it flourish. You have sown wheat in my field so that it may yield abundant fruit.

2. A Tainted Field? Lord, even though you have grafted me into your family through Baptism, there are times when I forget the goal of my life, which is heaven. I am weak, and because of my weakness, at times I taint my field with weeds. “Certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, ‘the tinder for sin’ (fomes peccati); since concupiscence ‘is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ.’ Indeed, ‘an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1264).

3. God Never Gives Up On Me: Lord, even though I have let weeds grow in my field where there was once only wheat, you have given me time to let the good grain grow. You know that all is not lost. There is still hope, and there is still time. Even though I have offended you because of my sins, and even though I have not conquered myself and my tendency to sin, I still experience your love and your mercy. You have not given up on me, although it seems to me that I have often given up on myself. You have given me the gift of time for me to weed my field and to increase the good wheat that is within it, so that the harvest I bear may be fruitful and rich.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, thank you for the gift of your mercy. Thank you for being patient with me, for loving me for who I am, and for encouraging me to continue to grow as I should.

Resolution: I shall take some time to prepare to make a good confession.

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 4

<< Saturday, July 26, 2014 >>

Sts. Joachim & Ann

Jeremiah 7:1-11
View Readings

Psalm 84:3-6, 8, 11

Matthew 13:24-30
Similar Reflections

FIELD OF DREAMS?

"When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the weeds made their appearance as well." —Matthew 13:26

Some of you who are reading this have been serving the Lord in ministry for years. You have prayed and worked long and hard, toiling with all your heart in your desire to bear fruit for your Lord and Master. Perhaps you are beginning to see the good fruits of your efforts as those to whom you have ministered are progressing as disciples, making their own commitments to Jesus, or sharing their faith with others. The crop you have sowed is beginning "to mature and yield grain" (Mt 13:26).

This is the time when people Jesus describes as "the weeds" begin to make their appearance (Mt 13:26). Just when it looks like your efforts will result in a fruitful harvest and in glory to God, people appear within your ministry or community and begin to wantonly consume energy you intended to use to nourish "the wheat," that is, those bearing fruit as a result of your loving service. Now your "wheat" are not getting "fed" properly because your "weeds" are siphoning off their spiritual food.

Now it looks as if the entire ministry may be shelved under the threat of the weeds. Naturally you want to uproot the weeds. Yet Jesus says to let the weeds grow (Mt 13:30). This seems to make no sense, but God is the Vinegrower (Jn 15:1), and He knows how to produce fruit. Jesus prunes you and the wheat (Jn 15:2), and allows the weeds to consume nourishment meant to sustain you! Yet God has an even higher priority, and it is conversion. He wants the weeds to become wheat. Conversion is costly, inconvenient, and strength-sapping. It also brings great joy in heaven (Lk 15:7).

Prayer: Master, give me Your heart and mind (1 Cor 2:16).

Promise: "Happy the men whose strength You are." —Ps 84:6

Praise: Walt prayed to St. Ann daily to reconcile a relationship between two of his loved ones that Walt considered irreconcilable. Several years later, Walt rejoiced as the reconciliation was more complete than he could have imagined (see Eph 3:20).

Prayer for the Unborn

Heavenly Father, in Your love for us, protect against the wickedness of the devil, those helpless little ones to whom You have given the gift of life.

Touch with pity the hearts of those women pregnant in our world today who are not thinking of motherhood.

Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image - as well as theirs - made for eternal life.

Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and give them birth and all the needed care that a mother can give.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever.

Amen.