Prayer to St. Anne

 I apologize for not posting last week.  We recently moved, and life is just now getting back into a more normal routine.  I pray everyone is having a blessed summer!

+               +                +

On July 26 Holy Mother Church honors St. Anne. St. Anne was married to St. Joachim who, in the new calendar, is also celebrated on this day. St. Anne was chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, and thus the grandmother of Jesus. Sts. Joachim and Anne's lives centered around prayer and good works, and they raised their daughter in the grace of God. Humbly following the Divine Will of God, these holy parents gave their only child, Mary, to God at the age of three when she went to live in the Temple, consecrated to Him; they did not see her again.
St. Anne is the patron saint of mothers, and provides a model for mothers. However, she and Joachim also provide a holy example for each of us, illustrating by their lives trust in God's Will and sacrifice to fulfill it. We would all do well to pray to this holy pair, asking for their help in truly hearing God's call in each of our lives. Below is a prayer asking for St. Anne's intercession that we may grow in love of Christ and Mary, imitating her virtues.

A Prayer to Saint Anne

With my heart full of the most sincere venerations, I prostrate myself before thee, O glorious Saint Anne. Thou art that creature of privilege and predilection, who by thy extraordinary virtues and holiness didst merit from God the high favor of giving life to her who is the Treasury of all graces, blessed among women, the Mother of the Word Incarnate, the most holy Virgin Mary. By virtue of so lofty a privilege, do thou deign, O most compassionate saint, to receive me into the number of thy true clients, for so I profess myself and so I desire to remain throughout my entire life.

Shield me with thine effectual patronage and obtain for me from God the power to imitate those virtues wherewith thou wast so plentifully adorned. Grant that I may know and weep over my sins in bitterness of heart. Obtain for me the grace of most active love for Jesus and Mary, and resolution to fulfill the duties of my state of life with faithfulness and constancy. Save me from every danger that confronts me in life, and help me at the hour of death, that so I may come in safety to paradise, there to sing with thee, O most happy mother, the praises of the Word of God made Man in the mother of thy most pure daughter, the Virgin Mary. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (three times)

God bless!

+JMJ+