Lessons from Sts. Anne and Joachim for couples facing infertility

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 04:00 am

Many couples today face childlessness and infertility, but they are far from the first. Sts. Anne and Joachim, whose feast day is July 26, are known as the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of Mary. They, too, struggled with childlessness for decades, according to Christian legend.

As the story goes, Anne and Joachim faced childlessness at a time when there were few resources for infertility, and a lack of children was considered shameful. Their story can inspire reflection for modern couples and their intercession can be a source of comfort and assistance.  

Sts. Anne and Joachim struggled with infertility for decades. 

Anne and Joachin are believed to have struggled with infertility for two decades before conceiving Mary. 

While their story isn’t told in the New Testament, documents outside the biblical canon, such as the “Protoevangelium of James,” a second-century infancy gospel, offer some details about their lives. While these writings aren’t considered authoritative, they helped shape some of the stories and legends that have been handed down over the centuries about Joachim, Anne, and their daughter, Mary, including the couple’s decades-long struggle with infertility. 

Joachim and Anne spent time alone in prayer.

The “Protoevangelium of James” gives a detailed account of the couple’s prayers for a child. Joachim went out into the desert to pray and fast, while Anne remained at home. 

Joachim “did not come into the presence of his wife, but he retired to the desert,” the story says. There, he fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights. While he was away, Anne mourned their childlessness and lamented the absence of Joachim as if he were dead. Then, she went into the garden and prayed.  

Anne mourned her infertility, then turned to prayer.

While Anne was mourning, her maidservant Judith told her she should not mourn because a “great day of the Lord was at hand.” Anne changed out of her mourning clothes into her wedding garments. She began to pray, wandering the garden and gazing at a sparrow’s nest, the sky, and all that surrounded her.

“Alas! To what have I been likened? I am not like this earth, because even the earth brings forth its fruits in season, and blesses you, O Lord,” she prayed as she walked about the garden. 

An angel appeared to her then, saying she would conceive and her child would “be spoken of in all the world,” and Anne promised to dedicate her child to the Lord. 

Two more angels appeared to tell her Joachim was on his way home, for the Lord had heard his prayer: An angel had appeared to Joachim, telling him to return home and promising that his wife would conceive.

Because the angels had told her Joachim was returning, Anne went to meet him at the gate. The story includes the detail that she ran to him and “hung upon his neck,” embracing him upon his return.

Their struggle bore great fruit.

Though the couple initially viewed their infertility as a great sorrow and shame, God ultimately worked in and through their suffering. Joachim returned from the desert; Anne changed out of mourning clothes and into her wedding garments. Their story was transformed through the grace of God. 

The couple’s faith and perseverance also, eventually, resulted in the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman, Mary, who would give birth to the savior of the world.

St. Anne is now known as the patron saint of mothers and those struggling with infertility, and she and her husband are the patron saints of grandparents and married couples.