Saint Anne

St. Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the grandmother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Anne and her husband, Joachim, were childless. In their old age, Joachim went to offer sacrifice to the Lord in the Temple on a Feast Day, where he was shunned under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted. In his sadness he went into the mountains to pray to God. St. Anne, hearing of this, wept bitterly, beseeching the Lord to end her sterility, and promising to offer their child to the service of God. That day, an angel visited both Anne and Joachim, promising that they would conceive, and that the child would be most blessed in all the world.

St. Anne is the Principal Patron of the Province of Quebec, where stands the famous Basilica of St. Anne-de-Beaupre along the St. Lawrence River. Housed there are three relics of St. Anne, as well as famous documentations of healings and interventions attributed to the Saint herself. The Feast of St. Anne is July 26th.

Saint Martha

July 29th is the Feast of Saint Martha, who was the sister of Mary of Bethany, and is the patron saint of homemakers, cooks and domestic workers. Martha and Mary followed Jesus during His ministry and even hosted Him in their home. Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and their brother Lazarus very much (John 11:5). Martha demonstrated her devotion to Jesus through hospitality and would occupy herself with serving Him, while Mary expressed her faith in Jesus by sitting at His feet and listening to Him.

Martha’s strong profession of faith is demonstrated in John 11:27 when she tells Jesus “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God; He who is to come into the world.”