The mother of God, Mary, a remarkable woman, was herself born of another remarkable woman, St. Anne. Mary, to be sure, can be seen as the most extraordinary woman of all time, for she was a virgin-mother who gave birth to the Son of God. This is why we should not expect Anne to be the same as her daughter. She was not filled with grace from the time of her conception, but she did live a faithful and devout life, one which allowed her to be open to God and God’s graces in her life. We are also told she has a very chaste and pure love for her husband, St. Joachim, a love which allowed her to have yet another connection to God (because God is love), so that in their union, the specials graces each of them had could be combined together and shared with their daughter, Mary.
Mary was conceived when Anne was old, long after it was believed she could and would be able to have a child. She had wanted to have one, and her society expected her and Joachim to have many children, and because she didn’t have any, she felt a lot of heartbreak and grief, with many acting like there was something wrong with Anne and God had cursed her with infertility. She was looked upon as a sinner far from God. In reality, society got it wrong. While Anne, and her husband, were not sinless, they were very holy people, holier than those who judged and condemned them. God had a special plan for them, where they were chosen, for their holiness, love and devotion, to be the ones who would be given a special child, that is, Mary, one who was conceived full of grace and would later give birth to the God-man. To make sure people understood Mary was special, God determined that Anne would give birth to her in her old age, so that Mary’s life would be seen as a miracle.
As Mary’s mother, Anne was the one who would prepare Mary for her own task, that is, she would be the one who would give Mary the example she needed as to how to be a mother. Anne did this in an extraordinary fashion, as Mary would take what she learned and use it, not only in looking after Christ, but also her spiritual children as the mother of the church. This is why, when we look to Mary, we should see the work and inspiration of Anne in her life:
Anne becomes the mother of that whole line of women who look to Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, as the model of courage and endurance, of integrity and goodness. Anne is the root that nourishes the tree. In looking to Mary as a model, we must look at Anne, as well. It was Anne who nurtured Mary to become the woman she was. [1]
Anne gave herself over to Mary, and Mary gave herself over to the God-man, Jesus, and through Jesus, to us, because we are able to join ourselves with him and become a part of his mystical body. Anne had lived a long life, and despite the way many of her contemporaries thought, she was always open to and walked with God. She was not being cursed by God, rather, she was being prepared for an extraordinary and special blessing, one which would give her a greater legacy than anyone could have ever imagined. But, as Scripture also shows us, God likes to reveal such special graces to the world through signs or miracles which allow people to see God’s work amongst them. Jesus, throughout his ministry, would often heal the sick and wounded in order to reveal to them, and to the world at large, that they were being healed as a whole person. That is, Jesus healed them in their body as a sign that that their sins were being forgiven. Anne, therefore, was given a special grace, one which revealed God’s work with her and her husband, one which allowed her to conceive and give birth at an age no one expected her not only to show that their daughter was special, but that she would do what seemed to be impossible, that is, give birth to God:
Today the bonds of barrenness are loosed; for God listened to Joachim and Anna. He promised them – although it was beyond hope – that they should bear a divine child. From this child was born incarnate the Infinite God, Who told the Angel to cry to her: Rejoice, full of grace; the Lord is with thee (Troparion of St Anne).
The faith and love of Joachim and Anne was revealed to be a holy faith and love when Anne conceived Mary, the Mother of God. They had made them whole, their family was made complete, and that wholeness was revealed by a sign, that of Mary’s conception, where, even in her conception, Mary was full of grace and free from all sin. Mary was cleansed of all blemishes based upon the faith of her parents, similar to the way Jesus healed lepers thanks to their faith (cf. Lk. 12:17-19). The peace of God ruled in their hearts, and they were thankful for it. The grief and sorrow they experienced was turned to joy. They had endured chastisement from their peers, all for the sake of God, who, like Job, they never abandoned, and after enduring for so long, in their old age, God was shown not to have forsaken them. We, should, therefore, follow their example; in the midst of all our burdens and sorrows, we must place our hope in God, a hope beyond all earthly hope, so that when our lives do not go as they wish, we do not fall into temptation and believe that God has forsaken us. We should have faith that God will work in and with us, and make something great out of us and our lives. But, we will be tested, and during that time of testing, we must always embrace the way Christ has shown us, the way of love and compassion:
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Col. 3:12-16 RSV).
We therefore, should look up to Joachim and Anne, knowing that their holiness should serve an example for us. They show us that we should never give in to peer pressure, or letting the useless and unjust criticisms of others, especially those who claim to be religious. get us down or interfere with our relationship with God. Anne stood courageously, never giving in to despair, but also, never giving in to anger, responding to the unkind words she heard with a similar unkindness. While it is not easy, we should follow her example, knowing that in doing so, we will one day find God has always been at work in us, filling us with grace, giving us a chance to bear remarkable fruit as well.
[1] Joan Chittister, The Friendship of Women (New York: BlueBridge, 2006), 68.
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