Her name, which in Hebrew signifies gracious, is in the church of England calendar and almanacs on this day, which is kept as a great holiday by the Romish church.
The history of St. Anne is an old fiction. It pretends that she and her husband Joachim were Jews of substance, and lived twenty years without issue, when the high priest, on Joachim making his offerings in the temple, at the feast of the dedication, asked him why he, who had no children, presumed to appear among those who had; adding, that his offerings were not acceptable to God, who had judged him unworthy to have children, nor, until he had, would his offerings be accepted. Joachim retired, and bewailed his reproach among his shepherds in the pastures without returning home, lest his neighbours also should reproach him. The story relates that, in this state, an angel appeared to him and consoled him, by assuring him that he should have a daughter, who should be called Mary, and for a sign he declared that Joachim on arriving at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem should there meet his wife Anne, who being very much troubled that he had not returned sooner, should rejoice to see him. Afterwards the angel appeared to Anne, who was equally disconsolate, and comforted her by a promise to the same effect, and assured her by a like token, namely, that at the Golden Gate she should meet her husband for whose safety she had been so much concerned. Accordingly both of them left the places where they were, and met each other at the Golden Gate, and rejoiced at each others’ vision, and returned thanks, and lived in cheerful expectation that the promise would be fulfilled.
The meeting between St. Anne and St. Joachim at the Golden Gate was a favourite subject among catholic painters, and there are many prints of it. From one of them in the “Salisbury Missal,” (1534 fo. xix) the annexed [engraving] is copied. The curious reader will find notices of others in a volume on the “Ancient Mysteries,” by the editor of the Every-Day Book. The wood engraving in the “Missal” is improperly placed there to illustrate the meeting between the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth.
Meeting of St. Anne and St. Joachim
AT THE GOLDEN GATE.
It is further pretended, that the result of the angel’s communication to Joachim and Anne was the miraculous birth of the Virgin Mary, and that she was afterwards dedicated by Anne to the service of the temple, where she remained till the time of her espousal by Joseph.
In the Romish breviary of Sarum there are forms of prayer to St. Anne, which show how extraordinarily highly these stories placed her. One of them is thus translated by bishop Patrick:[225]
“O vessel of celestial grace,
Blest mother to the virgins’ queen,
By thee we beg, in the first place,
Remission of all former sin.
“Great mother, always keep in mind
The power thou hast, by thy sweet daughter,
And, by thy wonted prayer, let’s find
God’s grace procur’d to us hereafter.”