Commemorated on September 9
St. Joachim was of the lineage of Judah and a descendant of King David. Anna was the daughter of Matthan the priest, from the lineage of Levi, as was Aaron the high priest. Matthan had three daughters: Mary, Sophia and Anna. Mary married, lived in Bethlehem, and gave birth to Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Forerunner; Anna married Joachim in Nazareth, and in old age gave birth to Mary, the Most Holy Theotokos.
Joachim and Anna had lived together in marriage for fifty years, and yet had remained barren. they lived devoutly and quietly, and of all their income they spent one third on themselves, distributed one third to the poor and gave the other third to the Temple, and they were well provided for.
Once when in their old age they came to Jeusalem to offer a sacrifice to God, the high priest Issachar reprimanded Joachim saying: “You are not worthy that a gift be accepted from your hands, for you are childless.” Others, who had children, pushed Joachim behind them as one unworthy.
This greatly grieved these two aged souls and they returned home in great sorrow. Then the two of them fell down before God in prayer, that He work a miracle with them as He once had with Abraham and Sarah, and give them a child as a comfort in their old age.
Then God sent His angel who announced to them the birth of a “daughter most-blessed, by whom all nations on earth will be blessed and through whom the salvation of the world will come. ”
Anna straightaway conceived, and in nine months gave birth to the Holy Virgin Mary. St. Joachim lived for eighty years and Anna lived for seventy-nine, at which time they reposed in the Lord.
Hymn of Praise
Be glad, O barren one; Be glad, O aged Anna. You will conceive and give birth To a wondrous child, a chosen one —
As once did the aged Sarah, And the mother of Samson,And the mother of Samuel,And the mother of John –
Yet you will be more glorious than all,For you will give birth from the womb to the wonderful Virgin, the only Wonderful Mother of the Most-high King,
Be glad, O Joachim, Father of the unprecedented mother, Of whom the Creator desires To be clothed with glory
The Law loses its power, When God wills, and where He wills, Who can gainsay God? Can there be any dispute with God?
Not by disputation, but by love Does God change His laws, Before love, all laws, Are as if nonexistent
When men hunger, the Lord Makes the dry fields fertile, And because of the spiritual hunger of the world, He makes the barren one fertile
For the salvation of men, the Lord Arranges all for the best, That is why all the Church of the saints Cries out to Him: Glory! Glory!
Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 1
Since you were righteous under the law of grace, O Joachim and Anna, / you gave birth to the God-given infant for our sake. / Therefore, the divine Church radiantly keeps feast today, / joyfully celebrating your honorable memory and giving glory to God / who has raised up a horn of salvation from the house of David.
Kontakion — Tone 2
(Podoben: “Seeking the highest…”)
Anna is now no longer barren / and nurses the All-Pure One! / She rejoices and calls us all to sing a hymn of praise to Christ, / she who from her womb gave mankind the only ever Virgin Mother.