What is saint ann the saint of??

Question

What is saint ann the saint of??

Answer 1

It depends which one

http://saints.sqpn.com/sainta.htm

Answer 2

Devotion to Saint Ann is devotion to the gospel message. As the

mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus, St. Ann embodies and

symbolizes devotion to Mary and love for our Lord and His teachings.

   As a Jewish woman, Saint Ann represents ecumenism and respect for

another's faith and race. As a grandmother she exemplifies the importance

of family and respect for the elderly. As an ordinary woman of faith she

represents down to earth, common, human virtues, and holiness through love

for family and neighbors.

   Saint Ann had a daughter with an unplanned pregnancy and a

son-in-law who threatened to divorce her. Saint Ann's daughter was

a refugee in her flight to Egypt, and her grandson was a prisoner

on death row. She had to deal with the death of her spouse. Saint

Ann knew hard work and her simple lifestyle places her in solidarity

with the poor of today's world. She taught her daughter how to pray,

to work, to be a good neighbor, even how to decipher political

situations, whether at home before Herod, or on foreign soil.

   A novena encourages and recognizes the power of prayer. Our Lord

told us to "pray always". St. Ann's novena is a prayer of persistence.

Our Lord encouraged us to "knock and the door will be opened, to ask,

and you will receive".

   Saint Ann's Novena is a community prayer. Jesus said, "if two of

you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by

my Father in heaven." Mt. 18:19.

   Saint Ann's Novena imitates the disciples and Mary who gathered

together after our Lord's Ascension to pray for nine days and who were

then "filled with the Holy Spirit...They went to the room upstairs...All

these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with

certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus...They were all

together in one place. And...all of them were filled with the Holy

Spirit". (Acts 1:13,14 & 2:1,4.)

   Saint Ann's Novena recognizes that God has put us on earth to help

each other in a variety of ways including prayer for each other. We

pray for one another just like St. Paul who said, "Join me in earnest

prayer to God on my behalf." (Romans 15:30)

And

According to Christian tradition, Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna) of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary. Her name Anne is a Greek rendering of a Hebrew name, Hannah. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical Gospels. According to the apocryphal Gospel of James, Anne and her husband Joachim, after years of childlessness, were visited by an angel who told them that they would conceive a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God's service. Joachim and Anne are believed to have given Mary to the service of the Second Temple when the girl was three years old.[1] Anne is a patron saint of Quebec and Brittany, and patroness of women in labor and miners.

The story bears a superficial similarity to that of the birth of Samuel, whose mother Hannah had also been childless. Although Anne's cult receives little attention in the Western church prior to the late 12th century,[2] dedications to Anne in the Eastern church occur as early as the 6th century.[3] In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts.

In Western iconography, Anne may be recognised by her depiction in red robe and green mantle, often holding a book. Images may also be found depicting Anne holding a small Mary who in turn holds an infant Christ (see gallery). Such trinitarian representations mirror similar depictions of the Trinity, and were sometimes produced as pairs.[4]

Varying theologians have believed either that Joachim was Anne's only husband, or that she was married thrice. Ancient belief, attested to by a sermon of St John Damascene, was that Anne married once. In late medieval times, legend held that Anne was married three times, first to Joachim, then to Clopas, and finally to a man named Solomas, and that each marriage produced one daughter: Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salomae, respectively.[5]

Similarly, in the 4th century, and then much later in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was born of Anne by virgin birth. [6] Those believers included the 16th century mystic Valentine Weigel who claimed Anne conceived Mary by the power of the Holy spirit. This belief was also condemned as an error by the Catholic Church in 1677. Instead, the Church teaches that Mary was conceived in the normal fashion, but that she was miraculously preserved from original sin in order to make her fit to bear Christ. The conception of Mary free from original sin is termed the Immaculate Conception -- which is frequently confused with the Virgin Birth or Incarnation of Christ.

The iconographic subject of Joachim and Anne The Meeting at the Golden Gate fitted both views, and was a regular component of artistic cycles of the "Life of the Virgin". The couple meet at the "Golden Gate" of Jerusalem and embrace. They are aware of Anne's pregnancy, of which they have been separately informed by an archangel. For those believing in the virgin birth of Mary, this moment stood for her conception, and the feast was celebrated on the same day as the Immaculate Conception. The Birth of Mary, the Presentation of Mary and the Marriage of the Virgin were usual components of cycles of the Life of the Virgin in which Anne is normally shown.

Anne is never shown as present at the Nativity of Christ, but is frequently shown with the infant Christ in various subjects. She is normally shown as present at the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Circumcision of Christ. There was a tradition that she went (separately) to Egypt and rejoined the Holy Family after their Flight to Egypt. Anne is not seen with the adult Christ, so was regarded as having died during the youth of Jesus.[7] Anne is also shown as the matriarch of the Holy Kinship, the extended family of Jesus, a popular subject in late medieval Germany.

The feast day of Anne is 26 July (Western calendar) and 25 July (Eastern calendar).