In the records of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joachim, a
man rich exceedingly; and he brought his offerings double,
saying: There shall be of my superabundance to all the people, and
there shall be the offering for my forgiveness to the Lord for a
propitiation for me…And there
stood over against him Rubim, saying: It is not meet for thee first
to bring thine offerings, because thou hast not made seed in
Israel. And Joachim was exceedingly grieved, and went away to the
registers of the twelve tribes of the people, saying: I shall see
the registers of the twelve tribes of Israel, as to whether I alone
have not made seed in Israel. And he searched, and found that all
the righteous had raised up seed in Israel. And he called to mind
the patriach Abraham, that in the last day God gave him a son
Isaac. And Joachim was exceedingly grieved, and did not come into
the presence of his wife; but he retired to the desert, and there
pitched his tent, and fasted forty days and forty nights, saying
in himself: I will not go down either for food or for drink until
the Lord my God shall look upon me, and prayer shall be my food and
drink.
And his wife Anna mourned in two mournings, and lamented in
two lamentations, saying: I shall bewail my widowhood; I shall
bewail my childlessness…And Anna was grieved exceedingly, and put off her garments
of mourning, and cleaned her head, and put on her wedding
garments, and about the ninth hour went down to the garden to
walk. And she saw a laurel, and sat under it, and prayed to the
Lord, saying: O God of our fathers, bless me and hear my prayer,
as Thou didst bless the womb of Sarah, and didst give her a
son Isaac.
And gazing towards the heaven, she saw a sparrow’s
nest in the laurel, and made a lamentation in herself, saying:
Alas! who begot me? and what womb produced me? because I have
become a curse in the presence of the sons of Israel, and I have
been reproached, and they have driven me in derision out of the
temple of the Lord…
And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying:
Anna, Anna, the Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt
conceive, and shall bring forth; and thy seed shall be spoken of
in all the world. And Anna said: As the Lord my God liveth, if I
beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the
Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the
days of its life. And, behold, two angels came, saying to her:
Behold, Joachim thy husband is coming with his flocks. For an
angel of the Lord went down to him, saying: Joachim, Joachim, the
Lord God hath heard thy prayer Go down hence; for, behold, thy
wife Anna shall conceive…
And her months were fulfilled, and in the
ninth month Anna brought forth. And she said to the midwife:
What have I brought forth? and she said: A girl. And said Anna:
My soul has been magnified this day. And she laid her down. And the
days having been fulfilled, Anna was purified, and gave the
breast to the child, and called her name Mary.
From the Protoevangelium of James (around AD 150)
SS. Joachim and Anna, pray for us
Image: The Annunciation to Joachim and Anna by Gaudenzio Ferrari (1544-45)
