Name: Sts Joachim and Anne

Lived: Late First Century B.C.–Early First Century A.D.

Country: Palestine

Patron Saint of Anne is the patron saint of grandmothers, and Joachim is patron saint of grandfathers and grandparents

Feast Day: July 26

Bio: Joachim and Anne are the parents of Our Lady, Mary. This makes them the Grandparents of Jesus. We don’t know many details about their lives because they are never mentioned in the New Testament. Everything we know about them comes from tradition – stories that have been passed down through time.

It is believed that they were respected members of the Jewish community. They wanted to become parents so much that Joachim went into the desert to fast and to pray that God would hear their prayer. It is said that an angel told them that they would soon have a daughter who would become famous throughout the world.

Months later, Mary, our Blessed Mother, was born. Tradition tells us that when Mary was three years old, Anne and Joachim took her to the temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her for special service to the Lord. We call this celebration the “Presentation of the Virgin Mary.” It means that Mary was to play an important part in God’s loving plan for the world.

We honour Mary’s parents Anne and Joachim, as Saints and we celebrate their joint feast day on July 26. Their love for one another and for Mary is an example of how God calls us to live. They also remind us to honour our own grandparents and to thank them for the blessings they have passed down to us in love.

There is a Church of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, and it is believed to be built on the site of the home of Sts Anne and Joachim where they lived in Jerusalem.

Prayer:

‘Sts Anne and Joachim,

Grandparents of Jesus,

Pray and Protect all Grandparents’

Amen

Name: St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Lived: January 15, 1842 – August 8, 1909

Country: Australia

Patron Saint of Australia, Knights of the Southern Cross

Feast Day: August 8

Bio: Mary Helen MacKillop was born on the 15^th of January 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne. She is the eldest of eight children of Alexander and Flora MacKillop.

Mary MacKillop was educated in private schools and at home by her father. She received her First Holy Communion at the age of 9. However, growing up Mary and her family struggled financially.

To help her family Mary became in turn a shopgirl, a governess, and at Portland a teacher in the Catholic Denominational School and proprietress of a small boarding school for girls.

As Mary grew, she knew in her heart that she wanted to lead a religious life, dedicated to helping the poor. She placed herself under the direction of Father Julian Tennison-Woods who, as a parish priest of Penola, wanted to found a religious society.

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart; were to live in poverty and dedicated themselves to educating poor children. Not long after, the sisterhood spread to Adelaide and other parts of South Australia and increased rapidly in membership but ran into difficulties. Tenison-Woods had become director of Catholic Schools and conflicted with some clergy over educational matters.

Not long after this, Mary was excommunicated by the Bishop on 22 September 1871 for alleged insubordination; most of the schools were closed and the Sisterhood almost disbanded. The excommunication was removed on 21 February 1872 by order of the bishop nine days before he died.

In 1873 at Rome, Mary obtained papal approval of the Sisterhood. She continued to travel around Europe, visiting schools and gaining knowledge of teaching methods. Mary returned to Adelaide on 4 January 1875 and was elected Superior-General of the Sisterhood. Mary journeyed across Australasia, establishing many schools, educating the poorest of the poor children in these areas.

On one of her travels to New Zealand in 1901, Mary suffered a stroke. She returned to Sydney unwell but able to complete her duties in the Sisterhood. Mary died in Sydney on August 8, 1909.

Quote: “God gives me strengths for what is necessary.” #saintmaryofthecrossmackillop