Category:Annunciation to Anne and Joachim (subject)

The Annunciation of Anne and Joachim (including their Meeting at the Golden Gate) was an episode in the life of Mary of Nazareth and her parents, Anne and Joachim, as narrated in the Protoevangelium of James.

Mary's Early Life : Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple -- Annunciation to Anne and Joachim -- Birth of Mary -- Girlhood of Mary (Education of the Virgin, Presentation of Mary at the Temple) -- Marriage of Mary and Joseph

< Life of Mary of Nazareth : Mary's Early Life -- Nativity of Jesus -- Jesus' Hidden Years -- Mary and the Ministry of Jesus --- Mary and the Early Church -- Relics of Mary of Nazareth >

Overview

After his sacrifice had been rejected in the Temple, Joachim withdrew to the desert, while his wife prayed the Lord at home. Angels appeared to both Joachim and Anne to promise them a child. Joachim offered his sacrifice to God in the desert and then returned to Jerusalem and embraced Anne at the city gate (Meeting of Anne and Joachim at the Golden Gate).

Annunciation to Anne and Joachim, in ancient sources

Protoevangelium of James

4. And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world. And Anna said: As the Lord my God lives, 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. 1 Samuel 1:11 And, behold, two angels came, saying to her: Behold, Joachim your husband is coming with his flocks. For an angel of the Lord went down to him, saying: Joachim, Joachim, the Lord God has heard your prayer. Go down hence; for, behold, your wife Anna shall conceive. And Joachim went down and called his shepherds, saying: Bring me hither ten she-lambs without spot or blemish, and they shall be for the Lord my God; and bring me twelve tender calves, and they shall be for the priests and the elders; and a hundred goats for all the people. And, behold, Joachim came with his flocks; and Anna stood by the gate, and saw Joachim coming, and she ran and hung upon his neck, saying: Now I know that the Lord God has blessed me exceedingly; for, behold the widow no longer a widow, and I the childless shall conceive. And Joachim rested the first day in his house.

5. And on the following day he brought his offerings, saying in himself: If the Lord God has been rendered gracious to me, the plate on the priest's forehead will make it manifest to me. And Joachim brought his offerings, and observed attentively the priest's plate when he went up to the altar of the Lord, and he saw no sin in himself. And Joachim said: Now I know that the Lord has been gracious unto me, and has remitted all my sins. And he went down from the temple of the Lord justified, and departed to his own house...