St. Martha

Patron of servants and cooks.

"Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus." This unique statement in John's gospel tells us of the special relationship Jesus had with Martha, her sister, and her brother.

Dorothy Day said: "If everyone were holy and handsome, it would be easy to see Christ in everyone. But it was not Christ's way for himself. Ask honestly what you would do when a beggar asked at your house for food. Would you give it on an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do you think that Martha and Mary thought that the old and chipped dish was good enough for their guest? It is not a duty to help Christ - it is a privilege."

Prayer:
Saint Martha, pray for us that we might serve Jesus better. Help us to overcome our distractions and worries to listen to His words and be present to Him this day. Amen

-Catholic Online: St. Martha

No one of you should say, "Blessed are they who have deserved to receive Christ into their homes!" Do not grieve or complain that you were born in a time when you can no longer see God in the flesh. He did not in fact take this privilege from you. As he says, "Whatever you have done to the least of my brothers, you did to me."
from a sermon by Saint Augustine
-Patron Saints Index: Saint Martha

We do know that she is our patroness for whom Jesus was like family, and therefore, a powerful one in the presence of God. Because she took care of the hungry, followers of Jesus traditionally know her as the Patroness of housewives, waiters, and waitresses.

The Prayer to St. Martha is:
St. Martha, I resort to thy protection and aid and as a proof of my affection and faith I offer this light which I shall burn every Tuesday. Comfort me in all my difficulties and through the great favour thou didst enjoy when the Saviour was lodged in thy house. Intercede for my family that we may always hold God in our hearts, and that we may be provided for in all our necessities, I ask, St. Martha, to overcome all difficulties as thou didst overcome the dragon at thy feet.

As a Novena, this may be said for nine Tuesdays with the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father.
-St. Martha Catholic Church: History of Saint Martha

Scripture commentators point out that in writing his account of the raising of Lazarus, St. John intends that we should see Martha's words to Mary before the resurrection of Lazarus as a summons that every Christian must obey. In her saying "The teacher is here and is asking for you," Jesus is calling every one of us to resurrection - now in baptismal faith, forever in sharing his victory over death. And all of us, as well as these three friends, are in our own unique way called to special friendship with him.
-American Catholic: Saint of the Day: St. Martha

Jean

Amen.

Amen is a derivative from the Hebrew verb aman "to strengthen" or "Confirm".
-Catholic Encyclopedia: Amen

Joachim & Anne

For those who wonder what we can learn from people we know nothing about and how we can honour them, we must focus on why they are honoured by the church. Whatever their names or the facts of their lives, the truth is that it was the parents of Mary who nurtured Mary, taught her, brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with faith, "Let it be done to me as you will." It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the cross as her son was crucified and still believe.

Such parents can be examples and models for all parents.

Anne (or Ann) is the patron saint of Christian mothers and of women in labour.

Prayer:
Parents of Mary, pray for all parents that they may provide the loving home and faithful teaching that you provided your daughter. Amen.
-Catholic Online: Sts. Joachim and Anne

Tradition has assigned the names Joachim and Anne (meaning "gracious" in Hebrew) to the parents of the Blessed Virgin, although there is some thought that her father's name may actually have been Heli (Luke 3:23), though it is very uncertain. Joachim has been assigned other names as well in other apocryphal writings: Cleopas, Eliacim, Jonachir, and Sadoc.

The names Anne and Joachim derive from an early apocryphal writing called the Protoevangelium of James (2nd century), which professes to give an account of Mary's birth and early life. The story parallels that of the Biblical narrative (1 Samuel 1) of the childless Hannah bearing Samuel. It is worth noting that in Hebrew Anne and Hannah are the same name.

Whatever their names, they were highly extolled by Saints John Damascene, Epiphanius, and Gregory of Nyssa as the model for Christian spouses and parents, whose principal duty is the holy education of their children. By this they glorify their Creator, perpetuate His honour on earth, and sanctify their own souls. Saint Paul says that it is by the education of their children that parents are to be saved.

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Saint Anne is the patron of Brittany, childless women, housewives, cabinet makers, and miners (the result of a comparison between Mary and Jesus and precious metals.)
-Saint Patrick Catholic Church: Saints of July 26

Joachim (whose name means Yahweh prepares), was the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
-Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Joachim

St. Anne is patroness of women in labour; she is represented holding the Blessed Virgin Mary in her lap, who again carries on her arm the child Jesus. She is also patroness of miners, Christ being compared to gold, Mary to silver.
-Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Anne

Joachim and Anne were the parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus.

The name "Hannah" means grace. In Galilee, where she lived, Mary's mother was probably called "Hannah" even though we know her as Saint Anne. So, if you are named "Hannah" or "Anne" you are named after the mother of Our Blessed Mother.

It was in the womb of Saint Anne that Mary was immaculately conceived. From the first instant of her life, she was in a state of grace and free from all stain of Original Sin. It was her parents, Anne and Joachim that raised her to be faithful to God's word and remain free of sin.

Anne is the patron of Christian mothers, and Joachim the patron of fathers. They were given the great honour and responsibility of raising Mary to be the Mother of God, and can help mothers and fathers today to raise their children to love and follow God too.

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Prayer:
Lord, God of our fathers, through Saints Joachim and Anne You gave us the Mother of Your Incarnate Son. May their prayers help us to attain the salvation You promised to Your people. Amen.
-Domestic-Church.Com: Saint Profile: Saints Anne and Joachim

Whether we rely on the legends about Mary's childhood or make guesses from the information in the Bible, we see in her a fulfillment of many generations of prayerful persons, herself steeped in the religious traditions of her people.

The strong character of Mary in making decisions, her continuous practice of prayer, her devotion to the laws of her faith, her steadiness at moments of crisis, and her devotion to her relatives - all indicate a close-knit, loving family that looked forward to the next generation even while retaining the best of the past.

Joachim and Ann - whether these are their real names or not - represent that entire quiet series of generations who faithfully perform their duties, practice their faith and establish an atmosphere for the coming of the Messiah, but remain obscure.

This is the "feast of grandparents." It reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone for generations to come: They must make the traditions live and offer them as a promise to little children. But the feast has a message for the younger generation as well. It reminds the young that older people's greater perspective, depth of experience and appreciation of life's profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be taken lightly or ignored.
-American Catholic: Sts. Ann and Joachim

It is a dogma of faith that Mary the mother of God-Made-Man was herself conceived and born immaculate - that is, untainted in soul by the stain of original sin that has marked the souls of all other human beings since Adam's fall. Some devout Catholics of yore thought it appropriate to theorize that Mary herself was not conceived in the normal way, but by a virginal conception like that of Jesus. Catholic devotion to SS. Anne and Joachim overrules this mistaken piety. In honouring them as the true grandparents of Jesus, it implies that Mary was begotten in the manner that God established for the human race.
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Popular Christian devotion to these parents of so great a daughter developed naturally. They must have been wonderful people to have been so favoured. Through them, Jesus became a member of an extended family - a concept that society venerated. Finally, they were saints whom average couples could more easily appreciate than the virginal parents of Jesus Himself.
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Although St. Anne remains more popular than her saintly husband, Catholic devotion to the pair has been essentially a devotion to the human family. Having produced a daughter whom God called upon to give to the world its redeemer, they had become the supreme witnesses of the greatness of the family as a divine creation. In them, every other couple can find a reassurance that in marriage, by bearing and raising children for the greater honour and glory of God, they are privileged to be, if not God's grandparents, at least co-creators with Him of the human race.
-Father Robert F. MacNamara, Saint Thomas the Apostle Church: SS. Anne and Joachim

[About.com: St. Ann Novena]

Along with St Joseph they are protectors of [the Carmelite] Order.

Prayer:
Lord, God of our fathers, you bestowed on St Joachim and St Anne this singular grace that their daughter, Mary, should become the Mother of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Grant, at their intercession, the salvation you promised to your people.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
-The Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites: Saints Joachim & Anne

Our information about Mary's parents comes from an apocryphal Christian writing, the Protoevangelium Jacobi (or Gospel of James), written about the year 170. According to this story, Joachim was a prominent and respected man who had no children, and he and his wife, Anne, looked upon this as a punishment from God. In answer to their prayers, Mary was born and was dedicated to God at a very early age.
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Anne is often shown in paintings with Jesus and Mary and is considered a subject that attracts attention, since Anne is the grandmother of Jesus. Her two great shrines - that of Ste. Anne d'Auray in Britanny, France, and that of Ste. Anne de Beaupre near Quebec in Canada - are very popular.
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There is a church of St. Anne in Jerusalem and it is believed to be built on the site of the home of SS. Joachim and Anne, when they lived in Jerusalem.
(The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens)

Collect:
God of our fathers, you gave Saints Joachim and Ann the privilege of being the parents of Mary, the mother of your incarnate Son. May their prayers help us to attain the salvation you have promised to your people. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
-Catholic Culture: Liturgical Year: July 26, 2006: Joachim and Anne

Jean

Sts. Peter and Paul

Pope Benedict XVI, 29 June 2006: "Columns and Foundation of the City of God"
The two apostles rendered their supreme testimony in a short distance of time and space one from the other: Here, in Rome, St. Peter was crucified and subsequently St. Paul was decapitated.

Their blood was fused therefore almost in one sole testimony of Christ, which drove St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, in the middle of the second century, to speak of the "Church founded and constituted in Rome by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul" ("Against Heresies" III, 3, 2).

Shortly after, from North Africa, Tertullian exclaimed: "This Church of Rome, how blessed she is! It was the Apostles themselves, who with their blood, poured out to her the whole doctrine" ("Prescription against the Heretics," 36).

Precisely because of this, the Bishop of Rome, Successor of the Apostle Peter, carries out a particular ministry of service of the doctrinal and pastoral unity of the people of God spread throughout the world.

[Translation by ZENIT]
© 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]

With what crowns of praise shall we crown Peter and Paul? The former as the leader of the apostles, the latter as the one who toiled more than the others.

June is always marked by the festive commemoration of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul which is observed by our Church on the 29^th day, and indeed after fasting in honour of the chief Apostles.
-The Greek Orthodox Church in Australia

This day has been consecrated for us by the martyrdom of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. It is not some obscure martyrs we are talking about. "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Ps. 19). These martyrs had seen what they proclaimed, they pursued justice by confessing the truth, by dying for the truth.
-The Crossroads Initiative: St. Augustine on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

In celebrating the lives of Peter and Paul together, we recognize that the Gospel for the circumcised was committed to Peter and that for the uncircumcised to Paul (Galatians 2:7-9). Yet there was considerable overlap and working together of Peter and Paul, especially in Antioch in the late 40's and early 50's AD (Galatians 2:11-15). In addition, Paul's custom was to stop first at the Jewish Synagogue when he entered a city (Acts 17:1-2, 10). Only after they rejected him did he go to the Gentiles (Acts 13:42-49). Peter, on the other hand began by preaching to the Jews, but his later missionary journeys took him very far afield to places dominated by Gentiles such as Asia, Macedonia, Britain and Italy (see Appendix A pp. 34-37 for Peter's Missionary Journeys).
-St. Athanasius Orthodox Church

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