Good Saint Ann, Find Me a Man

Eight summers ago, my wife, son, and I traveled to Quebec Province.  While there, my wife and I paid a call on the beautiful Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré.  My visit really needed to be a thank you call at that great basilica, honoring Jesus' grandma!

In the early 1950s, my mom was unmarried and mid-thirtysomething - thought to be an advanced age for a woman called to be a wife and mom.  With a few lady pals in similar situations, my mom made a pilgrimage to that grand shrine in Quebec with a famed prayer of the era in mind: "Good Saint Ann, Find Me a Man."

"Saint Ann, Bring Me a Man as Fast as You Can"

In 1955, my mom's prayers for a "good man" were answered, when she married an Irish immigrant who was small in stature but gigantic in character.  In 1956, one of my mom's co-pilgrims married my dad's cousin!  At last count, eighteen of us are walking around as a result of those answered prayers from women thought to be nearing the close of their child bearing years.

Jesus and His saints - including his grandmother - abundantly care about our marriage and family concerns.  Marriage/ Family are the usual routes through which He calls people to Himself!  Through an act of incredible holiness, exclusively reserved for husband and wife, husbands and wives are called to cooperate in God's very act of creation!  Let me say that again, as it is so awesome: husbands and wives are called to cooperate in God's very act of creation!  If we truly, truly appreciate this, we can understand why this act must be guarded with absolute respect and awe.

More about Jesus' grandparents

"An ancient story dating to the first centuries of the Church’s life recalls how Saints Anne and Joachim, like Abraham and Sarah, were scorned by their neighbors because they had no children.

"Years of longing did not weaken their trust in God, but grief eventually drove Saint Joachim into the wilderness to fast and pray. Saint Anne, remaining at home, dressed in mourning clothes and wept because she had no child of her own. Seeing her mistress distressed, a servant girl reminded Anne to put her trust in God. Saint Anne washed her face, put on her bridal clothes and went to a garden to plead with God for a child.

"Angels appeared to Saint Anne in her garden and Saint Joachim in the desert, promising that, despite their old age, they would give birth to a child who would be known throughout the world. The new parents ran to meet one another at Jerusalem’s Golden Gate, and with a kiss rejoiced in the new life which God had promised would be theirs.

"Saints Anne and Joachim are powerful intercessors for all married couples, expectant mothers and married couples who are having difficulty conceiving, as well as all who have grown old" (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops).