My Patron Saint - St. Anne

St. Anne's Feast Day is the 26th July. 

The Bible says nothing about her, whereas other writings that circulated in the early Church speak about her at great length.  However, devotion to Saint Anne is grounded in something that is historically certain: the Virgin Mary had a mother, and being the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus was a sufficient reason for the Church to have a great veneration and respect towards Saint Anne from the very beginning.  After 20 years of marriage, Anne had not yet given birth to a child. As a result, Joachim, her husband, withdrew to the desert. An angel appeared to them both, and told them that their desire to have a child would be fulfilled. They meet at the Golden Gate at the entrance of Jerusalem, and some time later, Anne gives birth to Mary.  Ref:  http://www.ssadb.qc.ca/

In Canada, the Church of St. Anne de Beaupre (link to site above) is one of the most well known Shrines to St. Anne. 

The Shrine has in its possession three notable relics of St. Anne. 

The FIRST RELIC (a portion of the bone of Saint Anne's finger) was obtained by the Carcassonne Chapter, and was brought to the Shrine on March 12, 1670 by Bishop François de Laval.

The first MAJOR RELIC arrived at the Shrine on July 26, 1892, as a gift from Pope Leo XIII. It is a 4-inch portion of the bone of Saint Anne's forearm. It was obtained from the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and was brought from Rome to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré by Bishop Joseph-Calixte Canac-Marquis (1821-1904).

Finally, on July 3, 1960, another MAJOR RELIC of Saint Anne (also from her forearm) was brought to the Shrine from St. Paul Outside the Walls, this time as a gift from Blessed Pope John XXIII.

Here in Ireland the National Shrine to St. Anne is in St. Audoen's Church, High Street in Dublin.  There is also a relic of St. Anne here.  Devotions to St. Anne take place on Tuesdays after the 1.15pm Mass.