Saint Joachim (4 B.C.)

Saint Joachim was the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He has his feast on the day after her Assumption. This is by way of a beautiful privilege and a great tribute to this saintly man. Saint Joachim’s name is sometimes contracted into Heli or Eliacim, which means God has judged. God judged him to be worthy to be the father of the greatest of all God’s creatures. Saint Joachim’s wife was Saint Anne. Saint Joachim was told before his death that his child was to be the Mother of God. Mary was the only child of Joachim and Anne. Saint Joachim died when Mary was a consecrated virgin in the Temple of Jerusalem. She sent angels to guard her father in his last agony. Saint Joachim’s feast was first celebrated on September 9, the day after Our Lady’s birthday. Later, it was celebrated on March 20, the day after the feast of Saint Joseph. But now it is solemnly kept on August 16, the day after the glorious Assumption of his daughter into Heaven.

When Mary was born on September 8, Saint Joachim knelt beside her for three whole days, looking upon her with awe and love and admiration. On September 12, he was inspired by God — as was Saint Anne, her mother — to give her the name Mary, which means both Lady and Star of the Sea. It was on September 15, the octave of Our Lady’s nativity, that Saint Joachim called his daughter Mary.

Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, by Giotto

Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, by Giotto