S. Joaquim dia 26 de Julho

Konrad Witz. Meeting of Joahim and Anna by the Golden Gates. Detail. Tempera on wood. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland

The Protoevangelium of James names St. Joachim the husband of St. Anne and the father of Virgin Mary. He was a rich man in Jerusalem. After twenty years of marriage, they were still childless. Once when Joachim came to the Temple on a feast day to make an offering, he was turned away by the high priest for being childless. Much ashamed Joachim did not return home, instead he spent the night with his shepherds in the desert, where an angel appeared to him and foretold that Anne would give birth to a daughter, who should be called Mary. The girl, in her turn, would become the mother of Jesus, 'Son of the Most High.' As proof Joachim was to meet his wife at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. The angel then appeared to Anne with a similar message. Feast day: July 26 (with St. Anne)
in Christianes saints