26 July -- St Anne

Today is the old feast of St Anne, the mother of Our Lady. The Catholic Encyclopædia has an article on her here, although it has much more to say about the history of the feast day than it does about the woman.

St Anne is the patroness of the old Celtic province of Brittany in France and the Province of Quebec in Canada, perhaps the most Catholic part of the new world at one time. Her shrine, St Anne de Beaupré, is still much visited.

The shrine's own web page.

Her collect from the old Discalced Carmelite propers:

O God, Who hast vouchsafed to bestow upon the Blessed Anne the grace by which she deserved to be made the mother of her who hath given birth to Thine only begotten Son; mercifully grant that we may win favour in Thy sight through the patronage of her whose feast we celebrate. Through the same, Our Lord. Amen.

Her collect in the Ancient Observance Carmelite Rite of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem:

O God, Who didst deign to bestow such grace on blessed Anne that she was worthy to bear in her womb blessed Mary Thy Mother, grant us through the intercession of both mother and Child the abundance of Thy mercy; that as we devoutly and lovingly esteem their memory, we may, through their prayers, be worthy to come to the heavenly Jerusalem : Thou Who art God, living and reigning. Amen.

And in a completely different vein, Aly Bain and some friends play St Anne's Reel: