"Good St.
Anne"
Nihil Obstat: William J. Blacet,
J.C.L.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: +J. John P. Cody, S.T.D.
Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph
December 4, 1957
Originally published by
the
Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, Missouri in 1958.
Revised
edition published in 1963. Retypeset and re-published by TAN Books and
Publishers, Inc. in 1998. Updates and additions made to information on
shrines by the Publisher, 1998.
TAN
BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS
How the Saints Honored Saint
Anne
It would be impossible to
enumerate
the many Saints who practiced great devotion to St. Anne. St.
Augustine,
the illustrious Doctor who illumined the Church of God with his
profound
wisdom, practiced an ardent devotion to St. Anne. Every year on the
Saint's
feast, he preached on her virtues and dignity with an eloquence which
encouraged
and inspired his numerous hearers.
St. John Damascene, another
Doctor
of the Church, not only most ardently venerated Mary, but St. Anne as
well.
He preached many sermons in her honor and composed books that treated
of
her glory and dignity. "St. Anne," he declares in his writing, "is a
generous
mother, a compassionate mother, a gracious mother, because the word
'Anne'
means 'generous, merciful, gracious.' "
St. Thomas Aquinas, hailed as
one of the greatest of intellectuals, a prodigy of learning, a pillar
of
Holy Church, an angel of wisdom and one of the most eminent Doctors of
the Church, was a fervent client of good St. Anne. His example ought to
strengthen our confidence in this privileged Saint and urge us to
venerate
her most fervently. He frequently refers to St. Anne and sets forth
reasons
for honoring her dignity and power. He assures us that the privilege of
aiding man in every distress has been given to good St. Anne.
St. Teresa of Avila, the seraphic
virgin and reformer of religious discipline, entertained a tender love
of St. Anne. This highly gifted teacher of prayer delighted to speak of
St. Anne's dignity and power, and she inspired those under her care
with
a fervent affection for Our Lady's mother. In all convents of the
Carmelite
Order, she introduced special devotions to St. Anne. The same was done
by St. Bridget in her order.
Anne Catherine Emmerich, who
bore the sacred stigmata in her body, said, "In desperate cases of
need,
I always invoke the holy mother Anne."
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