Joachim

Joachim (; Yəhōyāqīm, "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal Gospel of James. His feast day is 26 July, a date shared with Saint Anne. In Christian tradition The story of Joachim, his wife Anne (or Anna), and the miraculous birth of their child Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told for the first time in the 2nd-century apocryphal infancy-gospel the Gospel of James (also called Protoevangelium of James). Joachim was a rich and pious man, who regularly gave to the poor. However, Charles Souvay, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, says that the idea that Joachim possessed large herds and flocks is doubtful. At the temple, Joachim's sacrifice was rejected, as the couple's childlessness was interpreted as a sign of divine displeasure. Joachim consequently withdrew to the desert, where he fasted and did penance for 40 days. Angels then appeared to both Joachim and Anne to promise them a child.