SAINT ANNE was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ. According to Apocryphal Gospel of James, Anne and her husband Joachim, after years of childlessness, were visited by an angel who told them that they would concieve a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God's service. Anne is the patron saint of childless people, grandparents, equestrians, housewives, homemakers, miners, mothers, old clothes dealers, poverty, pregnancy, seamstresses,stablemen, and sterility. Her feast day is July 26.