Joining in a long-standing tradition for the city, Michigan Area members turned out for the feast day of Sts. Anne and Joachim on Sunday, July 26. This is the ninth year the Michigan Area has participated in the feast day observance.

Normally held at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit, this year’s feast day Mass took place at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, as the historic basilica is undergoing major renovations. 

The Mass and devotions to Ste. Anne, patroness of the city and of the Archdiocese of Detroit, concluded a nine-day novena to the saint – an observance dating back to 1886. Founded by French explorers, Ste. Anne de Detroit is the oldest parish in Michigan and the second-oldest continuously operating parish in the United States.

Mass was celebrated by Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, who joined the Michigan Area earlier this year with the rank of Conventual Chaplain Ad Honorem. See, “Michigan Area participates in Archdiocese of Detroit’s Anointing Mass – and welcomes Archbishop Weisenburger to Order of Malta on Order’s 913th anniversary.”

In his homily, Abp. Weisenburger noted that Sts. Anne and Joachim, the parents of Our Lady, are not mentioned in the Gospels. What we know about them comes from the Proto-Evangelium of St. James, which relates how Joachim and Anne were childless and advanced in years before Mary was born to them. In the culture of that time, being childless was viewed as a curse – even a punishment from God for sin, the archbishop explained.

“While others in Ste. Anne’s situation might have been bitter, she is remembered for having remained completely devoted to God, even in the midst of not understanding why she was childless,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “She remained trusting in His promise, regardless of how others might view her situation.”

Archbishop Weisenburger said that Ste. Anne is a model of faith and trust in God, despite difficult circumstances.

“There are two quotes attributed to Ste. Anne that I’m very fond of,” he said. “The first, ‘God’s timing is perfect, even if it differs from our own.’ It’s a good one to remember. The second one, perhaps of greater significance, is ‘The greatest miracle in life is not the absence of hardship, but the grace to endure it with faith.’ Those two words ‘with faith’ make all the difference.”

Following Mass, a statue of Ste. Anne was carried in procession throughout Most Holy Trinity. The faithful recited the Little Rosary of Ste. Anne and the Litany of Ste. Anne. Michigan Area members and others then had the opportunity to venerate relics of Ste. Anne.

The first Ste. Anne de Detroit church building, a tiny log chapel, was dedicated on the feast day of Ste. Anne, July 26, 1701, two days after the city of Detroit was founded by French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. French missionaries encouraged devotion to Ste. Anne, and in 1886 a shrine to Ste. Anne was constructed in the southeast side of the church. One of Ste. Anne de Detroit’s early pastors was Fr. Gabriel Richard, the renowned “second founder of Detroit” and co-founder of the University of Michigan.  

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