Infertility & the Intercessions of the Saints

Although there are other saints who are petitioned for childlessness, Joachim and Anna retain a special standing because their story is so familiar. Joachim and Anna did everything right. They were faithful to God and the Temple; they prayed, fasted, gave alms in excess of what was expected, studied the Law, and labored in virtue, yet remained childless. 

Like other couples in such a circumstance, they were troubled and perplexed by their inability to conceive. Weeping over his infertility, Joachim went to a shepherd’s field and prayed. With inconsolable tears, Anna lamented her childlessness. Only after recounting God’s blessings upon Sarah and Hannah, Anna lifted her tear-filled eyes to heaven and pray, “…You know the pain of childlessness; put an end to the sorrow of my heart and open my womb and make me who am barren fruit-bearing, so that we may bring the one born of me as a gift to You…”

After nearly fifty years of marriage and unwavering faith, Joachim and Anna were granted a daughter, Mary, the ever-Virgin mother of our Lord. Having a special affinity for the plight of Joachim and Anna and recognizing not only their faithfulness but also the powerful manner by which the Lord responded to their prayers, Christians, in like circumstances, have sought their intercessions for nearly two millennia.

Since the Skete of Saint Anna was entrusted with a relic of their matron, couples everywhere began writing, asking for her intercession. It is not uncommon for husbands to travel and climb the 5,000 steps to the Church to venerate her relic and pray before her icon. The Skete has therefore included a unique petition in their services to formally petition Saint Anna on behalf of infertile couples: “Again we pray for health, salvation, and fertility for the servants of God (names) and for their deliverance from sterility or barrenness.”

However, it must be noted that the gift of children is one of the many blessings we seek from God when He “makes the two one”; the bearing of children is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Though the gift of procreation can never be trivialized within Christian marriage, in like manner, neither should childbearing be considered the sole function or focus of marriage. The inability to conceive in no way undermines the presence of God’s grace and blessing. After all, there are countless wonderful married couples that offer many prayers, read the Scriptures, attend services, keep fasts, give alms, frequently receive the sacraments, venerate relics, and follow prescribed disciplines of a monastery or parish, who nevertheless remain unable to conceive. A couple that is infertile through no fault of their own is as loved by God, His Church, and His people as anyone else. Involuntary childlessness should never be equated with a curse, sin, shame, or faithlessness!

The Church, as an instrument of God’s Grace, does everything she can to assist infertile couples, but at the same time, prays that should a couple exhaust all efforts to conceive and realize that such a gift is not a part of God’s plan for them that they welcome other ways to exhibit and share the love generated by their marriage. Hence while praying for couples to conceive, the Church also encourages couples to discover the gift of adoption and thereby embrace the blessed example of Saint Joseph the Betrothed, the adoptive father of Jesus. It is also hoped that couples discover the great privilege and profound responsibility of spiritual adoption by serving as Godparents through Baptism or Chrismation, a relationship that, according to canonical tradition, is equal to blood relatives.

In any instance, it’s with great devotion to the Saints as well as a true sense of awe and humble obligation that our community, the only parish of our Archdiocese of America formally commemorating Saint Anna and possessing holy relics of both Ancestors of Christ, now also offers special prayers for those couples that struggle with infertility (names of couples are also forwarded to the Theophileon Brotherhood at the Skete for inclusion in their devotionals). Be it the veneration of their Relics, the devotion to items blessed over their relics, the anointing with oil from the vigil light, fervent prayers, commemoration in services, and/or the prayers of the faithful and the brotherhood, by God’s Grace and with the intercessions of Saints Joachim and Anna, couples that once struggled with infertility have since been blessed with children. May these Ancestors of Christ ever intercede on our behalf!