This is the day that the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in

it!
Dear friends Good morning…
Today is surely a day of Joy and Thanksgiving for the catholic church.
We have gathered here to remember and celebrate the feast of Sts
Anne and Joachim. Saints Joachim and Anne are the parents of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to the noncanonical sources, Anne was born in
Bethlehem in Judaea. She married Joachim, and, although they
shared a wealthy and devout life at Nazareth, they eventually
lamented their childlessness. Joachim, reproached at the Temple for
his sterility, retreated into the countryside to pray, while Anne, grieved
by his disappearance and by her barrenness, solemnly promised God
that, if given a child, she would dedicate it to the Lord’s service. Both
received the vision of an angel, who announced that Anne would
conceive and bear a most wondrous child. The couple rejoiced at the
birth of their daughter, whom Anne named Mary. When the child was
three years old, Joachim and Anne, in fulfillment of her divine
promise, brought Mary to the Temple of Jerusalem, where they left her
to be brought up.
Saint Anne is the patron of Women who want to be pregnant,
Women in labor, Unmarried women, Sailors and a protector from
storms and Horseback riders. Saint Joachim is the patron for Fathers,
Grandparents, Married couples, Cabinet makers and Linen traders.

Our mothers hold a special place in our hearts. They carry us before
we are born, and continue to do so long afterward. Yes. St Anne also
kept mother Mary before she born and give her best care in her life
long. Like this, she also gives us the same care throughout our life.
So, let us surrender ourselves to this grand mother to guide us and
help us to understand and live up to the teachings of the church as
she did with her daughter.

This feast should remind us of the important role of a Mother played

in the life of Mother Mary and in the life of the followers of Christ; and
it must encourage us to walk the way of Jesus in his moments of joy,
light, sorrow and glory. Let this Eucharistic Celebration of the Feast
of Saints Anne and Joachim reminds us of the importance of keeping
ourselves attuned to Christ, our sure protector in all encounters in
our pilgrimage on earth. As we join together in the celebration of the
Holy Mass, let us all pray and pledge to do our best so that this year
will have a fruitful harvest of conversions and deepen our relationship
with God through the intercession of our Saints Anne and Joachim.
Moreover Let us wish and pray for all the women congregations who
have St Anne as their patron Saint.

Our Foundress, Servant of God Rev. Mother Annammal was born in

1836 at Varaganeri in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, India. Owing to
cholera, many young girls, including our Foundress, were widowed.
The young widows were subjected to innumerable tortures and treated
worse than slaves by their families. They were denied the basic human
dignity, completely neglected and oppressed by the society. The society
didn’t permit them to remarry.

Mother Annammal had a deep God experience and heard the Divine
Call for a very special mission to work for the welfare of poor young
women, particularly widows, to uplift their lives and social status.
Mother Annammal was courageous to face the society and her
intention was only to found a Congregation for the widows. She
courageously went about begging for the sick and the needy,
educating the little ones and praying with the Sakkiliar community.
Inspired by her spirit of selfless service, many young widows joined
her.

As the number grew, she approached the Bishop of Tiruchirapalli

Most. Rev. Alexis Canoz S.J.to start a community for the widows. Due
to financial difficulties, the permission was denied. But she assured
His Lordship that she would not ask for any financial assistance and
begged for permission which was granted later. The vibrant and
burning urge of a single woman sowed the first seed for starting the
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne of Tiruchirapalli. Totally relying
and fully trusting in Divine Providence, Rev. Mother Annammal
founded the first community with four widows on 2 February 1858.
The first community led a simple life in a mud hut, prayed together,
earned their daily bread by manually hulling the paddy.

The power of the burning spirit ignited by our Lord Jesus in the heart
of the Foundress, Mother Annammal, was the root that made a
marvellous beginning of social reformation unprecedented in the
history of Indian womanhood. By her ministry among the poor, the
sick, the weak, the destitute and the downtrodden young women, she
discovered the face of God. She totally relied on God’s grace and power
and not on her capabilities, which in turn has borne bountiful and
good fruits in the annals of the Congregation since 1858. With the
support of the local Church, the Congregation’s ministry expanded in
several Dioceses in India and in Foreign Countries.
History of the Congrecation

The History of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne of

Tiruchirapalli (SAT) evolved around the status of women and had its
origin in the 19th century, when child marriage and consequent fatal
act of forceful and early widowhood were rampant even among the
Catholics. Widows were treated as outcasts and inauspicious and
subjected to untold sufferings and inhuman treatment besides the
social stigma stamped on them. The social status of women was torn
into pieces by unethical and evil customs and practices of the society.
Completely being thrown out and systematically excluded in society
for centuries together, there had always been an impending desire for
the affected women to effect a change in the social structure.

Mother Annammal rose to the occasion and voiced out for the basic
human dignity of poor young women, widows in particular, which had
eluded the oppressed group of women. Mother Annammal collected
the broken hearts and convinced them of the collective responsibility
of preaching the values of the Gospel through community life and set
out for a specific mission to bring the marginalised, the outcast, the
faceless and the forsaken women to the centre so as to develop their
life with respect and dignity.

Trusting and surrendering totally to the Providential care and

guidance and with the permission of the then Bishop of
Tiruchirappalli Most Rev. Alexis Canoz, SJ, Mother Annammal
established the first community with four widows under the patronage
of Saints Anne and Joachim on2 February 1858 and that marked the
birth of the Congregation.
European sisters of the Society of Maria Reparatice came from France
in 1860 to give religious formation to the sisters of the Congregation.
Under the European sisters, the Congregation had to face many
problems from 1860 to 1877. When the European Sisters finally left in
1877, the Congregation was re-established on 16 September 1877 to
grow and continue the ministry on its own with Rev. Mother
Annammal as the first Superior General of the Congregation. Since
1924 virgins also came forward to join the Congregation.

The Congregation was erected as Canonical Diocesan Congregation on

26 July 1880 and elevated as Pontifical Congregation on 17 December
1977. At present, the Congregation is a worldwide Religious
Congregation for women in the Catholic Church.

In the beginning, the Sisters paid particular attention to caring for the
sick, running homes for unwed mothers, abandoned children and
orphans. Being concerned with the upliftment of the poor, the weak,
the marginalized, the destitute and the socially outcast young women,
Congregation ministry has taken different dimensions with
multifarious apostolic activities that include evangelization ministry,
health ministry, service ministry to socially disadvantaged,
educational ministry and care ministry to intellectually challenged and
differently abled. Through these apostolic activities, the Congregation
has been striving for the emancipation and empowerment of women
and children by rendering committed and dedicated service to various
sections of women and children in society that will usher in the much
desired social transformation to create a humane society with just and
right place for women and children.
At present,1052 Sisters of the Congregation in 184 communities
spread across 24 Districts in Tamil Nadu, 8 States in India and 2
Foreign Countries continue the mission to proclaim the Good News of
Jesus by serving women, children, orphans, tribals, intellectually
challenged, differently abled, girls and others through various
ministry.

For easy administration, the Congregation is divided into six Provinces

namely Joachim Province in Tiruchirappalli, Maria Province in
Madurai and Valan Province in Palayamkottai established in 1982,
Agnes Province in Kumbakonam and Arockia Province in Vasai,
Mumbai established in 2000 and Damian Province in Trivandrum,
Kerala established in 2009. All the six Provinces carry on the mission
with the able guidance and direction of the Superior General and the
General councillors with the office situated at St. Anne’s Generalate in
Crawford, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.