Mary’s Parents

….whose names are not mentioned in the Scriptures, were known as Anne (Hannah) and Joachim. These devout, generous and prosperous souls suffered the stigma of having no children after many years of marriage. Amongst the Jews
(which medieval man occasionally remembered that Jesus and his family were), a lack of children meant divine
disfavour, and Joachim was barred
from offering sacrifices at the temple as a result.

Joachim, greatly discouraged, disappeared for a time, and the distraught Anne mourned for him as if he had died. However, Joachim, prompted by an angel, was to learn that his prayers for a child were to be answered.

Anne, who had dressed in her wedding robes to commemorate a great Jewish Feast Day, was overjoyed to find that her husband had returned, and ran to greet him at the gate. Sources are divided on what
happened next, and several minds (contrary to Roman Catholic
teaching that Mary's beginnings were no different from ours) were to assert
that a chaste kiss during this
meeting led to Mary’s conception.

Anne and Joachim dedicated their child to God, and, at age 3, she became the first girl (not to mention the oldest child) in recorded history to have a Presentation Ceremony.
The young Mary remained at the temple school (an institution that existed
only in this context!), balancing her life between contemplation and learning
such domestic arts as dyeing and weaving. The latter were to serve her well in
later years, when the poverty of the family demanded her contribution.

This Jewish maiden's history was unique in far more ways than merely the obvious one. Though vows of chastity were not taken by Jewish women,
except among the sect of the Essenes,
Mary was to do so very young. This
presented a problem when she reached puberty. A nubile maiden would defile the
holy temple during her menstrual cycles, according to the laws of Leviticus and
Deuteronomy, and even this extraordinary young lady was not exempted from this
prohibition.

It was decided that Mary would be given to a husband who would hold her “in trust”, and who therefore needed to be both virtuous and of advanced years. During a contest for her hand, the elderly widower Joseph was to have a lily sprout from the staff he held, and the
prize was his. Their betrothal presumably followed at once.

Shortly afterward, Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel,
who announced that she was to be the Mother
of the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God. She then became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit (which medieval artists depicted as involving a perfectly
formed, tiny child descending on a sunbeam into his mother's right ear.)
Directly afterward, Mary went to
visit her cousin Elizabeth, and
remained there three months, until John
the Baptist was born and had his
circumcision ceremony.

Needless to say, Joseph was quite troubled when his betrothed returned from her journey (3+ months) with a bun in the oven. (Many Christian authors speculated that Joseph
believed her the victim of abduction, not one guilty of adultery.) He
considered divorcing her quietly, to avoid her being stoned to death for
adultery as the law prescribed, but he was informed, in a dream, of the
pregnancy's special character, and he and Mary
were wed.