The Holy Relics of Saints Joachim and Anna
The Holy Relics of Joachim and Anna were gifted to representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Anna on August 3, 2007, in the 10th Century Byzantine Church of the Mother of God Chalkeon, situated in Aristotelous Square in Thessalonica, Greece. The Very Reverend Cherubim Apostolou, an elder of the Theophileon Brotherhood of the Skete of Saint Anna of the Monastery of Great Lavra on Mount Athos, Greece, with a small delegation received these relics from His Excellency Cardinal Joachim Miesner of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany in a private ceremony in 1997.
Joachim and Anna were the parents of the Mary, the mother of Jesus. What we know of them survives from several sources, primarily the Protoevangelion of James, the youngest of the seven children of Joseph the Betrothed and his first wife, Salome. Although portions of the text are considered factual, surviving copies of the Protoevangelion contain many later additions of a folkloric nature, which is why the book was not included in the canon of the New Testament.
Joachim was a herdsman of the tribe of Judah from Nazareth of Galilee, while Anna was from Bethlehem of Judea, the daughter of Matthan the priest of the tribe of Levi. At the age of twenty, Joachim took Anna as his wife. They are said to have lived together for nearly fifty years without producing a child, vowing that if they did, the child would be dedicated to the service of the Lord.
James recounts that the priest Rueben rejected Joachim and his gifts on the Feast of the Dedication and the Feast of Lights on account of his childlessness. Joachim retreated from the temple, taking his flocks far into the mountains, vowing to fast and to pray until the Lord looked upon him. Anna left the Court of the Women and the temple and returned home, where she wept, bewailing her widowhood and her childlessness.
The extra-biblical account explains that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to both Joachim and Anna announced that they would conceive and that they were to go to the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, where they met and embraced, conceiving in their old age, and bore Mary at their home near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Joachim was eighty years old when he died, and Anna was seventy-nine when they reposed in peace.
The Holy Relics of Joachim and Anna, the maternal grandparents of Christ, were taken from the Garden of Gethsemane and venerated by the early Christians. However, priceless treasurers of the Patriarchal See of Jerusalem and their Relics were shared with other Sees of Christendom. Dr. Stilianos Bakirtzidis, Professor of Hagiography at the Germany University in Thessalonica, explains that these Holy Relics were brought to France by Charlemagne in the 9th century.
They were later taken to Cologne, Germany, some relics being placed in the respective Cathedrals of Joachim and Anna, while other Relics were placed in the private collection of the Archbishop of Cologne. Professor Bakirtizidis has also concluded that the Holy Relics of Ss Joachim and Anna are extremely rare in the New World. In addition to a quarter-size piece from the skull of Saint Anna gifted to the parish in 2005, which can be traced to a convent in Cappadocia (modern Turkey), the Holy Relic of Joachim is likely the only one to have reached Greece and remains the only Holy Relic of Joachim in an Orthodox Church in the Americas.
Video updates
Handover of the Relics of Ss. Joachim and Anna, Church of Panagia Chalkeon, August 2007
Service of Thanksgiving on the Occasion of the Reception of the Holy Relics, 8 Sept. 2007
Media coverage of the Holy Relics of Ss. Joachim and Anna, 2007
Written updates
Little Relic, Great Weight, August 6, 2005 (Sacramento Bee)
By AMY WHITE, BEE STAFF WRITER
When Modesto native Christopher Flesoras returned from a trip to Greece earlier this year, he brought back a unique memento. Wrapped in cotton and placed in his pocket was a quarter-size piece of the skull of Jesus' grandmother, Anna.
The bone fragment is known as a holy relic, part of the remains of a saint or items that have come in contact with the sacred body of a saint.
Flesoras, a Greek Orthodox priest who leads St. Anna's Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville, was given the yellowish-brown piece of skull by the head of a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.
"Carrying the relic back to America was overwhelming on many levels," said Flesoras, 33, who was born and raised in Modesto. (He attended Modesto's Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation and graduated from Davis High in 1989.)
"Spiritually, thinking we are carrying the grandmother of Christ is a bit overwhelming," he said. "Physically, where do you keep this on your person? It's not necessarily something you claim at customs. ... We were trying to be very respectful and thoughtful."
The bone fragment is the first relic of St. Anna to reach American soil and will transform the Roseville church into a shrine to its patron saint.
According to tradition, Anna and her husband, Joachim, were childless for 50 years but conceived by the grace of God at an advanced age. Anna bore a daughter, Mary, who, after Anna's death, gave birth to Jesus.
Holy relics of St. Anna were collected and venerated by early Christians. Her relics became the possession of the Church of Jerusalem and later were given to the Christian Patriarch of Antioch and the Holy Monastery of Kykkos on the island of Cyprus, an early Christian community.
Today, her relics are venerated in the Orthodox patriarchal centers of Jerusalem and Antioch, the Skete of St. Anna, a Catholic church in Germany, and now in Roseville.
The bone fragment at St. Anna's, encased in an ornate silver box, exudes the scent of myrrh and beads with myrrh-scented moisture, priests say.
"There is almost a scent of roses," said the Rev. Jon Magoulias, priest at Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Modesto. "This is not uncommon with relics. We think of death and we think of the stench of death, the corruption of the body. But for the saints and those sanctified by God, for the Christian believer, death is not the end. ... For many of these relics, there is a beautiful aroma that comes from them that reminds us of the beauty of the life beyond the grave."
Hundreds of faithful and curious gathered at the Roseville church late last month to attend services and view the relic. Believers and clerics came from all over Northern California, and as far away as Texas, to see the bone fragment.
"It's history," said 71-year-old Tina Karres of Folsom, who cried upon seeing the relic. "If you really believe, it makes your hair stick up. It gives you goose bumps."
Many described the experience as exciting, yet awe-inspiring and humbling. Others felt tongue-tied and mesmerized.
"It was just an incredible feeling — something it's hard to describe," said Dimitri Karnaookh, 44, of Rocklin. "It's something you really feel in your heart if you understand the meaning behind it."
The veneration of saints plays an important role in the Greek Orthodox faith. Believers honor them as examples of holiness and godliness, of the way lives are meant to be led.
Flesoras brought the relic to Modesto in March so it could be venerated during services at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, where he was ordained a deacon in 1996, a year before he became a priest.
"To have (St. Anna's) relic here, the mother of the Virgin Mary, is unique," Magoulias said. "It reminds us that the Virgin Mary was a real person, that she gave herself to God and was obedient to his will and was the vessel by which Christ was born."
Having the relic in Modesto was a special experience for his parish, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Magoulias said. Local parishioners were able to directly kiss and touch the relic.
"It reminds us of God's love and the continuation of his spirit working in people," said Magoulias, who attended recent St. Anna's feast day services in Roseville. The relic also visited parishes in Stockton, Sacramento and Castro Valley — and Holy Cross church in Belmont, where Flesoras was ordained a priest.
Now that the relic is back in Roseville, it is brought out for people to show their respect and offer prayers during services, though it remains in a box.
Flesoras has been deluged with phone calls and e-mails since he brought the relic to the United States. More than 500 people attended one recent service, and another attracted more than 200 people, most of them Episcopalian and Catholic. His congregation has membership of 160 to 175 families.
"(The relic) is part of this whole plan of salvation that unfolded," Flesoras said. "You have a direct link to Christ, (his) maternal grandmother. Anyone that really pays homage to Jesus and has respect for his mother should have respect for his grandmother. ... It's a physical link to the person of Jesus."
An incredible journey
Though thousands of people from around the world visit the Mount Athos peninsula in Greece for spiritual edification, it is unusual to be given a holy relic as a gift, Flesoras said.
"It was just heaven-sent, the way it came about," Flesoras said. "There was a divine hand working in this somewhere."
Flesoras first inquired about obtaining a relic for his church in December, when he met the Very Rev. Father Archimandrite Cheroubim Apostolou, superintendent of the Skete of St. Anna of the Monastery of Great Lavra on Mount Athos, at a funeral in San Francisco.
At first, his chances looked grim: Apostolou warned that getting religious authorities on Mount Athos to agree can be difficult.
But after a few weeks of e-mailing, Flesoras received the happy news that the monastic authorities had deemed his church a worthy recipient of St. Anna's bone. There is no other Greek Orthodox church in the United States dedicated to Jesus' grandmother.
"It was an exciting e-mail," Flesoras said. Apostolou formally gifted it to St. Anna's during a service in Roseville on July 24.
Flesoras, his father, Modesto barber Dean Flesoras, and his father-in-law, Jim Kyriazis of Anaheim Hills, traveled to Greece to pick up the relic in February. They were dropped off by boat at the base of the Skete of St. Anna, the oldest and largest skete (a cloister or small settlement affiliated with a monastery) on Mount Athos. Mount Athos is home to more than 20 monasteries, mostly Greek Orthodox.
The skete is about 1,650 feet up, on the cliffs above the Aegean Sea. The men climbed 2,000 snow-dusted stairs to get to the skete's main courtyard. They stayed at the monastery six days.
"It was magnificent," Christopher Flesoras said. "The services were beautiful. The hospitality of the monks was very kind and genuine." The skete is home to more than 120 monks. Its library also houses about 100 manuscript Scriptures, holy relics of various saints, icons and liturgical items, as well as what is believed to be the left foot of St. Anna, the skete's matron.
"Venerating this artifact of the mother of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, was spiritually, intellectually and emotionally overwhelming," Flesoras said.
Flesoras had been to the holy mountain once before. In 1995, he traveled to the site on a pilgrimage with seminary schoolmates.
Returning to the "civilization" of Athens — and home — was an adjustment, Flesoras said of the recent trip. "It was so incredibly peaceful and tranquil," he said. "It was a quiet we are not normally used to."
While on the trip, the three men also visited a monastery built on the place St. Paul preached to the Thessalonians, the Church of St. Demetrius, which contains the relics of St. Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessalonica, the cathedral in Athens and relatives.
Flesoras has a long family history tracing back to Greece. His mother was born on the island of Crete. His paternal great-grandfather was the first Greek Orthodox priest west of the Mississippi, serving at the cathedral in San Francisco. His maternal grandfather, the Very Rev. Emmanuel Papageorge, now 94, is pastor emeritus at Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, where he served from 1948 to 1964.
Flesoras often returns to Modesto, where his parents, Dean and Angie, live.
He hopes having the relic of St. Anna at his Roseville church will make it a destination for faithful of all backgrounds. The trip to obtain the relic and having it here was a spiritual and moving experience for all three men, he said.
"Being entrusted with and gifted this relic was simply beyond belief," Flesoras said, "and most humbling."
Greek Orthodox Church Celebrates A Rare Honor, July 26, 2005 (Sacramento Bee)
By Kim Minugh -- Bee Staff Writer
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1
Like every other July 25, Anna Kimak spent Monday celebrating the feast day
of her namesake, St. Anna. But on this particular July 25, St. Anna
joined the festivities. Kimak attended a special Feast of St. Anna in Roseville inspired by a skull fragment of Jesus' grandmother. It is just the size of a guitar pick, but 200 faithful said that
was enough to bathe them in the spirit of the venerated saint. "This is the nicest day of my life," said Kimak, of Lincoln. "I've had 57 years of name days, but today is special. Now I like (my name) even more."
Greek Orthodox believers, Christians of many denominations and the just plain
curious flocked to Roseville on Sunday and Monday to view a rare gift to the fledgling
St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church - a bone fragment that traveled from a small
monastery on Mount Athos in northern Greece.
The relic is the first of St. Anna's to reach American soil and will transform the
church into a shrine to its patron saint.
Eventually, officials hope to house the relic in a grand new church complete with a
gold dome, a vineyard and orchards, a marked contrast to its humble beginnings in a
Roseville office complex.
There is no other Greek Orthodox church in the United States dedicated to Jesus'
grandmother. Congregation members hope their church's new significance will make
it a place of pilgrimage, a destination for Christians of all beliefs.
"(The relic is) ancient. It's authentic. It's wonder-working," said the church's director
of religious education Margaret Mueller, referring to the bone's strong scent of
myrrh, which is believed to be evidence of its holiness.
"For people who are faithful, this is a unique and unprecedented opportunity to come
into direct contact with something so holy."
Believers and clerics came from all over Northern California, and as far away as
Texas, to see the relic, which was encased in an ornate silver box.
On Monday, believers approached the box one by one, genuflecting, or crossing
themselves, and kissing the glass cover. Some bowed or touched the ground. A few
shed tears.
"The relic is of great significance. It's history," said 71-year-old Tina Karres of
Folsom, who said she cried upon seeing the relic. "If you really believe, it makes
your hair stick up. It gives you goosebumps."
Many described the experience as exciting, yet awe-inspiring and humbling. Others
felt tongue-tied and mesmerized.
"It was just an incredible feeling - something it's hard to describe," said Dimitri
Karnaookh, 44, of Rocklin. "It's something you really feel in your heart if you
understand the meaning behind it."
No one expressed doubts of the relic's authenticity. They said the church's long
history, and their faith, cemented their belief.
"You can feel the authenticity. You can feel the genuineness," said Timothy Mort of
Cameron Park. "You can't imitate a relic."
The veneration of saints plays an important role in the Greek Orthodox faith.
Believers honor them as examples of holiness and godliness, of the way lives are
meant to be led.
Relics provide a connection to those saints, said the Very Rev. Father Archimandrite
Cheroubim Apostolou, the Greek priest who escorted St. Anna's bone fragment to
Roseville.
People are drawn to the fragment, he said, because it is seen as a bridge between
what is called "the church triumphant" - the spiritual world in heaven - and "the
church militant" - the human world on Earth.
"She's an intermediary for us," he said. "It's not just a bone, or a social event.
People were crying. People were praying, seeking help ... (and) strength."
Apostolou said the relic originated in Jerusalem, but later traveled to Cypress and
then to Mount Athos, where many relics are kept in monasteries. The majority of St.
Anna's skull resides in a Roman Catholic church in Germany, he said.
The Rev. Chris Flesoras, the parish priest at St. Anna's Greek Orthodox Church,
inquired about obtaining a relic for his church when he met Apostolou at a funeral. At
first, his chances looked grim: Apostolou warned that getting religious authorities on
Mount Athos to agree can be difficult.
But after a few weeks of e-mailing, Flesoras received the happy news that the
monastic authorities had deemed his church a worthy recipient of St. Anna's bone.
"It was an exciting e-mail," Flesoras said.
Church authorities now are focusing on building a worthy home for St. Anna.
The church has grown to 175 families, and officials hope to break ground next year
on 5 acres donated by developer Angelo Tsakapoulos at the corner of Stone Canyon
Drive and East Roseville Parkway.
Plans include a 60-foot-diameter gold dome, a grape vineyard and an olive tree
orchard.
The fruit will be used to make wine and olive oil for religious services.
Though fundraising will be the next significant hurdle for the church, congregation
members are confident their dreams will be realized.
Already, they believe St. Anna's arrival is a good omen for her Roseville followers.
"To start with nothing and make it up to this point, with a relic," Karres said, "that's
a miracle."
WHO IS ST. ANNA?
Anna is the traditional name of the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her feast is
celebrated on July 25, which may be the day of the dedication of her first church at
Constantinople or the anniversary of the arrival of her relics in Constantinople in 710
A.D.
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Calendar of Saints
WHAT IS A RELIC?
The body or body part of a religious figure, or some object associated with him/her,
kept and reverenced as a memorial in some churches.
TO VIEW THE RELIC
The relic will be available for viewing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Anna Greek
Orthodox Church, 114 N. Sunrise Ave., Suite A1, Roseville.
About the writer:
The Bee's Kim Minugh can be reached at (916) 773-7359 or
kminugh@sacbee.com.
An Unlikely Pilgrim, (reprinted from Roseville Press Tribune, July 23, 2005)
by Fr. Christopher Flesoras
On July 20th, our Roseville community received a most unlikely visitor, Archimandrite Cheroubim Apostolou. Our guest calls home a humble house situated some 500 meters up on the cliffs of the Aegean Sea in the monastic community of the Skete of Saint Anna, the oldest and the largest Skete of Mount Athos, Greece. He is an elder of this community, having lived at this 17th century monastery for some 23 years. The Skete is accessible by boat, approximately an hour trip from the port city of Daphne, and then up 2000 steps to the main courtyard. The Skete is also accessible by foot, a six and a half hour hike from the Monastery of the Great Lavra. Although isolated from much of the world, his days are spent addressing the needs of his fellow monastics, painting icons, praying, and welcoming pilgrims to the Skete.
This past February, I had the opportunity to return to Mount Athos, the most eastern peninsula of the Halkidiki prefecture in Northern Greece. This site is considered to be the "Garden of Mary, the Mother of God", home to some twenty monasteries and their Sketes, cloisters or small settlements with a central Church. Monasticism, in a hermit form, appeared on this peninsula around the fifth century while a communal form of monasticism was established by the tenth century.
The main Church of the Skete was built in the middle of the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, the Church was expanded and ornamented with frescoes. Similar to many of the other monastic communities, which are likewise experiencing a resurgence in membership, the Church is being renovated and the icons restored. Although containing some 100 manuscript codices, the holy relics of various saints, icons of exceptional artistic value and other liturgical items, the greatest treasure of the Skete is a particular myrrh-bearing Holy Relic, the left foot of Saint Anna, their matron. Venerating this artifact of the mother of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, was spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally overwhelming.
The purpose of my journey to the Skete was to receive a myrrh-flowing piece from the skull of Saint Anna and to bring it to Roseville, a gift for the only Greek Orthodox parish in America that bears her name. Being entrusted with and gifted this relic was simply beyond belief, and most humbling.
Now, the Elder Cheroubim has traveled thousands of miles to be present at the formal gifting service of the Holy Relic, which will take place on Sunday, July 24th at 6PM at 1001 Stone Canyon Drive, the site of future Church. During his stay, he will celebrate services at our parish, even serving the Supplication Service to Saint Anna, which will be prayed in English for the first time anywhere in the world. Throughout his visit, he will also offer a few thoughts, true spiritual gems, to those in attendance.
Whether we are Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, the chance to interact with someone like Fr. Cheroubim, who has so perfectly dedicated his life to the Lord in such an authentic manner in an ancient and holy land, is a blessing beyond measure. Come July 30th, our pilgrim will return to Mount Athos, where in addition to his responsibilities, he will labor to complete his doctoral studies at the University of Thessalonica. Although remaining in our Placer County community for merely a matter of days, I am most confident that this unlikely visitor who has already offered us so much, will leave a lasting impression on our entire Placer County community!