The Grandmother of Jesus

How strange that I never really thought about the fact that Mary's mother, was the grandmother of Jesus...there is something so sweet about that. We can thank Bernie for today's post for she wrote in a comment that she had always felt close to St. Anne, so I did a little research and here is a statue (from Germany) of St. Anne and Mary as a young girl:

Here is a painting by Da Vinci of St. Anne with the Blessed Mother and toddler Jesus...you can see the love in the eyes of all three of them!:

Finally, here is a stained glass window from Cambridge of a very blond (not too likely, being of Jewish heritage) St. Anne and Mary as a little girl:




And here is a little information I gleaned off the Internet (which also said that Hannah would have been St. Anne's name in Hebrew):

"Even her name “Anne” signifies “gracious, loving” and typifies her sublime destiny. She too had been chosen by God from eternity, and to her, as to her daughter, Mary, may be applied the words: “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways . . . I was set up from eternity.” (Prov. 8:22-23). God prepared St. Anne with magnificent gifts and graces. Of her may be said what St. Bernardine of Siena wrote of St. Joseph: “In the kingdom of grace the universal rule is: If God elects anyone for a special privilege and a sublime state, He bestows on that person all the gifts necessary for his state and adornment.” "

One last tidbit of information...the shrine of the Blessed Mother picture from yesterday's post is from Kilkenny, Ireland.

Today we will have three jokes and of course, we must have a grandmother or two:

Grandma is Like God

A grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?"

She mentally polished her halo while and asked, "No, how are we alike?"

You're both old," he replied.

Long Happy Life

A woman walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. "I couldn't help noticing how happy you look,"she said. "What's your secret for a long happy life?"

"I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day," he said. "I also drink a case of whiskey a week, eat fatty foods, and never exercise."

"That's amazing,"the woman said. "How old are you?'

"I'll be twenty-six next month".

Hearing Problems

An elderly grandmother had serious hearing problems for a number of years. She went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have her fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the sweet woman to hear 100%.

The elderly lady went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again."

Grandma replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!"

~~~Thank you for the blessings and wisdom of any who are older than us, Lord, may we be open to learn good things from them.