Jerusalem, Israel
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
—Bible, John 5:2–9
When Saint Anne and her husband, Joachim, observed their beloved daughter at play, most likely they needed to take only a few steps from the house in which Anne was born and later their child, the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the site, in 1130, the Crusaders constructed a Romanesque church featuring a domed basilica with a cross-vaulted ceiling supported by ornate columns and capitals. Nearby, you can still see the biblical Bethesda pool, where sheep were given purification baths before being sacrificed and where Jesus healed a man from an illness.
Whether you wish to conceive a child or to venerate the patron saint of childless and pregnant women, visit the Church of Saint Anne. The saint’s feast day is July 26 (July 25 on the Eastern Orthodox calendar). Reach the church on foot or use local transportation, as it is situated near the Lion’s Gate near the Via Dolorosa.
Breathe in the tranquility and pray or give thanks for the blessing of parenthood in this sanctuary honoring the grandmother of Jesus and mother of the Virgin Mary (in Roman Catholic and Islamic traditions) and the Forebear of God (in Eastern Orthodox tradition).
In 1856, the Ottoman sultan, appreciative of French support during the Crimean War, subsequently gifted the Church of Saint Anne to the Roman Catholic White Fathers.