The Confraternity of Saint Ann was formed in the parish in 1888. It was then affiliated with the Arch-confraternity of Beaupre in 1890, a relationship that canonically communicated all spiritual benefits to the Buffalo group. The church has three authenticated first-class relics of Saint Ann, which are reverenced at her Shrine. A novena to Saint Ann is held every Tuesday at 7:45 am. mass, and a Sacred Triduum is celebrated annually on or near July 26, the Feasts of Saints Ann and Joachim.
The votive altar is made of American butternut; its reliefs and carvings are made of linden wood. The high carving represents Saints Joachim and Ann meeting at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, telling one another of God’s promise to give them a child. The two double wings on either side are filled with reliefs of the ancestors of Saint Ann: Zachary and Elizabeth (above), and Joachim and Jesse (below) on the left; Joseph and John the Baptist (above), and King David and Joseph of Egypt (below) on the right.
The center of the altar is the main painting of Saint Ann seated in a chair with a Jewish prayer book at her left knee. Her left hand barely touches the back of the Virgin Mary, her daughter,
who is kneeling and praying from the book held by her mother. Saint Joachim stands behind his wife with his eyes raised in prayer for his wife and daughter.
The woodcarving on the front of the altar represents the punishment of humanity and the promise of redemption. On the left is the Gate of Paradise guarded by an angel who has just expelled Adam and Eve. Satan releases the serpent and a hart races for freedom. In the background is the Blessed Mother with the Child Jesus in glory.
Two large reliefs of Saint Ann adorn the southern and northern ends of the shrine: Solace of the Sufferers and Grandmother of All Nations.
For more information, please contact us at:
Saint Ann’s Church
501 Emslie Street
Buffalo, NY 14212-1017
716-854-3742
