Anna Is Our Advent Model

Let’s recall Anna the Prophetess, the eighty-four-year-old widow who was at Christ’s presentation at the temple. St. Luke tells us how night and day, she “departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers” (2:37). Like Simeon, she was no doubt “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (2:25). Anna’s advent lasted years rather than weeks. But she was a woman of wisdom and knew where to be (the temple), what to do (fastings and prayers), and how persistent she had to be (night and day) as she waited for her reward.