SAINTS - ANNA Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, is sometimes called Ann, sometimes Hannah. Little is known about her, and the earliest known record to her name appears in the apocryphal gospel of James. The most widely used iconography is employed in this print - Anna is teaching the young Mary to read. Process print, from Alban Butler's The Lives of The Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principles Saints, edition of circa 1928.