Anna

Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, is one of the remarkable figures of Luke's infancy narrative. Widowed after seven years of marriage, she had remained in the temple "serving God with fasting and prayer" — depending on the Greek, either until she was 84 or for 84 years (traditional reading). Her presence at the dedication of the infant Jesus, paired with Simeon, constitutes a "two witnesses" attestation of the Messiah's arrival. Luke specifies that she "began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem." She is the first named female witness to the incarnate Christ — a proto-apostle of the Messiah's arrival, carrying out what would become the evangelistic mission.