Protoevangelium of James 2

1(1) Now his wife, Anna, mourned and lamented for two reasons. She said, “I lament because I am a widow and because I have no child.” (2) Now the great day of the Lord was approaching, and her servant Juthine said to her, “How long will you humiliate your soul? Look, the great day of the Lord has approached, and it is not right for you to grieve. Take this headband that the leader of the workplace gave me. It is not right for me to wear it, since I am your servant and it bears a royal mark.” (3) Anna said, “Get away from me! I will not do this. The Lord God has greatly humiliated me. Perhaps a trickster gave this to you, and you have come to make me share in your sin.” Juthine the servant replied, “Why should I curse you, since you haven’t heard my voice? The Lord God has made your womb infertile, to give you no fruit in Israel.” (4) And Anna was very grieved. She removed her garment of mourning, washed her head, and put on her wedding garment. At about the ninth hour, she went down into her garden to walk around. She saw a laurel tree and sat beneath it. After resting, she petitioned the Lord, saying, “God of my ancestors, bless me and hear my prayer, just as you blessed our mother Sarah and gave her a son, Isaac.”