About the Infant Jesus of PragueDevotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague is devotion to the Child Jesus. It is veneration of the Son of God, who in the form of an infant chose a stable for a palace, a manger for a cradle, and shepherds for worshipers.
Our Savior grants special graces to all who venerate His sacred Infancy.
The image of the Child Jesus known as the "Infant Jesus of Prague" was in reality of Spanish origin. In the 17th century, this beautiful statue was brought by a Spanish princess to Bohemia and presented to a Carmelite monastery.
For many years, this statue has been enshrined on a side altar in the Church of Our Lady of Victory in the city of Prague. It is of wax, and is about nineteen inches high. It is clothed in a royal mantle, and has' a beautiful jeweled crown on its head.
Its right hand is raised in blessing; its left holds a globe signifying sovereignty.
So many graces have been received by those who invoke the Divine Child before the original statue that it has been called "The Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague." We read the following in an old book printed in Kempt:
"All who approach the miraculous statue and pray there with confidence. receive assistance in danger, consolation in sorrows, aid in poverty, comfort in anxiety, light in spiritual darkness, streams of grace in dryness of soul, health in sickness, and hope in despair."
"No colic is so painful, no fever so violent, no malady so dangerous, no peril so great, no tumor so malignant, no insanity so raving, no complaint so irritating, no assault of Satan so furious, no pestilence so ,infectious, no swelling so serious, as not to be dispelled or cured by this blessed Child. The Holy Infant puts an end to enmities, frees prisoners, saves those who are condemned to death, brings obstinate sinners to repentance and blesses childless parents with offspring. In short, He has become all to all."
In thanksgiving for the numerous graces and cures received, the miraculous statue at Prague was solemnly crowned on the Sunday after Easter, in 1655.
What is said of the original statue may be applied also to the images of the "Little King" which are venerated everywhere, in churches an chapels, homes and schools, monasteries and. convents the world over. From small beginnings, this devotion' has grown to great proportions, so that it is almost as universal as the Church itself. The Divine Child attracts an ever-increasing number of clients, who appeal to Him in every need.
