Adsum

March 2003

The Infant of Prague

By Rev. Mr. Julian Gilchrist

During our recent trip to Europe for Confirmations, we had the opportunity to visit the historically rich city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Of all the various shrines and churches to visit, the most important was the world-renowned Shrine of thc Infant of Prague.

In 1624, the Discalced Carmelites, who came from Austria, Spain, and Italy, founded a monastery in Prague, and lived there in the most austere poverty. One day in l628, Princess Polyxena Labkowitz brought them a waxen image of the Child Jesus. The Prior Father gladly accepted the statue, and committed the community to assemble before it twice a day for meditation and prayer. Soon thereafter they enthroned the statue, and almost immediately the conditions of the Carmelites improved. First, the Emperor Ferdinand II issued a royal decree that each monastery should receive two thousand florin a month. Then a vineyard which had been fruitless for years suddenly began to flourish. However, because the oppression of the Protestants, the monks were forced to leave the city of Prague, and even Bohemia itself, taking refuge in Bavaria in southern Germany. The invaders desecrated many churches and monasteries, casting this precious statue from its place of honor to the trash heap. Miraculously, the statue survived this ordeal, except that the hands were broken off.

Once peace was restored to the country, the monks returned to the monastery, and upon finding the Infant Jesus in the rubble with His hands broken off, they restored Him to His place of honor. One of the monks was particularly devoted to the Infant Jesus. This was Father Cyril of the Mother of God, who, while praying to the Infant Jesus, heard a very distinct and childlike voice saying, “Have pity on Me, and I will honor you. Give Me My hands and I will give you peace. The more you honor Me, the more will I bless you.” He was bound and determined to have the hands repaired, but due to the poverty of the monastery and the hard times, he met with great opposition and the repair was postponed.

After much trouble, however. a benefactor was found and the hands were repaired. Just as the Infant Jesus had promised, miracles occurred almost instantly. The man who repaired the statue, having had suffered many years of marital discord, experienced peace and a happy home life. The plague, which was rapidly spreading through Europe and the monastery, was on the verge of claim-ing the Prior himself. However, when he humbly beseeched the Divine Infant, his health was restored.

Because of this great favor, the Prior realized the great religious treasure which they possessed, and thereupon ordered a general devotion to the Infant Jesus for the whole community. The statue was relocated from the Carmelite monastery to the Church of Our Lady of Victory so that the faithful might also pray to the Divine Infant.

The devotion to the Infant of Prague became very great due to the answered prayers and the many miracles. Numerous cures are recorded and historically accredited directly to the Infant Jesus. Just a few examples: the countess Elizabeth Kolowrat, who had become critically ill, was restored to full health; the only son of Adam Ulrich and Anna Maria Poppelina, who had been seriously ill, was miraculously healed.

Once again, the needs of the monastery were obtained by the intercession of the Divine Infant due to the donations of many prominent people.

When war threatened again, this time by the Swedish in 1648, the monks remained in their monastery, trusting that the Divine Infant Jesus would not desert them, and they were not harmed. So it is with these few and the many other recorded instances of the miraculous intervention of the Divine Infant that the statue is so well known.

This is once again another beautiful example of our traditional Catholic Faith and its endurance in troubling times of sickness, persecution, war and death itself. Devotion to the Infant Jesus has proven to be a great help in spiritual and physical trials in the past, and will continue to be so in the future.

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