To your right as you enter St. Michael through the door by the main sacristy you will find a statue of the Infant of Prague. Many parishes have such a statue, but I never thought to understand this devotion until about 13 years ago. My home parish did not have such a statue (or any statues at all until about 10 years ago) and the only place I would see an Infant of Prague statue was in my grandparents dining room. Had I known more about this devotion I may have kept my dad from selling that statue when his parents passed away.
The original statue came from Spain to the Czech Republic in 1556 when Maria Manriquez de Lara married Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. At the time St. Teresa of Avila emphasized the devotion to the Holy Childhood, the humane littleness of God’s greatness as a means of establishing the proper relationship of creatures to their Creator. The Holy Child as King is embodied in the Infant of Prague statue.
The statue was presented to the Carmelites in Prague in 1628 by Princess Polyxena Lobkowitz for the purpose of publicly spreading this devotion. Fr. Cyril of the Mother of God became the first promoter of the devotion and from there came the promise “The more you honor Me, the more I will bless you!”
The statue was lost during the Thirty Years’ War and found by Fr. Cyril in 1637. The statue was damaged and needed repair, but the Prior did not want to spend money on it. Fr. Cyril had some setbacks in getting the money yet he persisted until there was enough to fund the repair. The other monks did not venerate the Infant as a primary object. As pestilence swept through Prague thousands died and the Prior was almost counted among them. When the Prior changed to a devotion to the Infant, he was cured and ordered all to partake in this devotion. As many people, including nobles, were cured a greater altar and tabernacle were erected for this statue’s resting place inside the church. There was controversy among Carmelites about the devotion and the Carmeltie General, Fr. Francis of the Blessed Sacrament investigated in 1651. On April 4, 1655 the Infant of Prague was crowned and proclaimed as a King.
Devotion to the Holy Infant spread through the world. It spread through the Czech Kingdom, Bohemia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, England, France, and eventually Italy. The devotion is credited with some miracles.
At many parishes you will see the Infant dressed in garments resembling liturgical vestments matching the liturgical season. This custom dates to 1713 when thousands lost their lives in the cholera epidemic in Prague. Many of the faithful expressed gratitude for being spared to the Carmelites there and eventually made ornate garments for the Infant.
A 3-story house with a baby inside were destroyed during a World War II bombing in October 1943. The baby survived and the mother credited the Infant of Prague’s intercession. Another bombing of Arenzano on August 14, 1944 should have destroyed the city, but little was done and the citizens credited their devotion to the Infant of Prague.
This month as we celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist being at St. Michael I reflect on the day when we celebrated their arrival with an official welcoming Mass on Sunday, August 14, 2011. A little after midnight we heard a crash that sounded like someone falling down the stairs. Neither of us had fallen and we looked around the house. There was nothing wrong inside and we didn’t see anything unusual outside as we looked through the windows. We soon went to bed and planned to attend both the 10:30 a.m. Mass and the 12:30 p.m. Mass as I was usually at the former to usher and the latter was to be the Mass to welcome the Sisters and the Knights of Columbus would have an Honor Guard at this Mass. After the Mass we went to another event meeting at St. Patrick and returned home after 6:00 p.m. That is when we learned what the crashing sound was. A blimp had become untethered from Don Scott airport, drifted away, hit our roof, and landed in our neighbor’s backyard. We missed the excitement of the police and news reporters being there because of our busy day. As I looked at where the blimp hit our roof and where it landed in our neighbor’s backyard I followed that line to see the likely flight path of the runaway blimp. It had to have gone through the small clearing of trees south from there toward our house. Looking inside our house along that route you would have seen our Infant of Prague statue prominently displayed and adorned. Perhaps a little intervention from the Infant saved us from having our home destroyed because if the blimp descended a few seconds earlier it would have crashed into the side of our house instead of bouncing off the roof.
*The Infant Jesus of Prague, Rev. Ludvik Nemec contributed to parts of the content above.