Devotion To The Infant Of Prague

History Of The Devotion

Devotion to the Infant Jesus is as old as Christianity itself. It ever tends to keep the great mystery of Our Lord's birth vividly before us.

A special devotion to the Divine Child originated with the Carmelites in the City of Prague, Bohemia, in the beginning of the seventeenth century. Princess Polyxedia of Lobkowitz had received, as a wedding gift from her mother, a statue of the Divine Child, previously brought from Spain. After the death of her husband, the princess devoted herself to works of charity and was particularly helpful to the Carmelites in Prague. When in 1628 the Carmelite Monastery had been reduce to poverty, owing to the ravages of war, the princess gave her precious statue to the Carmelites, saying:

Her gift was placed in the Carmelite oratory. The words of the princess proved prophetic for as long as the Carmelites kept up their devotion to the Divine Infant of Prague everything prospered with them. The Carmelites were later forced to flee form the city and in the confusion of the war, they were unable to take with them their miraculous statue. The invaders siezed it, and threw it into a pile of rubbish. In 1635, peace came to Prague and the Carmelites returned. One of them, Father Cyril, who had previously received great spiritual help through his devotion to the Infant of Prague, sought the statue, and found it amidst the rubbish. Overjoyed, he placed the statue again in the oratory. As Father Cyril was one day praying devoutedly before the statue, he heard a voice saying:
"Have mercy on Me and I will have mercy on you. Return my hands to Me and I shall give you peace. The more you honor Me, the more I shall bless you."

Startled by these words, Father Cyril examined the statue and upon drawing aside the mantle covering it, he found that both hands of the statue were broken off. The hands were restored to the statue through the generosity of a client of the Divine Child. Once more, peace and prosperity returned to the Carmelites.

Devotion to the Divine Child had always been practiced by the Carmelites, for through their Mother, Mary, this Divine Child had come to the world. --St. Theresa

Promise

Chaplet of the Holy Infancy

This form of devotion is due to the zeal of the venerable St. Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament, a Carmelite religious who died a saintly death at the age of twenty nine at Beaune, France in May 1648.

Inspired from on high she made a chaplet consisting of 15 beads and medal portraying an image of the Infant Jesus. The chaplet requires the recitation of 3 Our Fathers in honor of the Holy Family and 12 Hail Mary's in memory of the twelve years of the childhood of Jesus.

With your heart filled with love and gratitude for all the Infant Jesus has accomplished for your salvation, devoutly recite His holy chaplet as follows. While meditating on the goodness of the Infant Jesus, whose image is portrayed on the medal, say:

Beads	Prayer
Medal	Holy Infant Jesus, I adore Thy Cross. I accept all the crosses Thou wouldst be pleased to send me. Adorable Trinity, I offer Thee, for the glory of Thy Holy Name, all the adorations of the Sacred Heart of the Holy Infant Jesus.
Each of the next three beads	"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.", followed by a Pater -- in honor of the Holy Family.
Each of the next twelve beads	"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.", followed by an Ave -- in honor of the 12 years of Our Lord's sacred infancy.
Medal	Gloria, followed by "Holy Infant Jesus, bless and protect us."

The infant Jesus made known to His faithful servant how pleasing this holy practice was to Him and revealed to her that He would grant special favors, especially the grace of purity and innocence to those who recite the chaplet in honor of the mysteries of His Holy Infancy.