Sunday Meditation: O Jesus, Sweet Infant of Prague, Have Mercy on Us!

I've received several emails suggesting putting the image of the Divine Mercy on the door. What a  good idea, I thought. So I pulled out my fat file of holy images and began leafing through its contents to see if I had a poster of the Divine Mercy image. I stopped short when I came to the sweet image of the Infant of Prague holding the world in his hand. Then and there I decided He would be the one to greet all who came to our door.

The story of the devotion is very appropriate to this difficult time. Here's a short summary from that wonderful biographer of the saints, Ann Ball:

In 1556, Maria Manriquez de Lara brought a precious family heirloom, a statue of the child Jesus, with her to Bohemia when she married the Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. The statue of the child is eighteen inches tall, carved of wood, and thinly coated with wax. The left foot is barely visible under a long white tunic. The statue stands on a broad pedestal, and there is a waist-high silver case which holds it upright. The left hand holds a miniature globe surmounted by a cross, signifying the worldwide kingship of Christ. The right hand is extended in blessing in a form usually used by the Supreme Pontiff; the first two fingers are upraised to symbolize the two natures in Christ, while the folded thumb and last two fingers touch each other to represent the mystery of the Holy Trinity....

Over the years the statue was passed to successive generations until it was bequeathed to a monastery in Prague. During the Thirty Years War, the monastery was attacked and plundered and the poor little Jesus ended up on a rubbish heap behind behind the high altar. Seven years later, the statue was rediscovered by Fr. Cyrillus, an early supporter of the devotion who, suffering serious interior trials, had prayed before this very statue and received relief. How overjoyed he must have been! Sadly, the statue, mostly intact, lacked hands. Nevertheless it was given a place of honor in the church.

One day kneeling and praying, he heard the statue say, "Have pity on me, and I will have pity on you. Give me my hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you!" In view of the poverty of the monastery, the abbot refused Fr. Cyrillus's request to repair the statue. Later money was received, but the abbot used it to buy a new statue instead of repairing the original. On the very day the new statue was installed in the church, a falling candlestick shattered it.

Hearing a voice that told him to place the original statue in the entrance to the sanctuary, Fr. Cyrillus did. A visiting stranger noticed the damage and offered to pay for its repair. Finally the Infant of Prague was restored.

This is where the story gets particularly interesting for us during these challenging times:

At last the repaired statue was placed in the church. A pestilence was raging in Prague at the time, and the prior himself nearly died. He vowed to spread the devotion of the Infant if he were cured. Shortly thereafter, he ordered a general devotion to the Infant, in which all the friars took part. At last the Infant had won the hearts of the Carmel of Prague and become a cornerstone of their devotion.

And where do you think the statue resides today? In a magnificent shrine on the "epistle side" of the church of Our Lady of Victory in Prague.

"Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has resolved to give you the Kingdom!" Luke 13:32

Lord Jesus in your image as the Infant of Prague, have mercy on us! Join in praying to the Infant of Prague for relief from the coronavirus and the protection of your family, our priests, and all who will contract the virus.