Msgr. Cox was on vacation this week and sent back some photos of his time in Prague, including saying Mass in the church where the Infant of Prague is displayed.  Please click on the link on the homepage for this weekend's bulletin to see the full set of photos and commentary.  What follows here is a short description of the history of the Infant of Prague:

 What is the Infant of Prague?
Devotion to the Divine Child has long been popular in the Church, and many images and sculptures have been made over the centuries.  Historians believe that this particular statue was carved in Spain around the year 1340 in a Cistercian monastery. Some stories claim that a monk had a vision of the child Jesus and fashioned the statue after what he saw. A pious tradition says that St. Teresa of Avila possessed the statue in the 16th century.
The statue came to Prague during the reign of the House of Habsburg in 1556 and was passed down through the family.  In 1628 a princess gave it to the destitute Carmelites at the Church of the Virgin Mary the Victorious in Mala Strana. She reportedly told them, “I am giving you what I most esteem of my possessions. Keep the sculpture in reverence and you will be well off.” 
Soon after this gift, Prague was invaded by the Saxons and the Swedes and the statue was almost lost forever when the church was destroyed. A priest named Fr. Cyril discovered it in the rubble where the Protestant invaders had discarded it, and enshrined it in a new oratory. While cleaning the statue the priest heard the Infant Jesus say to him, “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.” Fr. Cyril did not have the money nor the skills to restore the statue’s hands, which had been broken off.  He asked the Blessed Virgin for help, and once again heard the Child Jesus speak to him, instructing him to place the statue near the entrance of the sacristy.  He did so, and a man who came by the sacristy to help, saw it and was able to make the repairs.
Thousands of pilgrims visit the church each year.  Because the monastery prospered when the statue was honored, devotion to the Infant of Prague is connected to spiritual and temporal welfare and the Divine Child is a particular focus of the prayers of those in financial distress.