"For hundreds of years, the Jesus Infant of Prague has been a devotional image, though no one knows how or when the devotion started."
At one point, one of the statue was brought to the city of Prague and was rumored to have belonged to St. Teresa of Avila.
The statue was forgotten for years and was broken. The priest that found it prayed before the image and heard Jesus's voice saying "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." Since this, the statue was repaired and remains a position of honor.
About The Infant of Prague
By depicting Jesus as a child, the tradition of the Infant of Prague also emphasizes His humanity, and how we are children of God because of the salvation that He brings us.
Observed on January 14, the Feast of the Infant Jesus of Prague celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation. Originating in the Czech Republic, tradition holds that the original statue was once possessed by St. Teresa of Ávila and was brought to what was then known as Bohemia by a Spanish noblewoman upon her marriage to a Czech nobleman named Vratislav of Pernstyn. Their daughter, Princess Lobkowicz, gifted the statue to the Discalced Carmelite friars. It now resides in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague.
In His left hand, the Infant Jesus holds a miniature globe topped by a cross, representing His kingship over the world. His right hand is raised in blessing, with two fingers bent to reflect Christ’s divine and human nature, and the other three fingers raised to symbolize the unity of the Trinity.
Cecilia continued the work of converting people to the Christian faith and of burying the Christian dead, even though it was against the law. Hundreds were baptized through her witness and strength of faith. She planned to have her home preserved as a church after her death. Her refusal to worship false gods and her burying of the dead lead to her arrest.
By depicting Jesus as a child, the tradition of the Infant of Prague also emphasizes His humanity, and how we are children of God because of the salvation that He brings us. As Pope Benedict XVI said:
"The figure of the Child Jesus, the tender infant, brings home to us God’s closeness and his love. We come to understand how precious we are in his eyes, because it is through him that we in our turn have become children of God. Every human being is a child of God and therefore our brother or sister, to be welcomed and respected. May our society grasp this truth! Every human person would then be appreciated not for what he has, but for who he is, since in the face of every human being, without distinction of race or culture, God’s image shines forth."
