The story of the Infant Jesus

From the beginning …

The incarnation and the childhood of Jesus have been depicted since the early days of the Church. Through these images, Christians pray to the Son of God who has become a man to save us and remember, as a life program, his words: “Learn from me that I am gentle and humble in heart… If you do not become like children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”. (Mt. 11:29; Mt. 18:3).

A gift in Carmel

The love for the humanity of Jesus and his childhood marked the life and spirituality of St. Therese of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, who transmitted it to the Order of Discalced Carmelites founded by them. They teach us to contemplate the God-man from the crib to the cross, and to meditate and imitate the mysteries of his life. For this reason, in Carmel, images that remind the Childhood or the Passion of Jesus have always been home. Particularly, St. Theresa always carried to the monasteries that she founded some pretty statues of the richly adorned Infant Jesus, as was the taste of the Baroque era.

The image of the Little King arrives in prague

Among the countless testimonies of this veneration, the most famous is the statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague, donated to the Carmelites of that city in 1628 by Princess Polissena Lobkowitz. It depicts Jesus Christ in gifted garments and with the sign of the sovereign, in the act of blessing, emphasizing together with the true humanity of Christ, also his divinity.

The statue, still preserved and venerated in Prague, comes from Spain and is very similar to St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross. In front of this image an increasing number of people have raised their prayers by receiving comfort, thanksgiving and miracles, and it has rapidly spead throughout the world, especially by the Carmelites.

A great apostle of this devotion was the Venerable Fr. Cyril of the Mother of God, to which Infant Jesus promised in 1637: “The more you adore me, the more I will favor you”.

A period of concealment

In Prague, the Carmelites had to leave the Shrine because of the laws of the sacristan emperor Joseph II (1784), and the worship of the Infant Jesus experienced a long decline in Bohemia. Between the 19th and 20th centuries there was a resumption of worship, and at this time image spread throughout the world by Carmelites.

Thus the statue of the Little King was venerated by St. Therese of Lisieux (1897), teacher of spiritual childhood, and by St. Edith Stein (1942) who went to pilgrimage to Prague, writing beautiful pages about the royalty of the Infant Jesus.

In Arenzano, devotion resurfaces

The devotion of the Infant Jesus came to Arenzano in 1900, thanks to a small picture depicted by the Carmelites in the small church. This simple act of piety called starting an extraordinary movement of devotion, accompanied by graces and miracles. In 1902 the painting was replaced by a statue similar to that of Prague.

The growing influx of devotees motivated the construction of the Shrine – the first in the world dedicated to him – that began in 1904 and inaugurated in 1908.

In 1924, statue was solemnly crowned by Cardinal Raphel Merry of Val, sent by Pope Pius XI. In 1928 inscribed the Shrine of the title of Basilica. In 1951, at the wish of the Provincial Superior, Fr. Anastasio Ballestrero (Later General Carmelite Superior, Archbishop of Bari and Turin, Cardinal and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference) opened the Seminary of the Infant Jesus, which still welcomes middle school boys and above in preparation for the priesthood and consecrated life. In the 1960s the basilica was expanded with the creation of the transepts, enriched with the Angelo Biancini’s majolica, the statues of Eliseo Salino. Since 1971, the missionary animation center has been active in connection with the Republic of Central Africa. Today the Shrine is among the first in Liguria for the number of pilgrims ciming from all over Italy and abroad.

Prague sprouts again

After the suppression (of which we spoken), the “spiritual winter” in Prague will become even more rigid with Nazi occupation and later with the communist regime. This situation changed only in 1989, with the “Velvet Revolution”: Prague, a historical and artistic city with deep Christian roots, could return to a free city and a new cultural center in Europe.

Thus, after more than two centuaries of absence, the Carmelites could finally return to Prague in 1994, starting from the Shrine of Arenzano, which in the meantime became the new center of devotion to the Infant Jesus. Thus, in recent years, the Shrine of Prague has experienced a new season of development, devotion, pilgrimage and thanks, which the Infant Jesus grants to his devotees all over the world, but especially in the places dedicated to him.

Cronologia di Praga »

From the beginning …

The incarnation and the childhood of Jesus have been depicted since the early days of the Church. Through these images, Christians pray to the Son of God who has become a man to save us and remember, as a life program, his words: “Learn from me that I am gentle and humble in heart… If you do not become like children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”. (Mt. 11:29; Mt. 18:3).

A gift in Carmel

Incarnazione

The love for the humanity of Jesus and his childhood marked the life and spirituality of St. Therese of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, who transmitted it to the Order of Discalced Carmelites founded by them. They teach us to contemplate the God-man from the crib to the cross, and to meditate and imitate the mysteries of his life. For this reason, in Carmel, images that remind the Childhood or the Passion of Jesus have always been home. Particularly, St. Theresa always carried to the monasteries that she founded some pretty statues of the richly adorned Infant Jesus, as was the taste of the Baroque era.

The image of the Little King arrives in prague

Gesù Bambino PragaAmong the countless testimonies of this veneration, the most famous is the statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague, donated to the Carmelites of that city in 1628 by Princess Polissena Lobkowitz. It depicts Jesus Christ in gifted garments and with the sign of the sovereign, in the act of blessing, emphasizing together with the true humanity of Christ, also his divinity.

The statue, still preserved and venerated in Prague, comes from Spain and is very similar to St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross. In front of this image an increasing number of people have raised their prayers by receiving comfort, thanksgiving and miracles, and it has rapidly spead throughout the world, especially by the Carmelites.

A great apostle of this devotion was the Venerable Fr. Cyril of the Mother of God, to which Infant Jesus promised in 1637: “The more you adore me, the more I will favor you”.

A period of concealment

Gesù Bambino PragaIn Prague, the Carmelites had to leave the Shrine because of the laws of the sacristan emperor Joseph II (1784), and the worship of the Infant Jesus experienced a long decline in Bohemia. Between the 19th and 20th centuries there was a resumption of worship, and at this time image spread throughout the world by Carmelites.

Thus the statue of the Little King was venerated by St. Therese of Lisieux (1897), teacher of spiritual childhood, and by St. Edith Stein (1942) who went to pilgrimage to Prague, writing beautiful pages about the royalty of the Infant Jesus.

In Arenzano, devotion resurfaces

Gesù Bambino ArenzanoThe devotion of the Infant Jesus came to Arenzano in 1900, thanks to a small picture depicted by the Carmelites in the small church. This simple act of piety called starting an extraordinary movement of devotion, accompanied by graces and miracles. In 1902 the painting was replaced by a statue similar to that of Prague.

The growing influx of devotees motivated the construction of the Shrine – the first in the world dedicated to him – that began in 1904 and inaugurated in 1908.

In 1924, statue was solemnly crowned by Cardinal Raphel Merry of Val, sent by Pope Pius XI. In 1928 inscribed the Shrine of the title of Basilica. In 1951, at the wish of the Provincial Superior, Fr. Anastasio Ballestrero (Later General Carmelite Superior, Archbishop of Bari and Turin, Cardinal and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference) opened the Seminary of the Infant Jesus, which still welcomes middle school boys and above in preparation for the priesthood and consecrated life. In the 1960s the basilica was expanded with the creation of the transepts, enriched with the Angelo Biancini’s majolica, the statues of Eliseo Salino. Since 1971, the missionary animation center has been active in connection with the Republic of Central Africa. Today the Shrine is among the first in Liguria for the number of pilgrims ciming from all over Italy and abroad.

Prague sprouts again

Altare Gesù Bambino PragaAfter the suppression (of which we spoken), the “spiritual winter” in Prague will become even more rigid with Nazi occupation and later with the communist regime. This situation changed only in 1989, with the “Velvet Revolution”: Prague, a historical and artistic city with deep Christian roots, could return to a free city and a new cultural center in Europe.

Thus, after more than two centuaries of absence, the Carmelites could finally return to Prague in 1994, starting from the Shrine of Arenzano, which in the meantime became the new center of devotion to the Infant Jesus. Thus, in recent years, the Shrine of Prague has experienced a new season of development, devotion, pilgrimage and thanks, which the Infant Jesus grants to his devotees all over the world, but especially in the places dedicated to him.

Chronology of Prague »