what is the story on the infant child jesus of prague doll?
Infant Jesus of Prague (Czech Pražské Jezulátko) is a famous statue of infant Jesus located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague. Its history started in the beginning of the 17th century when a statue of the Infant Jesus was brought into Bohemia by a Spanish Princess. This princess had been given the statue as a wedding gift by her mother, Maria Manriquez de Lara of Spain, and the statue eventually was given to the Discalced Carmelites in Prague. The statue was set up in the oratory of the monastery, and twice a day, special devotions to Jesus were performed before it.
Disturbances in Bohemia due to the Thirty Years War brought an end to the special devotions, and on November 15, 1631, the army of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden took a possession of the churches of the capital city of Bohemia. The Carmelite friary was plundered by the Lutheran Protestant Swedish, and the image of the Infant of Prague was thrown into a pile of rubbish behind the altar. Here it lay forgotten, its hands broken off, for seven years until it was found again in 1637 by Father Cyrillus and placed in the church’s oratory. One day, while praying before the statue, Father Cyrillus heard a voice 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.” Since then, the statue has remained in Prague and has drawn many devotees worldwide to go and honor the Holy Child. Claims of blessings, favors and miraculous healings have been made by many who petitioned before the Infant Jesus. Statuettes of the Infant Jesus are placed inside many Catholic churches, sometimes with the quotation, “The more you honor me, the more I will bless you.”
The Infant Jesus of Prague as it appears during the Lenten season in Our Lady of Victory Church.The exact origin of the Infant Jesus statue was not truly known, but historical sources point to a small 28cm high sculpture of the Holy Child with a bird in his right hand carved in around the year 1340
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