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The October 5, 1968, issue of IL COLLEZIONISTA reports that the Vatican Christmas issue, due in early November, 1968, will probably show the Miraculous Statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague. When this issue of Vatican Notes reaches you, you will have the stamps in your collection. The original statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague was a 19-inch wax statue brought from Spain by Princess Manriquez as a gift to her daughter, Polyxena, when she married Lord Popel of Lobkovice. After the death of her husband in 1628, Polyxena presented this family treasure to the Carmelite monastery of Our Lady of Victory, where it is still preserved, though the church was renamed Our Lady of the Infant Jesus of Prague by Archbishop Beran of Prague prior to his deposition from office and subsequent arrest by the communists on March 10, 1951. The statue represents the Infant Christ as King, head crowned, clothed in royal robes, imperial orb in His left hand, right hand raised in blessing. In 1650, Count Bernard of the House of Martinice sought to succeed his father as regent of Bohemia. Though another had been chosen, he asked that a novena of Masses be offered to the Infant Jesus of Prague, and Count Bernard was appointed regent, on January 1, 1651. Bernard arranged for the statue to be solemnly crowned at a Pontifical Mass. Prayers to the Infant Jesus brought to Bernard appointment as a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Philip IV of Spain, and a small insignia of this honor was placed on the statue. The two jeweled ring was made from the wedding rings of Sir William la Haye and his wife, May 29, 1738, as a votive offering from this first cavalier of the Prince-Bishop of Prague, for the sudden cure of their infant daughter. The statue was first carried in procession at the order of Count Bernard, to all the major churches of Prague. The custom of changing the robes began in 1713, and in 1948 there were 39 changes, including one embroidered by Empress Maria Theresa. During the Thirty Years War, the Carmelites fled Prague. Seven years later they returned, and Fr. Cyril, who had a great devotion to the Infant, found the statue minus its arms in the ruins of the convent. The arms were found and the statue was repaired. Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague began to spread9 due greatly to the chronicles of the statue written by Prior Emmerich in 1737. The Carmelite General Chapter ordered likenesses to be made, touched to the original, and to be sent to all Carmelite houses, to be honored on the 25th of each month. Pope Gregory XIV sanctioned devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague in 1747. In 1750 a number of statues were sent to Portugal, the first copy going to the Carmelite house in Barcelona, Spain. Germany records devotion to the Infant of Prague in 1636. Joseph II of Austria suppressed 388 monasteries and seized the votive offerings at the shrine of the Infant Jesus, to be sold at auction. Brussels, Belgium, enshrines its first statue of the Infant in 1891. The devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague was well known in Ireland before 1900, and in Canada in the early 1890s. A shrine to the Infant Jesus of Prague was set up in New York in the church of Sta. Cyril and Methodius in 1886 by the Redemptorist, Fr. Hornung. In the twentieth century, this devotion has spread to all of South America and Trinidad. In 1900 a statue was brought to India. This is not devotion to a statue, but devotion to the Infant Jesus Christ, symbolized by a statue. It is a continuation throughout the year of the love shown to the Infant Jesus of Bethlehem at Christmas. Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 464 - 466 Date Issued - 28 November 1968 Face Value - 20 l, 50 l, 250 l Perforations - 13.5x14 Printer - The Italian State Printing Works |
| (From Vatican Notes Volume XVII, Number 4, January - February 1969, Page 6) |
