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Nihil obstat:

Joseph G. Kempf, Ph.D.

Censor librorum

Imprimatur:

^ Paul C. Schulte, D.D.

Archbishop of Indianapolis

27 Julii 1951

Copyright 1931 by

St, Meinrad^s Abbey, Inc,





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sincere thanks are due to Father Francis, O.C.D., and

to Sister Christine, S.S., for helping in the revision

of my manuscript; to the Discalced Carmelite Sisters

of New Orleans for the use of their library; and to

the many lovers of the Infant Jesus of Prague who

sent material for this booklet.



A CHILD is born to us,

A Son is given to us,

The government is upon His shoulders.

And His name shall be:

Wonderful, Counsellor,

God the mighty.

Father of the world to come,

PRINCE OF PEACE.

Isaias . . . IX, 6.



:

.

'

'S

1



AUTHOR’S NOTE

Christ, although superbly consistent, arouses our admiration by being

totally unpredictable. Who could have fathomed, while studying the rigors

of the cave of the Nativity, that from it would emerge sixteen centuries later

the majestic Infant of Prague, some of whose garments have been sewn with

precious
,

gems?

It requires genuine effort for the mind to reconcile the swaddling clothes

of Bethlehem with the royal robes of Prague, but the effort ought to be made.

For when Christ gave us the miraculous image with its splendor. He did

not intend to mitigate the lesson of the Manger with its abasements. He

now demanded of us a double allegiance: loyalty to Crown and Crib. To

understand His meaning we must fuse mentally all that is comprised in His

Kingship and in His Infancy. The resulting concept of our Infant King

will have deep significance for modern man who by repudiating the virtues

of the Child Jesus has almost destroyed himself, and by rejecting ChrisPs

rule has gone the ruinous ways of secularism.

When the time was ripe God chose His recently formed family of Dis-

caked Carmelites, dedicated to Mary and the Incarnation, to practice and

then to preach this new phase of spirituality. He made them the guardians

of the miraculous image which gives concrete expression to it. Under the

aegis of the mystic Teresa of Avila, in silent contemplation, Carmelites of

both sexes had been cultivating a fond intimacy with the humanity of Christ

the King, Whom St. Teresa constantly referred to as ^His Majesty.” Her

attention to the Infancy of Christ is seen in her referring to the first monas-

tery of Discalced Carmelite Friars at Duruelo as ”a little porch of Bethlehem,”

as well as in selecting St. Joseph as patron of her foundations because he was

head of the Holy Family. No more appropriate place than Carmel could

have been chosen for the origin of the apostolate.

1



ItYom three Carmels especially—at Prague, Beaune, and Lisieux—a com-

plete explanation of this new divine plan has gradually unfolded. In order

to grasp it fully we ought to view side by side the work of Father Cyril at

Prague, first apostle of the miraculous Infant; the revelations of his contem-

porary Margaret of Beaune about the mysteries of the Infancy; and the prac-

tical applications of the doctrine made in the last century by Therhe of Li-

sieux in her life and in her Little Way.

For three centuries the Carmelites have never relaxed their efforts to

honor the Infant King. However, at an early date other orders enlisted

under His banner and hand in hand with the Carmelites gradually extended

His reign. Today He belongs to the whole Christian world.

It is possible that some of us have not been attracted to the Infant Jesus

of Prague beyond a nodding acquaintance, because we have not listened to

His wordless appeal. This is not a devotion for the naive; we all owe homage

to the King, we all need His gifts, and sophisticates most of all. It is not

for those who are interested solely in obtaining favors; it is well suited to

the practice of mental prayer. It is not a seasonal devotion to be remembered

at Christmastime and dismissed from the mind the day after Epiphany; we

need it every season of the year.

The Infant King has an intimate role to play in our lives. He graciously

invites us to examine His miraculous image, to trace its history, to consider

why He reserved its universal acceptance for modern times. It will be a

rewarding task. He will help us solve our personal problems because He

is omnipotent. Perhaps He will teach us how to contribute a little peace and

order to a wartorn and chaotic world. At the very least He will show us how

to be at peace with our own souls.

8



CHAPTER ONE

PROLOGUE: ST. MARY OF VICTORY’S

THE INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE made His dramatic entrance onto

the stage of modern history during the bitter times of the Thirty Years War.

The most terrible conflict ever fought prior to World War I struck Prague

with ugly impact. The Bohemian capital was repeatedly the scene of battle,

plunder, and terror, and none of the citizens suffered more than the Car-

melite monks who were to come into the possession of the miraculous image.

The statue, a waxen model of the Child Jesus about nineteen inches high

(forty-eight centimeters to be exact), regally dressed, had been treasured

as a miraculous heirloom in the family of Maria Manriquez of Lara, a Spanish

princess who married Lord Vratislav of Pernstein. Maria received the statue

from her mother as a wedding gift and brought it to Bohemia. She in

turn presented it as a marriage gift to her daughter Polyxena, who married

Count Albert of Lobkowitz.

How the monks acquired the image and passed it on to the world is

an unusual story. The prelude, which will not be found in our secular his-

tory books, opens in 1620 with an ascetic priest, whom we might expect to

find deep in contemplation in a narrow cell, leading men to victory in the

Battle of White Mountain near Prague.

Spanish-born Venerable Dominic of Jesus Mary, fifth General of the

Discalced Carmelite Order, whom we hope to see canonized some day, was

sixty-one years old when Pope Paul V sent him into the camp of the Haps-
burg Emperor Ferdinand II to give the valued moral support of the Papacy

to the Catholic cause in Germany. Dominic, friend of popes and princes,

renowned for his massive intellect as well as for his holiness, was an envoy to

lead and inspire men. It was common knowledge that he had been privileged

with supernatural experiences; it was said that he enjoyed apparitions of the

Blessed Virgin and that he possessed miraculous powers. Yet he was on

9



familiar terms with mundane affairs and he was a practiced administrator and

diplomat. At this time the Order he governed was spreading rapidly and in

addition to his papal assignments he had many provinces to care for. But

he capably discharged his heavy duties, for he spent little time in sleep and

he had such mastery over his mind that he could be absorbed in material

problems one moment and deep in prayer the next.

The Pope would have preferred to remain neutral in the war, realizing

that political differences furnished the motives for many of the rulers in-

volved, even though it was called a religious war. Yet Emperor Ferdinand

was a staunch Catholic, Jesuit-educated, and he had made a vow, when in

Italy in the sanctuary of Loreto, to banish heresy from the territory he would

rule. At this time, too, all the religious orders were fighting for a Catholic

revival throughout Europe (although not all had leaders like Dominic in

battle). Consequently, large numbers of people were being brought back

to the Church in Germany in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.

Now Pope Paul saw Catholicity threatened with disaster in Bohemia.

Although Ferdinand had been crowned King there, many of the Bohemian

nobles were Calvinists who were jealous of their religious liberty. A group

of these noblemen, one day in 1618, had arrogantly forced their way into

the council chamber of the royal palace in which three imperial envoys were

gathered and had thrown them from a window. Revolt had followed quickly,

with the proclamation that Ferdinand was dethroned in Bohemia.

This event had signalized the opening of the tragic Thirty Years War

which eventually threatened to encompass all Europe. The Calvinist Elector

Palatine Frederick, head of the union of Protestant princes and son-in-law of

James I of England, was crowned King of Bohemia.

Emperor Ferdinand had a strong ally in Duke Maximilian of Bavaria,

head of the Catholic League, who commanded a large army. Besides, the

imperial forces were augmented by troops from Spain, Poland, and Tuscany.

A Bavarian general. Count Tilly, was placed in overall command. It was a

heterogeneous army that greeted Father Dominic when he arrived at Ferdi-

nand’s camp in white flowing cape, bearing the Papal standard that added

prestige to the Austrian cause.

The Emperor and Maximilian, who had been hesitant in spite of their

respectable army, took heart at the sight of the monk. They begged him

to act as chaplain of the imperial forces. Dominic assented and with his

10



tireless energy and boundless zeal filled the new role. He consecrated the

standard of the general, a painted image of Mary which bore the words:

"Show yourself a mother." He celebrated Mass on the field, administered the

Sacraments, and clothed more than ten thousand soldiers in the Brown Scap-

ular, the habit of the Blessed Virgin, counting on her promise to Saint Simon

Stock that all who died in this garment would be preserved from hell-fire.

Dominic had a way with the sick, too, a Christ-like charity, and delighted in

caring for the men who fell ill. Sometimes, almost exhausted after a day of

ceaseless exertion, he spent most of the night in refreshing prayer.

On August 15, 1620, on her great feast day, the Blessed Virgin is said

to have revealed to the priest that the Catholics would be victorious in the

coming battle. A council of war was held and Dominic encouraged the

generals to attack. He also urged the soldiers to fight valiantly for the faith

in the Germanics.

Soon Dominic had won the respect and confidence of the hardened

professional soldiers. On November 8 he rode with them into battle, a

strange figure in his brown habit among so many suits of armor. He was

armed with two weapons: a cross in his right hand and, suspended from his

neck, a sacred picture that he counted on to fire the zeal of the men. It was

an old painting of the Nativity which he had found in the pillaged castle

of Strakonitz a short time before. It represented the Virgin kneeling before

the Infant Jesus, and St. Joseph standing behind Mary, holding a lantern

in his left hand and a staff in his right. Two shepherds adored the Christ

Child from a distance. The enemy had profaned the picture, derisively put-

ting out the eyes of the figures, and the sight of this desecration gave spur

to the courage of Ferdinand’s soldiers. As they advanced to battle they

solemnly chanted the Salve Regma.

Now Dominic proudly elevated the picture of the Holy Family for all of

his followers to see. His eyes were ablaze with love. Someone shouted

"Mary!" and a thousand voices took up the cry. In the white heat of en-

thusiasm which her name inspired, the imperial army won the decisive

battle. The cries of "Mary!" gradually merged into exultant shouts of "Vic-

tory! Victory!" The triumph was indisputably hers.

The power of the Protestant Party in Bohemia was broken. Frederick,

the "Winter King," was dethroned and driven into exile. Ferdinand was not

11



only reinstated as King of Bohemia, but also found himself in a more re-

spected position than he had formerly held in his loosely-knit Empire.

He was overwhelmingly grateful to Pope Paul for sending Dominic

to Bohemia at this crucial time. He determined to express in concrete form

his gratitude to the Church and especially to the Order which had lent the

renowned diplomat and Father General to bolster the Austrian cause. In

1622 Ferdinand founded a Carmelite Monastery in his capital city, Vienna.

Two years later he opened a foundation in Prague, and soon afterwards one

at Gratz.

The establishment at Prague consisted of a convent for the monks, a

chapel and a church, situated on the left bank of the Moldau River, which

had formerly been the Protestant Church of the Holy Trinity. The

latter was renamed ’'St. Mary of Victory’s.”

When Dominic returned to Rome, Paul V had died and the aged and

ailing Gregory XV who had succeeded to the papal throne greeted him and

congratulated him on the success of his mission. The monk asked that the

title of "miraculous’” be accorded the little picture that had served him for

a battle standard, and the favor was granted.

Pope Gregory had the miraculous picture solemnly enshrined in the

Church of St. Paul on the Quirinal, May 8, 1622. The title of "Our Lady

of Victory” was given both to the painting and to the Italian Church which

housed it.^

Dominic was again sent to Austria in I626, as legate of Urban VIII,

to establish peace between the Emperor and the Duke of Mantua. Highly

respected by Ferdinand and his Empress Eleanor, the monk was induced to

stay in the imperial palace. Here he fell ill and died February 30, 1630,

attended by high dignitaries of Church and State.

Father Dominic’s body is preserved in Vienna-Doebling, in the Church

of his Order. Although the Process of his beatification was taken up for

the second time by decree of Pius X, he has not yet been beatified. He is

remembered for many important roles in history but none has brought him

^The original picture was destroyed by fire in 1834 and has since been

replaced by a copy. Many princes of Europe and above all of Germany pre~

sented gifts to Our Lady of Victory Church', crowns of gold, precious stones,

and banners captured in the religious wars.

12



more fame than the part he played in the foundation of the Carmelite Mon-

astery and Church which were destined to house the miraculous image of

the Infant Jesus of Prague.

For a time the Austrian Emperor, who was generous almost to a fault,

provided for the monks whom he had brought to Prague. However, after

he moved to far-off Vienna and became more deeply embroiled in the war,

he seemed to forget the poor religious who sometimes went hungry during

those unstable times. But succor was at hand for them. The time had come

for the appearance of a greater Benefactor than Ferdinand. The stage was

set; the cue had been given; the Infant King was about to make His bow.

13



CHAPTER TWO

ENTER CYRIL OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

The miraculous image of the Infant Jesus of Prague is a superb little

figure with both majesty and gentle charm. It is said that Polyxena made

some of its robes herself, an expression of the deep devotion to the Infancy

which her mother had instilled into her from childhood. After her marriage

to Count Albert she arranged in her Bohemian home a sumptuous altar

adorned with rich tapestries as an appropriate setting for the image. Here she

loved to venerate it and to lavish on it all the affection of her warm Spanish

heart.

After Polyxena was widowed in 1623 she determined to devote the rest

of her life to works of piety. She was pleased when the Discalced Carmelites

came to Prague because like all Spaniards she was fond of the Order. ^ She

began to make liberal contributions to the monks.

Seeing them impoverished as a result of the war she decided in a burst

of generosity to surrender her statue to them. Most women would have

clung to the treasured wedding gift to console their widowhood. The Count-

ess had many valuable possessions that she might have given instead.

"I give you what I prize most highly in the world,” she said simply.

”As long as you venerate this image, you shall not want.”

She spoke with authority, with the audacity of childlike faith—the kind
the Infant cannot resist. He rewarded her with earthly immortality. Her

words have been translated into many languages and today they are quoted

all over the world. Polyxena did not dream, however, that her gift would

become the basis for a new popular devotion that would enrich the lives

of men for centuries to come.

'^Thetr great Spanish reformer, Teresa of Avila, had just been canonized

by Gregory XV.

14



The monks proudly set up their small statue in their oratory and twice

each day assembled before it for prayer. Its aristocratic garb contrasted

sharply with the poverty of the monastery. The beauty of the childish fea-

tures fascinated the religious and they saw in the face a combination of

authority and clemency that filled them at once with reverence and confidence.

Their confidence was well-founded. Soon their financial distress was

relieved. The Infant proved to be a good provider and He had a way of

locating generous benefactors precisely when they were most needed. The

first year He was enthroned in the convent (1628) the Emperor remembered

that monks must eat, and assigned to them two thousand florins and a monthly

allowance. Besides, a sterile vineyard they owned now mysteriously yielded

an abundance of the choicest wine.

As the foundation at Prague was a novitiate, devotion to the Infant

King was inculcated in the novices who felt themselves drawn more and

more frequently to the oratory to lay their personal problems at His feet.

Among them there was at least one who was suffering spiritual torments.

He was not so young, this Cyril of the Mother of God. A native of Luxem-

burg, he had spent a number of years among the Caked Carmelites before

shifting to the more austere branch of the Order. That was a difficult thing

for a man close to forty to do.^ But he had long been prey to spiritual desola-

tion and he hoped to find in Carmel balm for his troubled soul. Although

he did not suspect it, the long martyrdom was preparing him for his life-

work.

Cyril spent hours on his knees before the image, begging the Child

Jesus to lift the crushing load from his heart. He promised to make the

Infant his companion in the novitiate if his prayer were answered.

Significantly it was on Christmas that solace came to him as he knelt

not before a Crib but in his favorite place of prayer. Surely, he had been

reasoning, at the very hour of His birth, the Christ Child would not refuse a

few drops of grace to a poor monk whose soul was parched. Suddenly at

midnight Cyril’s long trial ceased and he was bathed in the peace of Beth-

lehem. What a glorious release! His heart melted and tears scalded his

2 Cyril was horn either January 2 or October 12, 1390. His biographers,

who know nothing of his early years, are not certain of the precise date. His

name tvas Nicholas Schockweiler.

15



eyes, but joy surged within him at last. Overwhelmed with gratitude, even

while he gave himself up to his joy, he felt an intense longing to repay the

Infant Jesus for His Christmas gift.
^

Cyril knelt there a long time feeling as though he were in heaven.

Gazing into the mild eyes before him, he realized that this was the Prince of

Peace. How other men like himself needed that peace ! How Europe needed

it! Why would men insist on killing and plundering even in the name of

religion ?

The grateful novice determined to leave no stone unturned to spread

devotion to the Child Who had quickly transformed his life, the Child Who

held in His hand the world and the secret cure for all its ills. But Cyril

was destined to leave Prague and the beautiful image the following year.

The interminable conflict that was destroying Germany was no respecter of

monks and their devotions. It brought such increased hardship and terror

to the monastery that the monks were forced to move their novitiate from

troubled Prague to Munich in Duke Maximilian’s Bavaria.

The Catholic Emperor was up to his eyes in trouble. Now, when he

needed a strongly united home front to oppose foreign enemies who were

watching for opportunities to intervene in the war, there was increased

tension between Ferdinand and his estates on both sides of the religious fence.

The Edict of Restitution of Church property had alienated the loyal Protestant

nobles, and even some Catholic estates were deserting because of their dis-

gust for the war with its ceaseless destruction and enforced contributions.

One of the most formidable enemies of Catholicism landed on German

soil the year that Cyril and the other novices kissed their Infant King good-

bye and set out with heavy hearts for Munich. The picturesque Gustavus

Adolphus, King of Sweden, the prime Lutheran country, disembarked at Pom-

erania, quickly made allies of Protestant princes in the north, and caused

Germany to quake in its boots. Ferdinand was ill prepared to repel the

Swedish giants Gustavus brought with him to make their living off of Ger-

man soil. Worst of all Richelieu, foreign minister of France, although he

opposed Protestantism in his own country, inconsistently made an alliance

with Gustavus in the hope of humiliating Catholic Austria.

Now Gustavus, fresh from victories in the north and east, dreaming of

a Sweden that would dominate northern Europe and command the Baltic,

coveted Germany. Providence had lavished on this tall, fair warrior of the

16



north, rare gifts of intellect but the terrorized Germans saw none of his

charms or talents. They knew only of the ruinous path of conquest he marked

out wherever he bore down. Rumors flew before him that not only would

fields and villages be laid waste, but Catholicism would be wiped out in

the Germanics.

And well they might dread his coming. Gustavus cut savagely across

Germany southwest toward the Rhine to form a union with the Calvinist

princes in that region, leaving death and destruction behind him. While

he prostrated the west, an army of eighteen thousand of his Saxon allies

entered Bohemia. Prague was in an uproar. The inhabitants, citizens and

nobles, lay and religious, knew that it was only a matter of time before the

city would fall. In panic they began to flee. It was unthinkable that the

Carmelite monks should remain in their monastery. They fled with the

others, that is, all but two brave souls who remained behind to do what they

could to hold the sacred fort.

Even the garrison of five hundred men had deserted and on November

15, 1631, the gates of the city were opened wide to the Saxons. Inevitably,

the two lone monks were captured and they were imprisoned under a guard

of fifteen soldiers. St. Mary of Victory’s Church was occupied by a Protestant

preacher, one of eighty-odd who fell upon the Catholic properties of Prague.

When the distracted monks fled, they had no thought of the image in

their oratory. There were too many urgent necessities claiming their atten-

tion. If Cyril had been there, he would have remembered. Even now in

Munich he was venerating the Infant King in his heart. But when the in-

vaders tore through the corridors of the Prague monastery and into the

gloomy oratory, they laughed when their eyes fell on the little dressed statue

on the altar and raced to see who could reach it first and have the sport of

pitching the emblem of ‘‘popish superstition” down from its place of honor.

It landed ignominiously in the dust behind the altar where it was accounted

as rubbish.

There it lay forgotten for seven years. Insects crawled over the deli-

cate features. Spiders wove lacy webs over the rich robes, the careful stitches

of Polyxena. The filth of utter neglect settled down on the prostrate figure

of the beautiful Infant King.

And Cyril of the Mother of God, the only one who remembered Him,

was far away and unable to come to His rescue.

17



CHAPTER THREE

HONOR THE KING

While the Prince of Peace lay hidden behind the altar in the monastery,

permitting Himself to be despised and an outcast as He had been in life,

the Thirty Years War raged with unspeakable destruction.

Gustavus Adolphus, after his devastating march southwest, had turned

east and invaded Bavaria. Tilly was killed at Rain on the Lech and Munich

lay open to the Swedes who plundered the Bavarian lowlands. In June, 1632,

an imperial army reconquered Prague but the city remained in constant

danger. Gustavus was preparing to invade Ferdinand’s hereditary lands

next, when in the late autumn of that eventful year his ambitions were

checked by a fatal bullet at Lutzen, near Leipzig, even while his army was

victorious over General Wallenstein’s forces.

When the Carmelites came back to Prague to repossess their monastery,

they wept bitter tears over the marks of profanation they found there. Be-

sides, how were they to live? If they had been poor before, now they were

destitute. When Ferdinand, son of the Emperor, was crowned King of Bo-

hemia, he withdrew the allowance his father had granted the monks.

Although Gustavus was dead and even many of the Germans who had

been his allies were eager to be rid of foreign troops and influence, it was

not until 1634 that the last of the stubborn Swedes he had trained were

crushed at Nordlingen. That year Von Arnim made an unsuccessful attempt

to retake Prague from the Catholics and the Carmelite novitiate was again

moved to Munich. The following May a treaty was signed at Prague. The

third or Swedish phase of the grisly war was over. (Swedish mercenaries,

however, were to be active to the bitter end of the conflict.)

The monks felt that it was safe to return their novitiate to Prague once

more. But unfortunately the new novices knew nothing of the image of the

Infant King which remained unhonored in their monastery.

18



And now it was Richelieu who disrupted the Peace of Prague, that

truce which had been achieved at the cost of so much tragedy. The French

minister wanted the war prolonged in order to enhance Bourbon power and

prestige in Europe at the expense of the Hapsburgs. (After another weary

thirteen years there would remain only the shadow of the Holy Roman

Empire.

)

Meanwhile, a cloud rested on the Carmelite Monastery in Prague. The

monks were genuinely puzzled about their continued misfortune. It was not

only the war that disturbed them: there was a general unrest in their house.

It seemed impossible to diagnose the malady, still more impossible to pre-

scribe the cure. One by one the priors and the masters of novices were forced

to resign before completing their terms of office. Unendurable burdens

pushed them to it. Uneasiness hovered in the air that should have held only

the peace of prayer.

Even the Provincial of the Order was powerless to discover and uproot

the source of the evil. This state of affairs continued for seven years, from

Cyril’s departure until his return to Prague at a time when the city was

again threatened with invasion.

On the Feast of Pentecost, 1637, Cyril reentered with pounding heart

his old novitiate where the Infant had smiled on him and brought peace to

his soul. A surge of memories rushed over the priest as he crossed the thresh-

old. The years fell away—years crowded with experience—and he was a
novice again, kneeling before his little King. He recalled his long hours of

prayer in the oratory and the deep consolation he had enjoyed there. Now

he was overpowered with longing to relive those hours. He lost no time in

getting to the oratory. It was empty of his treasure.

Father Cyril obtained permission from his prior to institute a search

for the image. Tirelessly, he examined every conceivable hiding place in the

house. When he found the statue at last and realized that it had been treated

contemptuously, he felt both a rush of joy and a sharp pang of sorrow.

He had the image he had longed for, but it had been dishonored. Instantly

he resolved to make reparation to the Holy Child for the neglect He had

suffered.

Cyril consoled himself with the thought that by working very earnestly

to make others know and love the Infant King, he would perhaps be able

to atone for the insult of the last seven years. He bore the statue off to

19



his cell where he knelt and with reverence began to remove the spider webs,

the long accumulated filth.

When he had done all that love and industry could do to make the

image presentable, he took it to the prior and begged that it might reclaim

its former place of honor in the oratory. His superior, touched by his eager-

ness, agreed.

As soon as the miraculous image was restored to its proper position and

the priests and the novices had begun to make their meditations twice each

day before it, the enemy that had been besieging Prague withdrew from the

gates of the city. Now the air of gloom that had claimed the monastery mys-

teriously lifted. A sense of well-being returned. Gifts began to come to the

monks from unexpected sources. For the time their material needs were

filled, a remarkable achievement considering the economic state of the entire

country.

Peace reigned again in the home and in the hearts of the Carmelites. It

filtered out from their silent halls, and saturated many a soul in Prague, even

in those warlike times.

20



CHAPTER FOUR

GIVE ME MY HANDS

The figure of the Infant Jesus of Prague has always had an irresistible

appeal. Every detail of the image makes an absorbing study: the comely

face, the dignified posture of the Child, His stiff, ornate robes. His preten-

tious crown. Some of us are fascinated by the small hands, partially hidden

by full frills of lace, the right in a gesture of benediction, and the left holding

a little globe.

When the Saxon invaders of Prague threw the miraculous image behind

the altar, the hands were broken off. But Father Cyril concealed the loss as

well as he could by means of the voluminous clothing of the statue. In his

joy at repossessing it, he did not consider the loss of the hands a tragedy.

Now that Cyril had succeeded in communicating his enthusiasm for the

beautiful image to the other religious of his house, he extended his aposto-

late beyond the monastery walls. He sang the praises of the Infant at every

opportunity to those who begged his prayers, to the visitors at the monastery,

to his friends and acquaintances. Occasionally, at the entrance of St. Mary

of Victory’s Church, he met some poor downcast soul who aroused his com-

passion and then he delighted in bringing back hope to lackluster eyes by tell-

ing of the marvelous help to be obtained from the Infant King.

'Tray to Him,” he would urge, "and I will pray with you. He will

bring you peace.”

The statue in the oratory drew Cyril like a magnet, and he found an

ever-increasing number of clients to remember in his prayers there. He was

rewarded for his charity by a signal grace. One day he heard distinct words

coming from the image:

^Have pity oji Me and 1 will have pity on you. Give Me My

hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor Me, the

more 1 will bless you!^

21



Father Cyril of the Mother of God was amazed. Perhaps he had shame-

fully fallen asleep at his prayers and dreamed that he heard those words.

Still he knew it was not so. He had indeed heard that rich low Voice—the
Voice he had often lovingly imagined. His hands shook with joy as he sprang

from his knees to remove the statue from its niche.

At his first opportunity Cyril reported to his prior exactly what had

happened and begged funds for the repair of the statue. He did not dream

that he would meet with refusal. There was little difficulty in convincing his

superior of the reality of the Infant’s request since the evidence was thero in

the missing hands. No, the difficulty was in getting him to see the urgency

of the request at a time when the monks hardly knew where the next meal

was to come from. Perhaps the Infant’s words, *’Give Me My hands,” had

some hidden, mysterious meaning. Or perhaps if He meant them to be

taken literally He intended to send a benefactor.

Cyril, saddened by his inability to fulfill his commission, fell back on

his favorite weapon. He stormed heaven, begging that some kind person

would furnish what was necessary for the repair job. He reminded the

Infant that he himself was bound by a rigorous vow of poverty and that he

knew little of money matters.

A few days later he was called to administer the Last Sacraments to a

wealthy old gentleman. He told his penitent the story of the miraculous

image from beginning to end and urged him to pray to the Infant Jesus

for recovery from his illness. Touched by the priest’s simplicity and his

helpless grief over his small financial problem, the gentleman volunteered

one hundred florins for the mending of the statue.

The monk’s elation was short-lived. He handed over his gift to the

prior only to be told that the proper thing to do with so much money was to

order a new statue. Schooled in obedience, Cyril submitted without a mur-

mur. On schedule the statue arrived and usurped the place of honor in the

oratory. Cyril knelt there and studied it. The workmanship was inferior to

that of the Spanish heirloom. He tried to pray but distractions swarmed in

his mind. The replica held little inspiration for him. With a sigh he arose

and went to his cell where he was privately guarding the original. There

prayer came to him unbidden and his heart overflowed with love.

Meanwhile a candlestick toppled over on the new wax figure in the

22



oratory and smashed it into a thousand pieces, Cyril felt now, all happenings

considered, that the Infant meant His words to be taken literally. *'Give

Me My hands.” He determined to move heaven and earth in order to obey

the request of His King.

Shortly after this the prior resigned and Father Dominic of St. Nicholas,

who was later to become a noted missionary, succeeded to the governing

post of the monastery. Cyril took heart and tried again. But the new superior

had such a staggering job facing him, trying to square accounts, that he could

barely make ends meet.

One morning while Cyril was in the Church, an unknown woman

handed him a package and quietly left before he could properly thank her.

What a strange thing to do. Could this be the solution to his problem?

Excitedly, he opened the package and found that it contained a sub-

stantial sum of money. Suddenly he knew what Lady to thank. He quickly

made his way to the altar of the Madonna of Carmel. She who gave the

Infant King to the world was the real benefactor.

"What did the lady say it was for?” the prior naturally wanted to know

when Cyril hopefully surrendered the package of money. "Father,” he stam-

mered confusedly, "she said nothing. She only gave me the packet.” Again

disappointment, frustration. Since no specifications had been given. Father

Dominic thought it his plain duty to use most of the money for the restora-

tion of Our Lady’s Church and to pay some pressing bills. He gave Cyril

only a petty sum.

Certainly, Cyril must be wearing a special crown in heaven for perse-

verance. He pressed his point respectfully, objecting that he would be unable

to find an artist, even in impoverished Prague where men were hungry for

employment, to work for such a pittance. The prior silenced him but in

his heart he felt a twinge of pity for his poor monk.

The words spoken by that lovely Voice were as clear in Cyril’s ears as

the day they were spoken. They were a constant reproach to him. He felt

guilty, but what could he do but continue to pray?

Finally he was rewarded for his gentle persistence. Once more as he

knelt before the miraculous image he heard the Voice:

'^Place Me near the entrance of the sacristy and you will receive

aid”

23



He obeyed with alacrity, new hope springing within him. Returning to his

cell, he confidently asked Mary to be his ally and promptly to direct to the

sacristy th’e one who would restore the image of her Child.

A gentleman named Daniel Wolf noticed the attractive statue as he

went in to hear Mass at St. Mary’s. After Mass he spoke to the prior and

offered to assume responsibility for the needed repairs. Father Dominic ac-

cepted the offer happily for Cyril’s eyes had been haunting him. When the

work was accomplished the image was exposed in the Church for public

veneration. The monks noticed with satisfaction how eagerly the people

clustered round the altar to see the statue and they decided to expose it there

on special occasions.

The Infant King had His hands again. Instead of restoring them mir-

aculously, He had patiently awaited human cooperation. He used them to

bless all who knelt before Him. The people of Prague were the first to

experience the fulfillment of the second part of His promise:

more you honor Me, the more 1 will bless you”

24



CHAPTER FIVE

THE MYSTERIES: MARGARET OF BEAUNE

Cyril of the Mother of God had still a long apostolate before him in

Bohemia. In the very middle of his eighty-five years, Margaret of the Blessed

Sacrament lived out her short span in France. The two lives were totally

different, yet through the haze of three centuries, we see them meet and

merge in a flame of love for the Christ Child. All that we know of Cyril’s life

and work revolved around the Infancy. And of Margaret Father Bourgoin

said: *'She was incessantly occupied with the Nativity of Jesus. I believe

the grace of this mystery has been given to her in such plenitude that she

may pour it in abundance upon the Church of God.”

One of the popular devotions to the Infant of Prague today is the

Chaplet or Crown of the Child Jesus, a Rosary of fifteen beads. ^ It was

Margaret who was inspired to make the Chaplet and who, as a mark of the

pleasure with which God viewed it, saw it shining with an unearthly light.

But it was not until later that it came to be associated with the Prague devo-

tion.

While Cyril and Margaret lived perhaps no one saw that their work was

complementary. But in our times it has been accurately stated: ”The Infant

of Prague may be regarded as the outward expression of the interior devotion

of Margaret of Beaune. Prague was the Eastern and Beaune the Western

center of the love of the Holy Child.”^

Margaret’s life was described by a physician who attended her as *'one

prolonged miracle. In this story we are interested mainly in her countless

mystical experiences relating to Christ’s Infancy. However, her importance

^ For directions for saying the Chaplet and promises attached to its recita-

tion, see Chapter X, ^Trom Sea to Shining Sea/’
2
""Cz.rmel, Its History, Spirit, and Saints,” New York, Kenedy 1927, p. 234.

^Statement signed under oath, ”Salins,” July 1, 1649.

25



in seventeenth century history and her link with prominent figures, both lay

and ecclesiastic, warrant a quick glance at her whole life.

Margaret Parigot was born February 7, 1619, just before Ferdinand II

became Emperor of Austria, and five years before Richelieu undertook the

government of France. Her entry into Carmel at the age of eleven gave

the signal for the beginning of a remarkable career. Of her twenty-nine years

eighteen were spent hidden from the world in the monastery of Beaune, her

birthplace.

Yet a contemporary admitted that she did more for France by her prayers

than any whole army. Margaret was inspired to pray daily for the rulers of

nations, particularly of France, for the armed forces and judges, for the Pope

and for her superiors. Equally important, she was chosen to atone for count-

less sins by constant and severe sufferings, for she lived the mysteries of the

Passion as well as those of the Infancy. In one of her visions she saw a

huge Cross emerging from a Crib and extending loving arms over the whole

world. Gradually her fame spread throughout France, and people clamored

for her spiritual assistance. She was as much sought after as a queen.

King Louis XIV is said to have been born in answer to her prayers.

His mother, Anne of Austria, after twenty-three years of childless marriage

to Louis XIII, had begged Margaret to pray for an heir to the French throne.

When the prince was born on September 5, 1638, the young nun knew of

the birth before the news reached Beaune from Paris, and she acknowledged

the favor by placing a crown on her statue of the Infant Jesus.

^

At one time Margaret was miraculously sustained for a period of four

months without food. Again when she was mortally ill and all other means

had failed she was immediately cured when her prioress covered her with a

cloak which was a relic of Cardinal de Berulle, father of the French Car-

melites, saying: ''Sister be cured through obedience to our venerated Cardinal

and Father.”

Margaret, who imitated the virtues of Christ’s Infancy with a perfection

that has perhaps never been excelled, was permitted to retain, even in death,

the appearance of a child. She died May 26, 1648 (about the time the Thirty

Years War ended) and her life was written almost immediately, at the re-

^ This statue was in no ivay connected with the miraculous image of the

Infant of Prague.

26



quest of Father Olier, founder of the Sulpicians, Like Dominic, the precursor

of devotion to the Infant King, Margaret is an uncanonized saint, her cult

having continued uninterruptedly since her death.®

When we consider the solemnity of the mission Our Lord entrusted to

Margaret and the marvelous graces with which He prepared her for it, we

wonder why her message has not had the universal hearing that has been

accorded the message of Prague. Early in her religious life He said to her:

'1 have chosen you to honor My Infancy, and will bestow on you that in-

nocence and simplicity which I brought into the world at My birth. I will

show you the manner in which I wish you to honor It and cause It to be

honored on earth.” And again at the time of her profession He said to her:

"Propagate this devotion to My Holy Infancy in souls, spread everywhere

the love and practice of it . . .”

Margaret was permitted to hold the Infant Jesus in her arms, and in

her heart. She saw the stable of the Nativity in its repulsiveness, the humility

of the Child, the angels adoring, the shepherds, the Magi. Mary and Joseph

she watched in contemplation before the Manger, silent and undisturbed by

their visitors. She endured with the Holy Innocents the agonies of their

massacre and received special light on their glory in heaven and the efficacy

of their prayers because they were martyred in the place of the Infant.

Sometimes Margaret united herself to Jesus presented in the Temple.

Hidden circumstances of the flight into Egypt were known to her, and the

keen sufferings endured by the sensitive Child. She experienced the fathom-

less peace of the quiet house in Nazareth, where no word or motion was

wasted. She felt the unspeakable love of the Savior for His mother, and His

boundless pity for sinners. On one occasion she saw on Our Lord’s right

hand written in letters of fire, "The Word is made Flesh.”

Margaret gave to the Holy Child the purest affection, the most delicate

attention. Her statue of Him received exquisite care; her annual preparation

for Christmas was elaborate; and from the sixteenth to the twenty-fifth of

each month, she celebrated the mysteries. Frequently she repeated that she

® But the Process and the Manuscripts were mislaid. After they were

recovered in 1850, the Bishop of Dijon reopened the canonical inquest.

The cause was introduced and accepted and private veneration is permitted.

In our own century Pius X solemnly decreed the heroicity of her virtues.

27



belonged entirely to the Infant Jesus. A month before she died, she knew

that she was to accept death as His victim.

In 1636 Christ told Margaret: '1 wish you to institute an association

.

.

(which) will be My Family . . . the Family of the Infant Jesus . . He

promised rich blessings to its members. Margaret obeyed His request at

once. That very night she dictated to one of the religious of her house what

had been revealed to her. Nine sisters were selected to act as Servants of the

Child Jesus, and shortly after this an association was established for people

outside the convent. Considering that it was born within the cloister, the

Family of the Child Jesus spread with amazing rapidity and success. Prelates,

prime ministers and superior-generals of religious orders, princes, illustrious

doctors, judges, and many French clerics enrolled. The association became

known beyond the borders of the country of its origin, and foreigners asked

to be admitted to membership.

Margaret outlined for the members a detailed and comprehensive rule

which she had received directly from Christ. He had made her understand

that persons who aspired to belong to His Family must dedicate themselves

to His mysteries from His Incarnation to His twelfth year. They were to

wear and recite the Chaplet, and to practice special devotion to the Blessed

Sacrament, to Mary and Joseph, and to all the saints in any way connected

with the Infancy. One of the requirements was to pray for peace.

The renowned Baron de Renty, friend and correspondent of Margaret’s,

was the chosen guardian of this association, and one of its ardent apostles.

Father Olier established it at St. Sulpice. The illustrious Bishop Fenelon

composed a litany for it. Pope Alexander VII approved it in I66I.®

Margaret was firmly establishing the Family of the Infant Jesus in France

during the exact period in which Cyril was laying his foundations in Prague.

Both were commissioned about the same time to build chapels to honor

the Infancy. Margaret’s chapel was adorned, as the years passed, with the

magnificent gifts of the wealthy and the lowly offerings of the poor. It was

^ The society suffered from the religious persecutions which came later

in France, but it never died out. In 1833 Pius IX raised it to the rank of an

Arch-Confraternity. This Arch-Confraternity is not to be confused with the

Confraternity of the Infant Jesus of Prague which is similar to it in spirit, but

distinct in origin and requirements. See Chapter X, ^Trom Sea to Shining

Sea,” for a description of the Confraternity.

28



her crowning work and it served as her tomb and monument. When it was

later destroyed by Revolutionists, the remains of the saint were secured by

members of her Order.

Why did Providence place the lives of the two Carmelites in juxta-

position.^ Was it because He wants us to study them together and combine

their doctrine into a unit? It would seem that by doing this we obtain a

perfect whole.

Margaret showed us how we should honor the Infancy by meditating on

its mysteries and by conforming our conduct to its pattern of virtue. She

emphasi2ed the inadequacy of a purely exterior worship, communicating to

us Christ’s desire to share His Childhood with us, to relive it every day in

His Mystical Body. But she sounded a gentle warning that only the clean

of heart, only meek and self-stript souls would be His intimates.

Cyril worked tirelessly to induce the world to recognize the Kingship of

the Christ Child. He sold his followers on the goodness and the lavish gen-

erosity of the Infant Who is King of the Universe, and Who gives His gifts

in proportion to the honor He receives.

If we blend the white tones of Margaret’s life and work with the

brighter hues of Cyril’s, we catch the beautiful shades of the Infant King.

Only by focusing the eyes of the soul on the combined picture do we grasp

what is meant by the Twin Allegiances He demands of His subjects.

(But for those who still have not understood, there remains the lesson

of Therese of Lisieux who, in order to give us a glimpse of the infinite re-

sourcefulness of God, will vary the lesson somewhat, without in any way

altering its fundamentals. The story will be told in Chapter XI.)

29



CHAPTER SIX

THE INFANT KING CAPTURES PRAGUE

When a member of the nobility experiences a sensational cure, it is

news. It was time for the Infant King to attract all of Prague to Himself.

Cyril had done all he could in the two years that had passed since his return

from Munich to make Him known and loved and people were beginning

to talk about the remarkable statue in the monastery. Suddenly, the word was

out that by venerating the image. Countess Elizabeth of Kolowrat, wife of the

Imperial Superintendent in Bohemia, had been miraculously cured of a mortal

illness.

Elizabeth, who had been Baroness of Lobkowitz before her marriage

to Count Henry Liebsteinsky, had probably admired the statue when it was

in the home of Polyxena whose husband was her relative. It was midsummer

when Elizabeth became critically ill. She could neither hear nor speak and

her death seemed imminent when her husband, in desperation, begged Father

Cyril to bring the image to her. The priest hesitated, doubting that it was

prudent to take the precious heirloom about on sick calls. Yet the Count’s

eyes pleaded, and there was the question of charity . .

.

Cyril held the miraculous image close to Elizabeth whose eyes were

squeezed shut with pain. Elizabeth fingered the robes reverently and then,

opening her eyes, gently kissed the face of the image. Tears of sympathy

welled in the monk’s eyes. By her gesture the Countess seemed to be making

a heroic effort to convey a message to him. She kept pointing to the crown

on the image and then to herself.

Cyril had already anointed her and now he read aloud prayers for the

dying but Elizabeth could not hear him. He had not the heart to take

the statue away from her now. The Count reassured him about its safety.

All the way back to the monastery Cyril pleaded with the Infant Jesus to cure

Elizabeth, and to manifest His miraculous powers to the people of Prague.

30



Soon after the monk’s departure the Countess found her voice. Ex-

citedly, her husband spoke to her and discovered that her hearing too had

been restored. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Elizabeth touched

the Infant’s crown. "Dear Child,’’ she whispered, "did you understand what

I was trying to tell you? I will give you a beautiful crown of gold.”

In a few days she was completely well. A crowd of excited people,

buzzing about her sudden cure, tagged behind her carriage when she made a

pilgrimage to the monastery to present the new crown to the monks and to

pray in thanksgiving for her favor. For the rest of his life the grateful Count

gave generously to the Carmelites, and he remembered them in his will.

Because of the prominent position of Elizabeth and her husband in Bohemia,

members of the nobility were drawn powerfully to the statue which had been

instrumental in the cure of the Countess.

News of the miracle made the rounds of Prague and many people

begged to see the miraculous image. On feast days when it was exposed in the

Church of St. Mary of Victory, the crowds lingered long at the altar which

served as its Shrine. Their only complaint in the early forties was that they

had too few opportunities to venerate it. The curious came with the devout,

but the devotion of all of them grew. If it was natural that the nobility

should be strongly attracted by the Kingship of the Infant, it was equally

natural that the poor should be attracted by the Infancy of the King. All

classes, kinds, and ages of people prayed to the Infant Jesus of Prague whose

favors were for all, although He had a special predilection for children, for

impoverished laborers, and for those who prayed to Him with complete

confidence. Soon the monks began to accept offerings of gratitude from

those who had been favored, especially objects to adorn the Shrine and to

beautify the Church.

A woman donated three thousand florins for an altar to the Holy Trinity

with a gold-plated tabernacle for the exposition of the image. Another gave

an altar to the Virgin Mary. The Lady Febronia of Pernstein, a descendant

of Maria Manriquez of Lara, had the presbytery of the Church laid with

beautiful red and white marble slabs. An aristocratic widow parted with

her wedding gown so that the costly material might be used in the service of

the altar.

Febronia continued to be among the most generous benefactors of the

monks throughout her life, and she bequeathed to them her estate at Solnitz as

31



a mark of her love for the Infant King to Whom she was indebted for her

retention of this estate when a lawsuit had earlier threatened her claim to

it. When she died in 1646 she was buried in St. Mary’s near the high altar,

dressed in the Carmelite habit.

Cyril was elated at seeing so many persons worshipping his Infant and

honoring Him with their gifts. The time was ripe for the building of a

chapel to house the miraculous image, to give it a proper setting, and to

accommodate the crowds of worshippers. There is a story that Cyril was in-

structed by Mary in a vision to undertake this new project. It is said that

the prior listened to his report of the vision and did nothing to help him

fulfill Mary’s wish. For three years Cyril endured this new martyrdom,

until 1642 when Baroness Benigna Lobkowitz untied the priest’s hands by

making a generous donation. He immediately made plans to build the

chapel which was completed before the end of the year.

The ''Hermitage,” as it was called, was constructed on the monastery

grounds behind the Church, with one entrance accessible to the public, and

another within the enclosure. Adjoining the elegant new structure there were

small cells for the monks which later came to be used only by priests making

retreats. A fund for the use of retreatants was donated by Baron Christopher

of Mitrowitz, with the stipulation that the fathers should pray for their strick-

en country.

The Chapel was solemnly blessed on the Feast of the Holy Name of

Jesus in 1644 when Mass was celebrated there for the first time. This feast

has continued to be considered the principal one of the Infant of Prague up

to the present time, and January as His month; while the Litany of the Holy

Name was adopted as the favored prayer for public recital in His honor.

Cardinal Ernest Albert of Harrach, the Bishop of Prague, consecrated

the Hermitage in 1648. He granted permission to all priests, secular and

religious, to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass there. Many prominent

churchmen were attracted to the Shrine in the following years to avail them-

selves of this privilege.

By this time the Thirty Years War had burned itself out. However

Prague suffered from its terrors to the end. In 1647 Ferdinand III, who was

in the city to repel a Scandinavian invasion, visited the Hermitage and spent

some time there in profound prayer. The following year, just three months

before the Peace of Westphalia, three thousand Swedes made a stealthy

32



entry by night into the Bohemian capital. The people awoke to pandemoni-

um. The monks had just finished their Office when they heard the firing of

enemy guns. They hastily consumed their consecrated Hosts and knelt for

a brief prayer before the miraculous image. They were preparing to hide

their treasure when they heard the rude knocks of the soldiery at their door.

But their prayers were answered. The troops were hungry and demanded only

food. They did not . harm the monks or their monastery. Furthermore, the

invading general decided to spare St. Mary’s (although other churches were

molested) and even placed it under the protection of the Swedish crown.

On January 14, 1649, the Feast of the Holy Name, a solemn ceremony

of thanksgiving was held in honor of the miraculous Infant Who had sus-

tained the city of Prague throughout the war.

If all had gone smoothly in the history of the Infant of Prague, we

might suspect the authenticity of the devotion. Nothing genuine in the

Church is allowed to prosper without opposition and struggle. From the

start there had been obstacles. Now complaints were voiced within the Car-

melite family from religious who looked on the image as a novelty. But

in 1651 the General of the Order, Father Francis of the Blessed Sacrament,

visited the convent of Prague and scrutinized the devotion from all angles.

He found it to be well authenticated and worthy of confidence in every

respect. To show his approval publicly, he celebrated Mass before the mir-

aculous image. Further, he issued an official decree of approval, written by

his own hand, and signed by the Provincial, the prior, and by Father Cyril.

The document with seal appended was hung in the Chapel to allay any

criticism or fear of superstition. It attracted much attention and the publicity

it received added to the popularity of the miraculous Infant.

Before the Hermitage was a dozen years old the throngs of people who

sought entrance there had outgrown it. The demand for permanent removal

of the image to St. Mary of Victory’s increased until two brothers, Ernest

and Francis, the Barons of Talmberg, erected a chapel for it within the

Church, on the left side of the entrance. This corresponded to a chapel on

the right side, dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the gift of another

member of the Talmberg family.

Although the new Chapel was completed in 1654 the miraculous image

was not permanently installed there until the Feast of St. Joseph two years

later. The King was to remain in His new home for most of a century

33



receiving the homage of all Prague and of many pilgrims. A marble tablet

at the entrance of the Hermitage commemorated His former Shrine.

In 1655 the image was solemnly crowned by Bishop D. Joseph Corti.

The new crown like that given by the Countess was of gold but much more

ornate than hers, being decorated with genuine pearls and other precious

stones. It was the gift of Count Bernard Ignatius of Martinitz.

About this time five Discalced Carmelite sisters of St. Joseph, led by

the saintly Mother Mary Electa of Jesus, were sent to Prague to found a

monastery.^ On September 1, 1656, they paid a visit to the Shrine and begged

the benediction .of the Infant King on their foundation. Their successors in

Prague were destined to play an important role in the history of the mir-

aculous image.
2

The wardrobe of the statue increased in splendor with the passing

years. Cyril begged alms for additional costumes and notables gave hand-

some robes. Empress Maria Theresa, when crowned Queen of Bohemia,

presented a dress of green samite which she had made herself. Eventually

the wardrobe was to contain more than twenty complete sets of clothing.

Later the custom was adopted of changing the clothing in solemn ceremony

six times a year, observing the liturgical colors.^

Fortunately for us one of the posts which Cyril held during his long

residence in the convent at Prague was that of historian. He neglected no

opportunity to write about the miraculous image. His writings were in-

valuable to later historians of the devotion, most of our knowledge of its

early phases having been derived from his observations.

When Cyril died in 1675 he had cause for deep satisfaction. Not only

had the Infant King taken Prague by storm but He was loved all over the

Austrian Empire.

'^Mother Mary Electa died in 1663 and her body is still incorrupt.

2 See Chapter VII, ^^The Summit.”

^ In 1860 a group of Chinese girls, who had watched with interest the vest-

ing of a replica statue at Shanghai, sent an exquisite set of clothing to Prague

for the permanent wardrobe of the original. On the bodice of the gown

a heart of coral beads is encircled by a crown of thorns decorated with pearls.

A prayer in Chinese characters is embroidered on the hem\ ^Divine Child

Jesus, have pity on the land of China, convert her to the Faith, and deliver

her from the power of the evil spirit.”

34



V

Among his writings Cyril left a prayer to the Child Jesus which is

still popular because of its simple beauty. It gives us a more satisfactory

picture of the monk than we would gain from a whole volume of panegyrics.

It sums up his aspirations, and paints his sanctity in miniature.

Jesus! unto Thee I flee,

Through Thy Mother praying Thee

In my need to succor me.

Truly, I believe of Thee

God Thou art with strength to shield me;

Full of trust I hope of Thee

Thou Thy grace wilt give to me;

All my heart I give to Thee.

Therefore, of my sins repent me;

From them breaking, I beseech Thee,

Jesus, from their bonds to free me.

Firm my purpose is to mend me.

Never more will I grieve Thee.

Wholly unto Thee I give me,

Patiently to suffer for Thee,

Thee to serve eternally.

And my neighbor, like to me

I will love, for love of Thee.

Little Jesus, I beseech Thee,

In my need to succor me.

That one day I may enjoy Thee,

Safe with Joseph, and with Mary,

And angels all, eternally.

35



CHAPTER SEVEN

THE SUMMIT

For a hundred years after the restoration of the miraculous image, ven-

eration of the Infant Jesus of Prague gathered momentum. The peak was

reached toward the middle of the eighteenth century.

In times of disaster especially Prague turned to its King. In 1713

Bohemia was prostrated by an epidemic which killed two hundred thousand

people and two million cattle. The capital city flocked to its favorite Shrine

where the Carmelites celebrated Mass daily for the relief of the citizens. All

those who participated in the special devotions held at this time honoring

the Infancy are said to have been spared the dreaded malady or to have

survived it. As an expression of gratitude, the monks had the interior of

the Talmberg Chapel redecorated and a new altar erected there.

In the eighteenth century reproductions of the miraculous image were

in great demand.^ A popular story is that of the needy artisan who was com-

missioned to produce a replica, and decided to sculpture the features at the

Shrine. Before he had perfected the figure he had fallen completely under

the spell of his model. Hardly realizing what he did, he dropped to his

knees and prayed confidently that more work would come his way. Almost

before his first assignment had been completed, he was besieged from all

directions with orders for copies of the famous statue.

We know that replicas were exported from Prague at an early date

because one of the numerous recorded cures occurred in 1733 at Gratz, Styria,

through veneration of an image. However, the first identical copy made of

^ As early as 1647 the prior of Prague, Father Bonaventure of St. Mary

Magdalen, in gratitude for a favor had caused the first replica to he carved

in wood and sent to Solnitz where it was exposed in the church—the first
after St. Mary of Victorfs in which the Infant King received public venera-

tion. It is probable that other copies were made at an early date.

36



wax and touched to the original was not made until four years later than

this. It was the work of one Susanna of Textor and was presented to the

Carmelite nuns of Prague. The available accounts all agree that these sisters

dressed and colored innumerable statues and pictures of the Infant King

for distribution but do not make clear precisely when their undertaking be-

gan.

It is certain however that this work was a labor of love and that it

grew to such proportions in the peak years of the devotion that it consumed

every spare moment of the busy nuns’ time. The replicas which they adorned

went not only to the convents of Prague but also to the parish churches in

and beyond the city, and to many families. Reason indicates that the sisters

sent them also to other monasteries of their Order. Following their example,

the sisters of Gratz and Gmunden took up this work which was prominent

among the causes of increased devotion to the Infant Jesus.

Another prime factor in the expansion was the zeal of two influential

Carmelite monks who simultaneously gave great impetus to the apostolate by

their writing, preaching, and example. Father Emmerich of St. Stephen,

learned theologian and philosopher, was prior of Prague. ^ Father Ildephonse

of the Presentation of the Most Holy Virgin was General of the Order from

1737 to 1740. Both were worthy successors of Cyril.

Father Emmerich collected Cyril’s manuscripts and the writings of others

on the subject of the miraculous image, and used them as the basis of a book

in German which he called Things Great and Small about Prague. The work

was enthusiastically received and three years later a new and large edition

was issued. It was also translated into Bohemian and Italian, the latter

edition being published in Trent.

Ehiring the peak years from 1738 to 1741 worshippers came to the

Shrine in constant streams from morning until night. Masses were celebrated

from daybreak until noon, and the Chapel was constantly ablaze with thou-

sands of candles. The largest crowds were attracted on Fridays when the

Blessed Sacrament was customarily exposed there. Eighty remarkable favors

were recorded in four years and ex-votos and gifts, many of considerable

value, were offered daily.

^ He was born at Roab in 1691 and entered the Carmel in Prague in 1709-
After his priorship he became Provincial and then Definitor of the Order.

He died at Vienna August 9, 1736.

37



The efforts of Father Ildephonse caused the knowledge of the Infant

Jesus of Prague to be quickly disseminated over a vast area. In fulfilling

the duties of his office, the General traveled extensively in Europe and in

foreign lands, invariably accompanied by a representation of the Infant King

whose power and mercies he constantly preached. His preparation for his

apostolate was a long stay in Prague where he had formerly been prior, and

where he had acquainted himself thoroughly with the history of the mir-

aculous image. ^

For use in Father Emmerich’s book to which he gave formal approval he

recorded two of his personal experiences in each of which he had been pre-

served from shipwreck by invoking the Infant Jesus. The more remarkable

of the two cases occurred when he was caught in a furious tempest while en

route to Sicily for a canonical visitation. The pilot was forced to take refuge

for a night and a morning in the Bay of Orlando. When the wind calmed

towards noon the passengers reembarked. Suddenly the wind regained its in-

tensity and dashed the vessel against a reef. Instinctively Father Ildephonse

prayed to the Holy Child and unexpectedly a boat came to the rescue of the

desperate passengers and drew them all to safety. The priest’s chest was

washed overboard, containing among his possessions a magnificent Missal,

ornately decorated and lined in cloth of gold, which had been entrusted to

him by the nuns of Palermo to be placed in the Talmberg Chapel. When

the chest was recovered, although its other contents were soaked, the Missal

and its paper wrapping were quite dry. At Prague where the book was de-

livered two years later, it was esteemed as a miraculous souvenir.^

The swelling crowds of the Infant King’s followers filled the Talm-

berg Chapel and overflowed into other parts of St. Mary’s. For eighty-four

years the miraculous image had stood there and now it clearly required more

spacious surroundings. After much speculation about the choicest location

for a new Shrine the monks chose the middle altar on the right side of the

Church, a vantage point from which the miraculous Infant would be visi-

He had been Provincial of Austria and Definitor Gejieral before becoming

Superior General of the Order. He died in 1760.
^ Some time after the Carmelite monastery was suppressed, the Abbot of

Strahow bought the relic at auction. It was placed in the pretentious library

of the Premonstratensian Abbey.

38



ble to persons in any part of the building. A painting of the Holy Spirit

encircled by clouds and angels was used as background for the altar. A

triumphal procession was held January 13, 1741, and the statue was carried

with pomp to its final throne.

Owing to the inspiration of Father Ildephonse and Father Emmerich

the Carmelite Chapter of Austria decreed that replicas of the miraculous

image should be placed in all convents of the Province. Undoubtedly their

work also directly or indirectly caused the devotion to spread beyond the

distant churches and monasteries of their Order and to be embraced by

other congregations as well as by the laity in foreign lands.

A result of this is seen in the fact that the recorded journeys of the

replicas now increase in distance. Spain which had lost the original to Bo-

hemia did not receive a copy until 1750. At the same time her neighbor,

Portugal, imported a number of the statues which had been ordered by the

royal court of Lisbon. A great fanfare was made to introduce them. Within

another decade copies were being made by the hundreds and shipped not only

to many localities of Europe, but also to distant parts of the world. At this

time we know that there were statues of the Infant Jesus of Prague in Vienna,

Gratz, Lintz, and Rome; in many parts of Germany, Hungary, Saxony, Pol-

and, France, Italy, Sicily and Malta, besides those in the Iberian peninsula.

Missionaries had carried them to India and China and other remote parts

of the Christian world.

A frequently quoted work that was produced in the period we are

considering is the book which was written by a Countess and printed at the

Monastery of Kempt in 1761 and again in 1791. It stressed the wide variety

of spiritual and material help granted to those who prayed with confidence

before the miraculous image. ^

The new Shrine at Prague was later enriched in many ways. In 1776

the altar of wood was replaced by one of red and gray marble. Following

this improvement two imposing statues, one of Mary and the other of Joseph,

were placed on the altar, completing the representation of the Holy Family.

Finally a splendid tabernacle of glass supported by twenty silver angels

^ Another work of the eighteenth century was ^^The Veneration of the
Divine Infant Jesus/^ written in 1796 by Father Rupert Mitz, pastor of the

parish of Niederdorf in the district of Memmingen. But by this time the

devotion was on its temporary decline.

39



was constructed for the miraculous image, and a Dove of pure silver sur-

rounded by golden rays was placed above the tabernacle. The Figure of God

the Father was added to the beautiful ensemble to complete also the repre-

sentation of the Blessed Trinity.

And here we hope the Infant King still stands today, although His

Shrine is now behind the Iron Curtain. One thing is certain: not even world

revolution could cause the destruction of the numberless copies of His image

that have been distributed. During the middle years of the eighteenth cen-

tury, largely by means of these replicas, the devotion which had started in

the quiet monastery of Prague was faithfully transmitted to the world.

40



CHAPTER EIGHT

ECLIPSED

By mid-eighteenth century the Infant Jesus of Prague was known and

loved in Europe from the Atlantic seaboard eastward to Poland, and from

the North Sea southward to the Mediterranean. The devotion was so deeply

rooted on the continent that no combination of circumstances, however un-

favorable, could destroy it now. This was providential because in the second

half of the century it was submitted to the destructive glare of the ”new

enlightenment,** and subsequently to conditions which were generally un-

favorable to its propagation.

The spirit of the age and the spirit of the Infancy of Christ were ir-

reconcilable. The minds of a large and influential class of Europeans, es-

pecially in France but scattered widely, became tainted with the doctrine of

Rationalism which attacked the very foundations of the Church. Many of

these people felt that intelligence presupposed skepticism in matters of

religion as well as in learning and politics. They therefore sneered at mir-

acles, discredited the Bible, and questioned Catholic dogma. A certain class

of cynics thought it a childish waste of time to pray, for although they ad-

mitted the existence of God, they denied His interest in the everyday problems

of insignificant human beings. Many Rationalists attempted to substitute for

revealed Christianity a vague natural religion, whose laws they could dis-

cover for themselves and conveniently shape to their own purposes.

The total result was a considerable breakdown in reverence for the

Church and the hierarchy in many parts of the continent. An impatience

with restriction and a disrespect for Church observances combined to tear

down sacred customs that had been painstakingly cultivated by the faithful.

Certainly, the times were unfavorable to Christianity in general, but they

were intolerant of a devotion such as that to the Infant Jesus of Prague,

41



with its insistence on unquestioning faith, its strong belief in miracles, and

its respect for religious symbols.

Some rulers of countries became infected with the new poison and used

their position to undermine the faith of their subjects. Frederick the Great

of Prussia was an ardent admirer of Voltaire, one of the leading apostles of

revolt of the century. During the destructive Seven Years War, (1756-1763),

which involved most European nations, he overran Bohemia and threatened

Prague. The country was thrown into turmoil but fortunately Frederick

failed to conquer it but was compelled to withdraw into Saxony. Yet in the

course of the war, against great odds, he managed to humiliate Austria and

its Catholic Empress.

Maria Theresa, in her forty years’ rule of Austria, shared the faith of

her people and respected their Catholic traditions. She "remained an ardent

Christian in an age of unbelief.”^ Although she reared her son Joseph in

the Church, he embraced the radical doctrines of Rousseau (except that of

popular sovereignty) and with his accession to the throne as Emperor Joseph

II, he attempted to force his views on his people.^ In fact, from the death of

her husband, Francis I, Maria Theresa’s attempts at practical and moderate

reform were frustrated by the uncontrollable impulses of her son.

To give the devil his due, Joseph meant well in some of his intended

social reforms. lie dreamed of uplifting the lower classes, liberating the

serfs (who were unprepared for liberty) and providing free elementary

education for all. The new and earthly paradise that was supposed to result

from his efforts, however, failed utterly to materialize.

But Joseph did not stop at social reforms. He tried to usurp the au-

thority of the Pope. Ignoring the fact that Austria had stood through the

years a bulwark of the Church, he decreed that papal bulls should be with-

held from publication in his domains, pending imperial authorization, and

he reserved to the state the nomination of Bishops, and the training of

the clergy.

^ '^Polhkal and Social History of Modern Europe/’ 1, 445, by Carlton /. H.

Hayes, New York, Macmillan, 1926.
2
Joseph was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765; co-regent of Austria with

his mother until her death in 1780; and sole ruler of the Hapsburg dominions

1780-1790.

42



Catholic worship, while not forbidden, was curtailed and severely re-

stricted. In Prague alone seventy convents, churches, and chapels were

closed. Church ceremonies were changed or abolished, side-altars were re-

moved (but fortunately not in St. Mary of Victory's), new laws were passed

regulating such details as the size and number of candles to be used. The

Emperor even tried to discourage religious vocations.

Dressed statues and other religious symbols, traditionally held in esteem

not only by the peasantry but by Joseph’s royal forebears, were now linked

with the darkness of the uneducated mind. The clergy were righteously

angered by the Emperor’s highhanded and unscrupulous tactics and the peo-

ple, accustomed to Maria Theresa’s Christian rule, were shocked but power-

less to alter the situation.

Joseph had a special aversion for the contemplative orders. An idea of

his views on the Carmelite life may be gained from an incident that had

occurred some years earlier when he visited his cousin, Madame Louise, a

nun in the French Convent of St. Denis. At that time Joseph was permitted

to visit the cloister and to study first-hand the austere life of the sisters.

Upon leaving the convent he remarked to his cousin:
*

‘Madame, I would

rather be hanged than lead the life you lead.” The lady had the last word.

She replied: “I have tried the Court and the Carmel.”^

With such contempt for the life of Carmel, Joseph would hardly have

been expected to leave the monks of Prague unmolested. On July 3, 1784,

they received their decree of banishment, and the forty-four religious sadly

left the city and their miraculous image of the Infant Jesus. A moderate

sum of money was given them in exchange for their monastery which Em-

peror Ferdinand had founded for them one hundred and sixty years before.

The famous statue was not harmed, although the gifts and ex-votos

that had been placed at the Shrine were confiscated. St. Mary of Victory’s

became a parish church and its administration passed to the priests of the

Order of Malta. Before the Carmelites left they took a solemn oath to

spread wherever they went the knowledge and love of the Infant Jesus of

^ From ^^Carmel, Its History, Spirit and Saints.” Madame Louise, whose

name in religion was Sister Teresa of St. Augustine, has been declared Ven-

erable by the Church. During the religious persecutions she obtained per-

mission from her nephew, Louis XVI of France, to shelter expelled Car-
melite nuns in the Monastery of St. Denis.

43



Prague, Who had been entrusted to their guardianship. But in Prague the

devotion grew cold in many hearts. Far from being promoted it was only

tolerated now.

Pope Pius VI was understandably alarmed at the policies of Joseph

—

how alarmed we may gauge by the fact that he made a personal visit to

Vienna. John Farrow, in his Pageant of the Popes^ gives a revealing descrip-

tion of the visit. The hypocrisy of the age was indicated by the cordial recep-

tion accorded the Holy Father while simultaneously his authority was being

overlooked in Austria. He was cheered, given receptions, and treated to a

fine display of meaningless court etiquette. Nothing more substantial was

gained by the trip but the Sovereign Pontiff refrained from taking stronger

measures for fear of provoking the Emperor to make a complete break with

the Church. There was nothing to do but wait.

When Joseph’s reign had ended in dismal failure, his brother and

successor, Leopold II, withdrew most of the innovations that had been im-

posed on the country. Yet a vast amount of damage had been done to the

nation, to its people, and—^what concerns us here—^to a simple popular de-
votion. The Infant Jesus of Prague had suffered His worst defeat to date.

Still His veneration while deteriorating in Prague never completely

died out there and it continued to flourish in many other localities of Europe

in defiance of the times. But the European scene, for many years to come,

provided an unhealthy climate for its cultivation, especially since some of the

countries where the Carmelites had been strong, and where it might have

spread most rapidly, were torn by the forces of irreligion: notably France,

Italy, Spain and the Low Countries.

Before Joseph’s death Revolution had flared in France. Many heads

were to roll, including those of the Catholic King and Queen. The new

French Republic began experimentation with religion and for a time even

considered doing away with Christianity altogether. Churches were defiled

and the victory of reason over '^superstition” was celebrated in a degraded

manner. Pius VI although aged and ill was imprisoned and, while in a dying

condition, was transported to Valence where he closed his eyes on a Europe

that he had been unable to save from blindness in matters of faith.

Napoleon restored Catholicism to France but only for political pur-

poses. He had as little respect for the authority of the Church as Joseph II.

^New York, Sheed and Ward, 1945.

44



He tried to use the new pope, Pius VII, as his tool in dealing with Europe.

He imprisoned the Holy Father at Savona and later at Fontainebleau. During

the Revolution many religious had been persecuted and monasteries sup-

pressed. Napoleon continued the spoliation of the religious orders and event-

ually suppressed them altogether. His influence in foreign countries as in

France was harmful to the Church.

The long series of political upheavals in Italy during the nineteenth

century continued to involve the popes.® The Kulturkampf movement in

Bismarck’s Germany, an organized effort to undermine Catholic influence, oc-

casioned new persecutions in the North. The century following the Seven

Years War was a troubled one for the Church in Europe.

The Infant Jesus of Prague had been eclipsed by the **new enlighten-

ment.” But He was patiently waiting for the opportune moment to emerge

from the darkness to an unprecedented triumph.

® Twice the Austrians had to come to the aid of Gregory XVI. Pius IX

fled to Gaeta but returned after Trench soldiers conquered Rome from the

forces of Garibaldi and Mazzini. In the sixties the Pope lost most of his

domains to Sardinia. After the Franco-Prussian War, Victor Emmanuel II

seized Rome and Pius voluntarily imprisoned himself in the Vatican.

45



CHAPTER NINE

PRINCE OF NATIONS

In 1878 Leo XIII became Pope and gradually poured oil on troubled

European waters. It was the same year that Prague experienced a resurgence

of devotion to the Infant King. Was it more than coincidence that with

this increased homage an era of peace and prosperity was ushered in?

For many years prior to Leo’s reign the work of restoring the religious

orders in Europe had been progressing slowly and painfully, with repeated

interruptions and setbacks occasioned by new political revolutions and by

fresh outbursts of religious persecution. But wherever and whenever priests

and sisters could safely emerge from obscurity they had not hesitated to do so.

Although many complicated problems awaited Leo, the times were now

more propitious for Catholic expansion than they had been for a long period.

This illustrious Prince of the Church, with an unexcelled combination of

zeal and diplomacy, proved more than equal to the challenging situation in

which he found himself. He decreased much of the hostility toward Rome

which had long existed in Protestant countries and disarmed the suspicious

who feared that the Church stood exclusively for reactionary policies and the

monarchical forms of government. Leo was universally esteemed and the

prestige of the Holy See was restored with resulting solid achievements in

many fields of Christian endeavor. The Infant Jesus of Prague took advantage

of the favorable circumstances on His home continent to win more completely

the loyalty of the sections where He was already known and to vastly extend

His Kingdom.

While Leo was being initiated into his duties in Rome, the Church of

St. Mary of Victory in Prague with its privileged altar was being renovated.

A concerted plea arose from the religious congregations in the city for per-

mission to house the miraculous image while the repairs were being made on

the Church. The Infant King therefore made a tour of the local religious

46



foundations between September, 1878, and December of the following year.

He was the guest for short periods of time of the Jesuit Fathers, the Re-

demptorists, the Carmelite Sisters, the Ursulines, the Madames of the Sacred

Heart, the Gray Sisters, the Sisters of Charity, of St. Elizabeth, and of

St. Charles. Each order attempted to excel all the others in honoring the

famous statue and in doing so attracted the eyes of Prague anew to the mir-

aculous Infant. Fervor increased during the next two decades and in 1896 the

Cardinal Archbishop of the city erected in St. Mary’s an association of the

Holy Infant.

Meanwhile in 1884 a German priest, Father Peter Joseph Mayer,

C.Ss.R., had produced a history of the devotion, borrowing largely from the

writings of Father Emmerich. Soon there were in circulation twenty-five

thousand copies of the new work. The stimulus given by this timely publi-

cation, the recent lessening of animosity against the Church, and increased

missionary activity were important factors in the widespread diffusion of the

devotion that was achieved in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

In France all the Carmelites and more than a hundred other religious

communities, notably the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, now propagated

devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague. The Company of the Holy Infancy

was erected at Lille Nord in 1894 with a membership of thousands, under the

direction of the Chancellor of the Catholic University of the city. In Paris

all the children solemnly consecrated themselves to Christ’s Infancy in Janu-

ary, 1893. An imposing number of parishes and schools scattered throughout

the different dioceses of France also adopted allegiance to the Infant King.

The trade in statues, medals. Chaplets and pictures now reached pro-

portions undreamed of in the last century, with Belgium playing a prominent

part in the exportation of authentic copies of the miraculous image. This

little country also furthered the apostolate by means of the printed word.

In 1897 the city of Brussels produced a periodical in French, Flemish, and

German, called The Messenger of the Holy Infant of Prague. A Carmelite

nun of Namur wrote The Story of the Miraculous Statue of the Holy Infant

Jesus of Prague, an excellent history of the image in French. ^ Many orders

besides the Carmelites had long been active in promoting the devotion in

Belgium, notably the Christian Brothers, the Barnabites, the Benedictine

^ A translation of this work comprises the first section of ^^Da Praga ad
Arenzano Liguref^ Milan, 1925.

47



Sisters, the Ursulines, the Poor Clares, the Apostolines, the Sisters of Our

Lady and of Providence.

At Luxemburg, the birthplace of Cyril, the Carmelites founded a mon-

astery for women under the patronage of the Infant of Prague. The Fran-

ciscan nuns brought replica statues to Norway. Switzerland honored the

Infant in her resorts of Martigny-Bourg, Wattwyl, and Davos. In England

the Sisters of the Visitation (who were outstanding for their zeal), the Sisters

of Mary Reparatrice, and the Religious of Our Lord of the Cenacle were

now ardent enthusiasts. The Carmelites of St. Joseph introduced the statues

into Oakley, Scotland. In Ireland more than eighty communities held the

miraculous image in highest esteem. Seventeen thousand names were in-

scribed in the Infant’s Confraternity, with its seat at Longhrea, before 1900.

All over the continent the miraculous Infant was experiencing perhaps

His most overwhelming popularity in schools and orphanages. There ap-

pears to be little doubt that this devotion was intended, by the Christ Child,

to be a means of instructing modern children in the doctrine of His King-

ship. Among the numerous sisters who invited Him into their institutions,

in addition to those already mentioned, were the Sisters of St. Chretienne de

Metz, the Dominicans, the Borromaeans, and the Sisters of Christian Doctrine.

But to mention the communities that sooner or later venerated the Infant

Jesus of Prague would be almost tantamount to cataloguing the orders of

the Church.

The Infant King enjoyed one of His greatest triumphs when He was

welcomed into the Vatican by His representative Leo XIII, who accepted a

beautiful statue from a noble couple of Belgian Flanders. Naples dedicated

to the Child an institution for deaf-mutes, and Milan enshrined Him in the

magnificent Church of Corpus Domini. Many cities of Italy joined the cru-

sade and He selected this country for the site of His first Basilica. (This

milestone, however, belongs to the twentieth century.)

At Arenzano, near Genoa, in the exquisite setting of the Riviera, this

majestic Sanctuary stands among the palms and the orange tree of its semi-

tropical surroundings. Pilgrims are invited to enter and venerate the copy

of the miraculous image high above the main altar as once they thronged to

St. Mary’s to pray before the original. In this Basilica the Carmelite monks

have found solace at last, realizing that they have given their Infant King

an even more splendid home than they were able to offer Him in Prague,

48



a Shrine in which He can becomingly work His prodigies anew. Here on

September 7, 1924, His statue was solemnly crowned with a rich diadem

blessed by Pope Pius XI, while Cardinal Merry del Val officiated.

But long before the end of the nineteenth century Europe had redeemed

herself for the period during which she had neglected the Infant of Prague.

Not satisfied with the work of reparation that was being effected on the con-

tinent, Europeans redoubled their efforts during Leo’s reign to send ambas-

sadors to distant lands to announce the coming of the Infant King.

Missionaries vigorously took up the work that had necessarily lapsed

in the years of persecution and introduced the miraculous Infant to every

known continent, and to the natives of numerous islands. Before a new

century had dawned ardent sisters and priests had unpacked their replicas of

the miraculous image in strange surroundings, and using whatever resources

were at hand, had set up Shrines and instructed their white, black, yellow,

brown and red charges in the power and the mercies of the Child Who is

their King.

In Africa He was venerated from the Mediterranean to the Cape of

Good Hope. He was known in Marian-hyll and Oran in Algeria, at Carthage

in Tunisia, at Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, and along the banks of the

Niger. In the Belgian Congo and in the colony of Gabon in French Equa-

torial Africa negroes adored Him.

From Palestine to Japan Asiatics embraced the devotion. In the land

of His birth the Carmelite monks paid homage to Him in their historic

monastery on Mount Carmel, the cradle of their Order, while at the foot of

the mountain, the Carmelite sisters offered their tribute. In Nazareth the

Sisters of St. Joseph dedicated a nursery and a large hospital to Him.

The miraculous Infant was carried in procession at Mangalore in Mala-

bar early in 1895. He was known and loved at Pondichery, and across the

Bay of Bengal at Rangoon in Lower Burma. He was enshrined at Colombo

in the island of Ceylon. Much earlier than this He had made His entry into

ancient China and now He established His empire there more securely. The

Trappists contemplated Him in their silent monastery near Peking, as did

the Carmelite sisters at Tou-se-wei near Shanghai and on the heights of

Yun-nan. In Indochina French missionaries taught the natives of Hanoi in

Tongking and Saigon in Cochin China to turn to Him in all of their needs.

In Penang off the coast of the Malay Peninsula Chinese orphans knelt

49



before the Infant King. In Japan he attracted a religious order, the Sisters

of the Infant Jesus.

He found His way to Sydney in Australia. In Molokai in the middle

of the Hawaiian archipelago, He was as gracious to the lepers who asked His

help as He had been to the princes and prelates of Europe in the early days

of His reign.

With high hope He journeyed to the New World and laid claim to the

lands that hold the greatest promise for men of the future. The Infant Who

came originally from Spain was immediately at home among the Spanish

children of South America, and the simple Indians took Him straight to

their hearts. He established His sovereignty in Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, and

Ecuador. The islands of Cuba and Haiti welcomed Him and the Dominion

of Canada received Him into the French Diocese of St. Albert.

The spectacular rise of the Infant Jesus of Prague from the semi-obscuri-

ty that had followed His eclipse, and His whirlwind campaign of conquest in

times immediately preceding our own seemed to augur great things to come

in our day.

At this period He looked longingly toward the United States, foreseeing

that in another half century it would become the arsenal of democracy, but

also the crusader for world peace and therefore a possible ally of the Prince

of Peace. He determined to occupy this country from shore to shore. In

the nineties He therefore bombarded our coasts with blessings, and America

opened her arms wide to receive the Infant King.

50



CHAPTER TEN

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

In our big and densely populated cities where sin and disease thrived,

a little King went about doing good as the nineteenth century drew to a

close. A beautiful Shrine was erected for Him in New York in the Church

of the Most Holy Redeemer and other churches in the city, as well as con-

vents, began to obtain copies of the miraculous image and to establish new

centers of veneration. In Boston a large assembly of children, from one to

twelve years old, were solemnly consecrated to the Infant Jesus of Prague

on January 23, 1893. At New Orleans the Jesuits founded a school under

His patronage. The Bohemian immigrants of Chicago found in the Church

of St. Wenceslaus the great devotion imported from their native land.

The first Americans to benefit visibly from the generosity of the Infant

King were patients in our eastern hospitals. Remarkable cures and conver-

sions were well publicized and a great demand for replica statues resulted

as well as a healthy curiosity about the story of the original.

As early as 1887 the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis had imported a

copy from their Mother House at Aix. Shortly after they placed statues in

New York’s St. Francis Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital for Incurables.

When Bishop Maes brought the French Sisters of Providence from Alsace to

Kentucky, they too had the images with them. One of these was destined

for their house at Mount Martin and another for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in

Covington. Jersey City obtained an Infant of Prague for St. Francis’ Hos-

pital and Hoboken another for St. Mary’s Hospital. The Sisters of Provi-

dence made the devotion known in Rhode Island.

In 1894 a bookseller of New York, Joseph Schaefer, published a trans-

lation of Father Mayer’s book by Father P. Herman Koneberg, O.S.B., en-

titled The Infant Jesus of Prague and Its Veneration. This, apparently the

first account in English in our country, had a large sale. Schaefer also pub-

51



lished the original work in German; a French account; and a comprehensive

ten-cent booklet in English which extended into several editions and of which

at least seventy-five thousand copies had been printed by 1898. This booklet,

Devotion to the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague, gave details of many

of His prodigies including some worked in the United States.

In the nineties Schaefer was also selling a large variety of religious

articles pertaining to the devotion. Some of the statues were made in America

but replicas from Prague were available bearing the seal and signature of the

Rector of St. Mary of Victory’s, certifying that they had been touched to

the original.

The story of the apostolate in the United States in our century has

never been written although it has been vigorous. Apparently no new

publications of any length appeared after 1900 on the subject of the mir-

aculous image, and the earlier writings were never adequately revised and

are today out of print. ^ The story remained alive in pamphlets such as

Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, published by the Benedictine Sisters

at Clyde, Missouri, of which 1,312,000 copies had been printed by May,

1950. Articles appeared from time to time in Catholic periodicals. A month-

ly publication about the Infancy, Bethlehem, was published for a while by

the Discalced Carmelites at Ponca City, Oklahoma.

During the last twenty-five years and especially during the last decade

there has been an upsurge in devotion to the Infant King. Today we have

many Shrines from which it is propagated nationally by means of well-ad-

vertised novenas held annually, monthly, or semi-monthly, and distribution of

related literature and religious articles. In addition there are countless images

in our churches, hospitals, schools, and other Catholic institutions. There is

a tremendous carryover into American homes, the fruit of the efforts of

priests and sisters of many orders, some secular priests, and members of the

laity.

The work of the Discalced Carmelite monks and nuns is still prominent.

The General of the Order has authority to erect everywhere the Confraternity

of the Infant Jesus of Prague which was established in 1913 with the ap-

^ One exception is Bather Koneherg^s translation of the seventh revised

edition of Father MayePs book, published in 1946 by the Catholic Book

Publishing Company of New York.

52



proval of Pope Pius X,^ Its purpose is officially stated in the following

words

:

1. To promote devotion to the Infant Jesus; to propose for medi-

tation and imitation the ineffable virtues of the hidden life

of Our Saviour so that all hearts may be inflamed with love for

the Divine Infant.

2. To place all those enrolled, especially children, under the special

protection of the Miraculous Infant, in order that they may be

preserved from the corruption of the world.

^

The Confraternity has been erected in many localities in the United States,

not only in Carmelite foundations, but at Shrines maintained by other re-

ligious also. Enrollments may be made by mail.

The Carmelite priests at Dallas, at Washington, D.C., and at San An-

tonio, besides having branches of the Confraternity and frequent novenas,

carry on a varied program to spread the knowledge of the Infant of Prague.

At Dallas under His generous patronage they were able to build a

modern, well-equipped seminary, which they operate without tuition fees to

benefit poor boys who aspire to the priesthood. ''Our Little King always

finds someone to take care of the expenses ...” writes the Father Superior.

The grateful priests offer daily prayers at the Shrine for their benefactors. To

school children they offer membership in the Junior League. They preach no-

venas to the Infant in other churches. A very important phase of the work

at Dallas is the distribution, gratis, of quantities of literature. In a crusade

for peace during World War II about a million and a half leaflets in English,

Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and French were given away. A similar

crusade has been undertaken since the outbreak of the Korean conflict.

At both Dallas and Washington the Carmelites hold solemn Christmas

novenas with processions in honor of the Infant Jesus preceding the Mid-

^
^^Carmel prayed that the sweet Jesus, the Infant King, might reign over

the twentieth century, and that as He holds the globe in His tiny hand, He

might hold all Christendom in the bonds of charity, and this prayer was

answered by the erection of a . . . Confraternity . . ^^Carmel, Its History,

Spirit and Saints/^ p. 254.

^ Members are required to register their names in the Confraternity book,

to wear a properly blessed medal, and to recite the Gloria daily three times

with the ejaculation, ^^Divine Infant Jesus, bless me!’ Other practices are

recommended and indulgenced.

53



night Mass. The monks at Washington are outstanding promoters of the

Confraternity. One happy result of this work which is slanted especially

though not exclusively for children is seen in the number of young people

who visit the Shrine daily. The Fathers conduct their Mission Apostolate

under the name and patronage of the Infant of Prague. To Him they give

credit for the erection of their monastery and chapel and at the present time,

when they need to build again, they are trusting to Him to secure benefactors

for the new undertaking.

The Carmelites of San Antonio, who publish The Apostolate of the

Little Flower, promote devotion to the Child Jesus and to St. Theresa simul-

taneously. (So do the Caked Carmelites at Chicago.) About a decade ago

they erected a beautiful Shrine to the Infant of Prague because they had re-

ceived at Theresa’s Shrine so many letters of gratitude from people who had

been helped by Him.

The National Shrine in the Czech city of Prague, Oklahoma, was estab-

lished at the request of Bishop Eugene McGuinness in the new St. Wences-

laus Church which was completed in 1949, the Golden Jubilee of the parish.

The pastor. Father George Johnson, Director of the Shrine, has long been a

zealous apostle of the Infant of Prague. Almost every man, woman and child

in the parish made a personal contribution to the construction of the Church.

It was a project that must have appealed strongly to the special Friend of

workmen and children in whose honor it was undertaken. The National

Shrine has a branch of the Confraternity and monthly novenas and issues a

quarterly publication about the progress of the work.

A recent American development that gives promise of permanence and

growth is the Infant Jesus of Prague Guild which originated in Youngstown,

Ohio. It was founded by Mrs. George E. Gardner in memory of her only

son who died in a lake tragedy in 1942. Praying to the Child Jesus for

resignation, the mother spread devotion to Him privately during the sad

interim between her son’s death and the initiation of the Guild. Patiently

she laid the foundations, first placing a statue of the Infant of Prague in her

parish church, St. Dominic’s, then giving small statues to the babies of the

parish. She succeeded in launching the first guild in St. Dominic’s in June,

1947. Within little more than three years there were seventeen parish guilds,

including several in other towns of Ohio, and one in the Diocese of Pitts-

burgh, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Gardner had also by this time sowed the seed for

54



future guilds in sections of New York, North Carolina, Michigan and Florida.

Each parish group follows the same Rule but each functions as an inde-

pendent unit. The Rule stresses family prayer and the fostering of the love

of the Infant Jesus in parents and by them in their children. Much emphasis

is placed on generosity and a fine appreciation of the deep spiritual values

inherent in devotion to the Infancy is evident in guild proceedings. The

Guild is purely a lay project dependent upon the approval of the Bishop of

each diocese and the pastor of each parish.

An outstanding example of the role played by the miraculous image in

our American institutions is found in the 'Trisoner-Built Church of St.

Dismas” at Dannemora, N.Y. 'Tn our building of this beautiful church,’'

writes the Chaplain, Father A. R. Hyland, 'Ve gained tremendous inspiration

from the Infant Jesus of Prague and offered many prayers to Him to aid

us in overcoming our difficulties ...” The prayers were answered overwhelm-

ingly, as the success of this unique undertaking testifies. The project offers

a striking illustration of the popularity of the devotion with men. From

the beginning it has appealed strongly to the masculine mind.

Our sketch of the organized effort that is being made in our country

today to honor the Infant King, although far from being complete, shows

that the work has reached considerable proportions and is mounting steadily.

It is supplemented by private veneration on a grand scale, if we may esti-

mate its extent from the volume of related religious articles now on the mar-

ket and the number of pamphlets, prayer leaflets and pictures currently in

circulation.

Images are procurable in many sizes and styles. There is such diversity

of execution that often a minimum of resemblance to the original miraculous

image is observed. The face is sometimes babyish, sometimes mature, the

expression grave or cheerful, depending on the mood or ability of the artist-

creator. Costumes and crowns may be either simple or ornate. But almost

invariably the figures are appealing. Purse-size statues in glass, plastic or

leather cases are popular.

The Little Crown or Chaplet of fifteen beads is widely used and may

be recited in a variety of approved forms. An adequate method is to say

three Paters on the large beads in honor of the Holy Family, twelve Aves on

the small beads in honor of the twelve years of the Infancy, and before each

Pater and the first Ave, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst

55



US.” Our Lord revealed to Margaret of Beaune that the use of the Chaplet is

very pleasing to Him and is rewarded with special graces, especially purity

of heart and innocence. He asked that it be not only recited but also carried

on our person.

A variety of prayers to the Infant Jesus of Prague are used in our

country today, many having been transmitted from the early writings. Includ-

ed are supplications for almost every human need and several novena for-

mulas, a favorite being the Novena of Hours for cases of great urgency.

Other novenas emphasize the mysteries, the virtues of the Infant, or our

relations with Him. He is sometimes addressed as the Prince of Peace. Per-

haps the most popular novena is that which ends on the twenty-fifth of the

month.

From the total picture an observer may justly conclude that in America

the devotion has penetrated every phase of our Catholic life. In all difficulties

American men, women and children turn to the Infant King. Several of our

periodicals regularly print letters of thanksgiving from those who have bene-

fited by His generosity. (He was recently credited with being more powerful

than the atom bomb.) Although the plan of this work excludes detailed

accounts of favors, a sketch of the devotion in the United States today would

be unsatisfactory without at least one sample of the wonders that He is quietly

and constantly working among us.

A few years ago in St. Louis, Margarite Martin was stung by yellow

jackets, developed aplastic anemia, and was given eight weeks to live.

Through prayer to the Infant of Prague she was apparently cured and re-

covered a high blood count. When the illness returned after a year, although

she required thirty-three transfusions, she continued to pray with confidence

and was again rewarded. Doctors and hospital authorities were astounded at

her lack of pain and her retention of her faculties and efficiency.

Death came to Margarite Martin (while this was being written) but

not until she had been granted necessary time in which to arrange vitally

important affairs. It came mercifully, bearing no twinge of pain. At the

end she said: "The Little Infant is answering our prayers in another way.”

The Infant King had granted her two years of grace which was perhaps

miraculous. But He had given her a choicer gift: the confidence of a

child which enables a soul to surrender unquestioningly to His Will. It is

for souls of her mettle that His present campaign is being waged.

56



CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE TWIN ALLEGIANCES AND THE LITTLE WAY

The miraculous image is more than an attractive figure of the Child

Jesus, intended to stimulate fervor. The more deeply we study it, the more

we become convinced that it is symbolic, full of meaning for us. For three

centuries it has been silently appealing for the Twin Allegiances that the

Infant Christ ardently desires: universal acceptance of His littleness and of

His Kingship.

We can almost hear Him saying: 'Tf I was willing to become a Child

for your sake and to be subject to Mary and Joseph, can you not remain little

and submit to the will of God? If in spite of My love of humility I permit

myself to be dressed royally to remind you that I rule all creatures, will you

not accept My sweet yoke and My light burden?”

Notwithstanding the popularity of the Infant of Prague we have not

really taken His lesson to heart. Ambition is the order of our day. Too

many Christians love wealth and prestige. The modern religion is a blind

and abject worship of power, mass and energy. We boast of our giant cor-

porations, our terrifying weapons, our pretentious world federations. We

have no use for littleness and so God favors littleness to bring us back to

reality.

Again, although we admire virtue in general, we largely reject the per-

fections of the Infancy. Qualities which we actually extol in the twentieth

century are those which do no violence to our ego: liberality, perseverance,

heroic sacrifice on the battlefield. (So did the pagans of the ancient world.)

But we ignore or contemn virtues which damage our self-esteem: simplicity,

meekness, submission. There is no room in the inn of our hearts for the

poor Child Who wants to be born there.

Nor have we fully accepted His Kingship. If we acknowledge with

our lips that He is our Master, we deny it more or less completely by our

57



actions. The miraculous Infant holds the globe in His left hand to warn us

of His sovereignty. As we consider the insignificance of the sphere in His

little palm and the rebellious ways of its inhabitants, we realize that He

sustains it out of pity. If the world is that small in His sight what is one na-

tion? one man? Why are we not afraid to break His law? It appears fan-

tastic that we should defy Him in any way, yet we act as though we were

self-sufficient and depend on the sheer force and magnitude of material

things to save us from destruction.

We begin to understand then why the cross surmounts the crown on the

image, and why the weight of the crown seems to oppress the small head of

the Child. It is because this King refrains from using force on His reluctant

subjects and makes Himself dependent on free-will offerings which are

largely denied Him. Mysterious as it is, He that is mighty must induce us

to accept freely His Kingdom which is not of this world and which the world

has always despised.

Since man had not yet grasped the lessons the Infant King was trying

to teach, since in fact he seemed to be getting farther away from these truths

than he had ever done since the beginning of the Christian era, less than a

century ago God sent Therese of the Child Jesus to restate the message in

simple, clear and attractive terms.

Therese’s Little Way of Spiritual Childhood embraces perfectly the

Twin Allegiances: loyalty to the virtues of Christ’s Childhood, and total

surrender to His rule of love. Before she taught it to others, the saint tried

it for herself and consequently left us an inspiring example of the ennobling

effects it produces in the soul.

Overcoming a strong tendency to pride and obstinacy, Therese early

adopted the voluntary love of littleness in the arms of God that made her

a specialist in the virtues of the Infancy and that raised her with dizzy speed

to the heights of divine union. She did not walk, she did not run; ''this

exquisite miniature of Christian perfection,” as Pius XI called her, was car-

ried up the mountain.^

^ In the homily for the canonization of St. Therhe Pius XI said: . .We
desire that

.

.
.
{all the faithful) should try to imitate her in becoming as

little children, lest otherwise, as Christ declares, they be excluded from the

Kingdom of Heaven. If this path of spiritual childhood be followed by all

the reformation of human society will be speedily accomplished . . .”

58



What were her secrets? They were the secrets that are concealed from

the wise and revealed to little ones. She who had extraordinary maturity of

judgment understood where to feed her knowledge. She flew straight to the

heart of Wisdom where she found clear light and certain direction for her

soul.

Therese knew that it is wise as well as good to recognize our nothingness

as creatures, to expect everything from God, never to attribute virtue to our-

selves. Because she knew that ''everything is a grace,” the gift of love, she

always looked on the bright side of things, as children do, and became the

saint of joy even when suffering most. She knew that a child wins all things

from her Father by a blind trust and so her confidence burns like an inex-

tinguishable taper in our present gloom. But her prize possession was her

boundless enthusiasm for the divine Will: she treasured every iota of it (as a

child greedily snatches crumbs of sweet chocolate) because Infinite Wisdom

chooses for us only the best. She is a magnificent proof of what the love of

God will accomplish in a creature when no obstacles are placed in the way.

Although it is attractive, Therese’s Little Way of trust and self-surrender

is a bitter pill for our generation to swallow because it begins with deflation of

the ego. But it is the modern short-cut to sanctity and cannot be overlooked

because it has the full approval of the Church. It is the way most suited to our

age not because we are indolent and it is easy, as some mistakenly think, but

because we are arrogant and it is lowly. It is also peculiarly appropriate to

our challenging times when to be mediocre is not enough, when thousands of

little saints are needed, because anyone of good will can practice it and be

quickly lifted out of the ruinous mire of mediocrity simply by doing ordi-

nary things with extraordinary perfection, and with loving dependence upon

the Infinite.

Many people will reject the Little Way because they cannot bring them-

selves to take the first step—the step down. Others will turn to it hopefully
and abandon it after a week or month, whenever the resolution to remain

little is put to the acid test. Some may adopt it and persevere without giving

much thought at first to the Infancy of Christ. But anyone who consistently

adheres to it will ultimately find himself kneeling before a Crib, and offering

the Child a Crown.

The Infant King has many important things to say to souls, secrets

which often remain untold because they are reserved for those who give

59



themselves completely to Him. He has girdled the globe and multitudes

have run after the odour of His ointments. His following is increasing with

surprising swiftness. But He has only begun His conquests. Today in our

boisterous cities as well as in our quiet villages, in our terrorizing bomb

plants as in our peaceful cloisters, He is feverishly searching for a legion of

little souls who will give Him entrance and, like Therese, permit Him to

accomplish marvelous things within them. It is through these that He wills

to heal our sick world.

60



CHAPTER TWELVE

I WILL GIVE YOU PEACE

The prime concern of right-thinking people today is to establish uni-

versal, lasting peace. Almost everyone has a solution to offer for our present

chaotic conditions, but most of these panaceas ignore the root of the trouble.

Peace is in exile because we are in a state of spiritual anarchy.

Our Lady of Fatima stated clearly the conditions for securing peace

and these did not include universal military training or the building of

the hydrogen bomb. Nor did she invent a new set of commandments which

must be obeyed, but simply reminded us of certain ancient requirements of

her Son’s law, such as prayer and penance, which we were rather persistently

overlooking.

By peace Mary meant more than a mere cessation of hostilities among

nations. She indicated the way that leads to the peace of Christ in the reign

of Christ: peace in our hearts, our homes, our countries; peace based on His

rule within us and among us.

In the years after Fatima Pope Pius XI, alarmed by society’s rejection

of Christ’s sovereignty, issued two great encyclicals on the Kingship of

Christ (JJbi Arcano and Quas Primus) and established the feast which honors

it.^ During the same period the Legion of Mary was in its initial stages.

Working for a general renewal of Christian life, the Legion has since made

a breath-taking advance around the globe, "terrible as an army set in battle

array” against the enemies of Christ.^ Was Mary’s army commissioned to

prepare the way for the triumphal reentry of the King into Jerusalem?

It is at least certain that the reign of Christ will come about only through

Mary’s mediation. And that is entirely reasonable because a mother is natur-

^ ^Yhe Peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ,” Dec. 23, 1922, and ”The

Kingship of Christ,” Dec 11, 1923.
2 See ”Legion of Mary” by Cecily Halleck, Crowell, 1930.

61



ally ambitious for the honor of her child. It is not enough that we address

all of our prayers for peace directly to Him; we must also ask her to inter-

cede for us, especially through the recitation of her Rosary. He will never

permit us to forget that she is Queen.

If we examine the message of Fatima closely we will see that much of

it had already been delivered to us by the Infant King. At Fatima Mary

held the Brown Scapular in her hand to recall to our thoughts her family of

Carmel. She chose poor, docile children to receive her message and convey

it to us, in order to remind us of her Son’s love of poverty and littleness. She

repeated that we must meditate on the mysteries, as Margaret of Beaune once

warned, and she appeared with St. Joseph to make us more conscious of the

Family of the Child Jesus. She asked for a multitude of little sacrifices to

reemphasize our need of the Little Way. (The main requirement that Mary

added to this list was the dedication of ourselves, Russia, and the whole world

to her Immaculate Heart.)

But this time the message came in the form of a gentle ultimatum. As

a result we have our choice: we may ignore it and, adhering to our big and

rebellious notions, destroy ourselves; or we may work with Mary to bring

about the submission of the world to her Child and enjoy His reign of peace.

"'Give Me My hands,” the Infant King said to Cyril, ”and I will give

you peace.” Mary asks us to admit that peace is His to give. Each time we

attempt to build a peace without Him, our edifice falls about us to our greater

confusion. The best we can do is cooperate with Him.

The Prince of Peace will return from exile when we are prepared to

give Him His hands. When we have elevated Him to His place of honor

in the oratory of His world. He will restore all things anew.

Almighty everlasting God, Who in Thy beloved Son, King of the

whole world, has willed to restore all things anew; grant in Thy

mercy that all the families of nations, rent asunder by the wound

of sin, may be subjected to His most gentle rule.

Collect from the Mass for the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ

the King.

62



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Some of the information in this booklet was derived from letters sent to

me by religious and lay people in various sections of the country.

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS:—

A Gem from the Diamond Mine or the Life of Sister Margaret of the Blessed

Sacrament . . . compiled from the French of Mgr. Fliche, Dublin, M.

and S. Eaton, 1892.

Andrew, Father, of St. Mary, O.C.D., The Order of Carmel, translated from

the French by a Discalced Carmelite nun of the monastery of Fon-

tainebleau, Bruges, Verbeke-Loys, 1913.

Beevers, John, Storm of Glory, New York, Sheed and Ward, 1950.
Carmel, Its History, Spirit and Saints, compiled by the Discalced Carmelites

of Boston and Santa Clara, New York, Kenedy, 1927.
Combes, TAbbe, (editor). Collected Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, New

York, Sheed and Ward, 1949.

Combes, FAbbe, The Spirituality of St. Therese, an Introduction, New York,
Kenedy, 1950.

Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, Clyde, Mo., Benedictine Convent of

Perpetual Adoration, 1950.

Devotion to the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague, New York, Schaefer,
1896.

Devotion to the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague, New York, Peter W.
Auer Co., successor to Joseph Schaefer, 1898.

Dughera, Sac. Luigi, Da Praga ad Arenzano Ligure, Milan, 1923.

11 Santo Bambino Miracoloso di t^ga, Arenzano (Genoa), 1948.

11 Santo Prodigioso Bambino di P^^a, XIII Edizione, Milan, Imprimatur

1895.

Jose, Padre, de Santa Teresa, O.C.D., Flores del Carmelo O Ano Cristiano-
Carmelitano, Madrid, 1948.

Koneberg, Rev. Herman, O.S.B., The Infant Jesus of Prague and Its Ven-

eration translated from the 7th revised edition of Rev. Joseph Mayer,

C.Ss.R., New York, Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1946.
Mater Gratiae, compiled by the Discalced Carmelite nuns of New Orleans,

New Orleans, 1932.



Studeny, Rev. Augustine, O.S.B., (compiled and arranged by), Novena to the

Infant of Prague, with a brief account of the miraculous image,

Chicago, Daleiden, 1945.

Taylor, Rev. Thomas N., A Little White Flower, the Story of Saint Fherese

of Lisieux, New York, Kenedy, 1925.

ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS:—

Apostolate of the Little Flower

''The Infant Jesus Encircles America” by Fr. Raphael, O.C.D., Nov.-

Dee., 1941.

"Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague” by Fr. Paul, O.C.D., Jan. -Feb.,

1949.

"The Little Infant Jesus of Prague” by B. S., Nov. -Dec., 1949.

"Devotion to the Little Infant Jesus” by Fr. Paul, O.C.D., Jan.-Feb.,

1950.

"A Flower and a Song” (unsigned), quoted from The Grail, Sept.-

Oct., 1950.

Infant of Prague News, published quarterly at the National Shrine at Prague,

Oklahoma.

Mount Carmel Magazine

''Give Me My Hands’’ by Fr. Emmanuel, O.C.D., Jan., 1951.
Wopeedah (organ of the Immaculate Conception Mission School, Stephan,

South Dakota, regularly prints brief articles about Perpetual Novena

to the Infant of Prague).

LEAFLETS Containing Prayers and Brief Accounts, published by the fol-

lowing:

—

(This section comprises only literature in my possession and does not include

all current publications.)

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, Mo.

Catholic Action Center, 3147 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo.

Discalced Carmelite Fathers, 2131 Lincoln Road, N.E., Washington 2, D.C.

Grail Publications, St. Meinrad, Indiana, publishes a prayer leaflet and book-

let with photograph of the original miraculous image.

Holy Trinity Fathers, Pikesville, Baltimore, Md.

National Shrine of the Little Flower, 906 Kentucky Avenue, San Antonio,

Texas.

National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague, Prague, Oklahoma.

Peter W. Auer Co., 23 Barclay St., New York City.
Rule of the Infant Jesus of Prague Guilds, St. Dominic’s Church, Youngs-

town, Ohio.

Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague, 4600 West Davis St., Dallas, Texas.

Shrine of the Little Flower, 6413 S. Dante Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

St. Anthony’s Guild, Franciscan Monastery, Paterson, N.
J.

64