Oh Infant Jesus, how I love Thee!

Hello everyone!  Here's another draft post for you!  I wanted to share something today about the Infant Jesus.  He has always held a special place in my heart, especially the infant Jesus of Prague, but it hasn't been until recently that I am finding the connections He has to my other devotions!  I apologize that this post is sort of short and unorganized.  It's sort of a collection of pictures and selections I have compiled over the months.

St. Teresa of Avila and the Child Jesus

The following is a history of the devotion to the child Jesus from the Institute of Christ the King.

History of the Devotion

Devotion to the Child Jesus dates back to the early Church. However, it really began to develop during the Middle Ages. St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony promoted it in the 13th century. Statues of the Infant Jesus then were made in various parts of Europe. In the 16th century and during the Baroque period which followed, the popularity of the Child Jesus grew in Spain under the influence of St. Teresa of Avila, the reformer of the Carmelite Order. St. Teresa would carry around with her statues of the Infant Jesus and enshrine them in the new convents which she founded. In Baroque Spain it became the custom to dress these statues in special robes as a sign of the royalty of Christ. From Spain, statues of the Infant Jesus were brought around the world. Missionaries brought the statue of the Holy Child to the Philippines where it is stilled honored at Cebu. A Spanish princess brought a statue of the Infant Child to Prague when she married a Czech nobleman. She gave the statue to the Carmelites in Prague, who loved this devotion, and miracles happened.

Like these historic statues, the Infant King statue venerated at the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago originates from late 17th century Spain. Thus this statue is not meant to be a copy of another, but it is truly an original statue which came forth from this wave of devotion to the Infant Jesus during this time in history.

I find it very interesting that the devotion to The Infant Jesus was spread in part by Carmelites, whom I have a special closeness with.

The statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague in St. Therese's convent in Liseux, France.

The infant Jesus of Prauge told St. Cyril, a carmelite, "The more you honor Me, the more I will bless you."

The Infant of Prague clothed in a Carmelite habit at the Carmel of JMJ in NE.

"In 1741, the statue was moved to its final magnificent shrine on the epistle side off the church of Our Lady of Victory. It became one of the most famous ,and popular shrines in the world. In 1739 the Carmelites of the Austrian Province made the spread of the devotion a part of their apostolate. The popularity of the little King of Prague spread to other countries in the eighteenth century. Pope Leo XIII confirmed the Sodality of the Infant of Prague in 1896 and granted many indulgences to the devotion. Pope St. Pius X unified an organizing membership into a confraternity under the guidance of the Carmelites which increased the spread of the devotion in our own century."
Excerpt from the book
A Handbook of Catholic Sacramentals,
By Ann Ball
Full excerpt can be found on EWTN here.

A relic replica of the statue at Prague that visited our parish.

Our family's newest statue of the Holy Infant.

"Learn of the Infant Jesus to be little and to believe without doubt, to obey without reluctance, to be in want without murmuring, to work without presumption, to live in a spirit of humility and simplicity, and to strive for nothing else than to please God."

~Fr. Faber

To Jesus, through Mary.  Most Precious Blood FSSP parish in OK.

I thought it very appropriate to share this special devotion so close to Christmas because we celebrate the birth of the Infant Jesus.  May you all have a blessed Christmas season.  If you'd like, there is also an absolutely wonderful meditation on Jesus in the crib here.  
May the Christ Child bless and keep you!!