Michael Dubruiel on The Infant Jesus of Prague (2)

   The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines compiled by Michael Dubruiel .  

Below is part 2 of Michael Dubruiel's introduction to the Novena to the Infant of Prague:

"The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

History of the Devotion

In 1637, after the Saxons had left, Fr. Cyril of the Mother of God found the statue.

The statue was badly damaged; both arms of the infant had been broken off. It was cloaked in a dirty blue dress. (The cult of dressing the statue goes back to this time.)

Placing the image upright and reverencing it, Fr. Cyril was shocked when the image spoke to him, saying, "Have pity on me, and I will have pity on you. Give me my hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

Inspired by the words of the Infant Jesus to him, Fr. Cyril set out to find a benefactor to cover the costs of the repairs necessary for the restoration of the image. After many failed attempts, Fr. Cyril finally located a Prague citizen who not only donated money for the restoration of the statue but also for the building of a chapel in which the statue of the Infant of Prague would be enshrined.

In 1655, the bishop of Prague crowned the statue on the Feast of the Ascension. Since that time, devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague has spread throughout the world.

Michael Dubruiel on The Infant Jesus of Prague (1)

  The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines compiled by Michael Dubruiel .  

Below is part 1 of Michael Dubruiel's introduction to the Novena to the Infant of Prague:

"The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

History of the Devotion

The image of the Infant Jesus of Prague originates from Spain, where a copy of a similar wooden statue was commissioned and, in 1556, given as a wedding gift to María Manriquez de Lara, the bride of a Czech nobleman, Lord Vratislav of Pernstyn. Before her death, María bequeathed the Holy Infant statue to her daughter Polyxena, wife of Prince Zdenek Adalbert Lobkowitz. In 1628, the aged Princess Polyxena presented the statue to the friars of the Carmel of Prague, where it was placed in their chapel situated near the Church of Our Lady of Victories in Prague.

In 1631, Saxons invaded Prague and plundered the Carmelite monastery. The statue of the Infant of Prague was discarded in a trash pile behind the high altar of the church.

October 15 - Teresa of Avila

       From the Office of Readings:

All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.

Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.

-Michael Dubruiel 

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel Meditation

       

The Cross of Christ Unites. . . In Liberty

Michael Dubruiel

 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ROMANS 7:22–25 

The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. MATTHEW 20:28 


When you read the gospels, you sometimes sense that the disciples of Jesus were not listening to him.

He announced his Passion as they made their way to Jerusalem, and they began to squabble over who would get to sit at his right and his left in the kingdom. Whenever Jesus preached the way of the cross, they sought the opposite path. Even when he asked the disciples if they could drink out of the chalice from which he was to drink, they seemed not to catch the full import of what he was saying.

Yet who are we to critique the apostles’ inability to comprehend the Lord’s message? When we hear of the way of the cross, we filter out the harsh reality of the message. As slaves to pleasure, we flee when faced with the cross or offered the drink from  his chalice. Yet God’s grace is great; even when we run, we end up right where God wants us.

v

Michael Dubruiel

The Power of the Cross  by Michael Dubruiel is a book well-suited to daily reading during Lent or any other time of the year. 

Michael Dubruiel Meditation

     

The Cross of Christ Unites. . . Us in the Work We Have to Do 

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. REVELATION 22:1–2

 Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it. MATTHEW 21:43 

The Dream that God Gives to Us

 In the book of Genesis, Joseph has a dream (see Genesis 37). The dream is Joseph’s vocation, what God wants Joseph to do. However, that dream was fulfilled by the way of the cross. Sold into slavery for twenty pieces of silver, Joseph was thrown into jail after being falsely accused of rape. There he interpreted dreams for Pharaoh’s cup holder and baker. Years went by before the cup holder remembered Joseph and brought him to Pharaoh’s attention. After Joseph was put in charge of Egypt, his brothers appeared and prostrated themselves in front of him—fulfilling Joseph’s original dream. The cross unites our gifts and our mission, the purpose God intends for us to fulfill. It also frees us from our preconceived ideas about how God’s will should be done, freeing us to use our gifts for  the good of all, so that God’s kingdom may come and his “will be done!”

Michael Dubruiel

The Power of the Cross  by Michael Dubruiel is a book well-suited to daily reading during Lent or any other time of the year.