Novena
Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague
Nine-day novena · begins Any time of need
A nine-day novena to the Holy Child under the image of the Infant Jesus of Prague. Each day contemplates one detail of the statue — the face, the crown, the royal mantle, the cross, the little golden heart, the raised right hand — and prays its own short petition, followed by an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be.
Background
The small wax-coated wooden statue of the Infant Jesus venerated in the Carmelite church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague came from Spain, was brought to Bohemia by Maria Manrique de Lara and passed to her daughter Polyxena of Lobkowicz, who gave it to the Discalced Carmelites there in 1628. Devotion to it spread through the Carmelite order and, from the nineteenth century, throughout the Catholic world. The devotion honours the mystery of the Incarnation in the Lord's infancy and asks the confidence proper to a child. Each day closes with the invocation: By Your Divine Infancy, O Jesus, grant me the grace that I now ask, if it is according to Your will and for my true good.
Days
Intention
childlike confidence in the Incarnate Word and trust in his providence
Usually begun
Any time of need
Structure
nine_days
Duration
9 days
Content subtype
full_novena