Day: December 22, 2023

The Monthly Novena to the
Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague

There are two standard Novenas to the Infant Jesus of Prague – the one we will use below and the other for the Feast on 2 January. The Monthly Novena attracts Indulgences (see Note below).

“The more you honour Me,
the more I will bless you.”

Disturbances in Bohemia due to the Thirty Years’ War brought an end to the special devotions and on 15 November 1631 the army of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden took possession of Bohemia’s Capital City. The Carmelite Friary was plundered and the image of the Infant of Prague was thrown into a pile of rubbish behind the Altar. Here it lay forgotten for seven years, its hands broken off, until in 1637, it was found again by Father Cyrillus and placed in the Church’s oratory. One day, while praying before the Statue, Cyrillus heard a voice say,

“Have pity on Me and I will have pity on you. Give Me my hands and I will give you peace. The more you honour Me, the more I will bless you.”

The Seventh Day

THE NOVENA PRAYERS

1. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory,
   for my own salvation and that of the whole world,
   the Mystery of the Birth of our Divine Saviour.
   Glory be to the Father, etc.
2. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
   and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
   the sufferings of the most holy Virgin and of St Joseph,
   in that long and weary journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
   I offer Thee the sorrow of their hearts
   when they found no place wherein to shelter themselves,
   when the Saviour of the world was born.
   Glory be to the Father, etc.
3. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
   and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
   the sufferings of Jesus in the stable where He was born,
   the cold He endured, the swaddling clothes which bound Him,
   the tears He shed and His tender Infant cries.
   Glory be to the Father, etc.
4. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
   and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
   the pain which the Holy Child Jesus felt in His tender body,
   when He submitted to circumcision.
   I offer Thee that Precious Blood which then,
   for the first time He shed for the salvation
   of the whole humanrace.
   Glory be to the Father, etc.
5. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
   and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
   the humility, mortification, patience, charity,
   all the virtues of the Child Jesus
   and I thank Thee and I love Thee
   and I bless Thee without end,
   for the ineffable Mystery of
   the Incarnation of the Divine Word.
   Glory be to the Father, etc.

The Word was made Flesh,
And dwelt among us.

LET US PRAY
O God, Whose Only-begotten Son
was made manifest to us in the substance of our flesh,
grant, we beseech Thee, that through Him,
Whom we acknowledge to be like unto ourselves,
our souls may be inwardly renewed.
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee
forever and ever.
Amen.

7 years Indulgence each day, if the above prayers are recited on the 9 days preceding the 25th of any month. Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions, when the Novena is completed. (125)

More about the Infant:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/01/02/saint-of-the-day-2-january-feast-of-the-infant-jesus-of-prague/