Here on your left, you will find the Church of Our Lady of Victories, the home of the world famous Infant Jesus of Prague.
If you step inside, you will find a nineteen inch tall wooden statue of the Child Jesus. It is a fragile piece, carved from wood, wrapped in linen, and coated in colored wax. To protect that delicate wax, the lower half is actually encased in silver. In his left hand, the child holds a globus cruciger, which is a golden orb with a cross on top, a traditional Christian symbol representing Christ's dominion over the world. His right hand is raised in a blessing.
The statue's origins trace back to Spain, but it arrived in Bohemia in 1556 as a wedding gift. Legend has it that the statue originally belonged to the famous mystic Saint Teresa of Avila. Fast forward to 1628, when a noblewoman named Princess Polyxena of Lobkowicz handed her most prized family heirloom over to the local Discalced Carmelites. These were a strict Catholic order of monks who lived in deep poverty, called discalced because they went barefoot or wore only simple sandals. When the Princess handed them the statue, she reportedly said, honor this image and you shall never be poor. It seemed to work. Soon after, the Emperor Ferdinand the Second heard of their devotion and sent them two thousand florins, a massive fortune at the time roughly equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars today, along with a monthly stipend.
But the good times did not last. In 1631, during the brutal conflicts of the Thirty Years War, the Swedish army captured Prague. The soldiers plundered the Carmelite friary and tossed the little statue into a pile of rubbish behind the altar. Its hands were broken off, and it lay forgotten in the dirt for seven years. Finally, a monk named Father Cyrillus returned to the ruined church and found the damaged figure. As he prayed before it, Cyrillus claimed the statue 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.
The monks repaired the hands, and since then, the Infant Jesus has been treated like absolute royalty. The Carmelite nuns meticulously dress the statue in luxurious, custom made garments that change to match the liturgical seasons of the Catholic church. He wears purple during Lent, royal blue for the Feast of the Assumption, and gold or red for Christmas. His wardrobe contains over a hundred exquisite robes, some donated by empresses and emperors, heavily embroidered with gold and studded with various gemstones. He even wears a golden crown topped with pearls and garnets, donated by Pope Benedict the Sixteenth in 2009.
Today, devotion to this tiny figure spans the globe. In Ireland, for instance, there is a popular tradition where brides hoping for good weather on their wedding day will place a replica of the statue outside their home, or bury it in the garden. It is a charming reminder of how far this little figure's influence has traveled over the centuries.
Whenever you're ready, we'll begin the climb up to Prague Castle.
