Cambria Times

From the Desk of Fr. Crowe 

A big THANK YOU to all who have helped in so many different ways to prepare for the 66th annual novena to the Infant of Prague. We are excited and blessed that this annual parish devotion can continue again this year! I hope you are able to come every single evening. 

As you will have noticed we had new booklets printed that contains the traditional prayers as well as some additional prayers to help you in your prayer life. If you would like, please feel free to take a booklet and hold onto it, but remember to bring it back each evening to the devotions. Thank you to the generous donor who paid for the beautiful books!

 As usual, the schedule for the novena each evening March 12-20 is: adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 6pm-7pm, Mass at 7pm (with novena prayers), confessions available afterwards. We will also have the tables full of various religious items in the school hall. The proceeds from this go directly to the parish. I am doing the best I can to gather some priests but there are a number of local parishes also holding triduum devotions or talks during our novena! Bring a friend with you to the novena. Make a sacrifice to come.

 The Lord will bless you! We have many things we need to bring to our Lord as a parish and as individuals. Lets pray especially for those who have fallen away from the Faith that they may return, for an end to abortion and euthanasia, and for vocations to the priesthood in the diocese. Of course there are many many intentions that will be brought to our Lord during this time. Please note that during the Novena, Stations of the Cross will not be prayed as a parish community on March 17. 

You are always free to come into the Church and pray them on your own. You may have seen that Bishop Mark has dispenses from the obligation to abstain from meat on March 17. The expectation is that if you do eat meat, you substitute some other form of penance. 

Looking forward: Holy Thursday is April 6 (Mass 7pm, with adoration until midnight), Good Friday Passion Service is 3pm, Holy Saturday Blessing of Baskets is 10am, and the Easter Vigil will be at 8pm (please note that at the Easter Vigil all 7 readings will be read and 4 people will be receiving Confirmation, so this liturgy will not be for the faint of heart), Easter Sunday will be 8am and 10:30am. The Novena to Divine Mercy will begin on Good Friday and end on Divine Mercy Sunday (April 16). 

For more information go to: https:// www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/novena  Stay tuned for information on how we will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday as a parish. A great possible resource for young children is located at https://holyheroes.com/ This site includes many different resources to help form children in the faith. One can even subscribe and receive blank coloring pages for children to help them learn about the Catholic Faith. Did you know? The original statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague was created as a royal wedding gift from a Spanish Princess to her Austrian royal cousin. The statue of the Infant is a slender and beautifully-modeled figure and is carved of wood thinly coated with wax, standing nineteen inches tall, with the left foot barely visible under a long white tunic. The left hand encircles a miniature globe, surmounted by a cross, signifying the world-wide kingship of the Christ Child. 

The right hand is extended in blessing with the first two fingers being upraised to symbolize the two natures of Christ, while the folded thumb and last two fingers touch each other representing the unity of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. The face has a strange power of evoking sentiments of deep gratitude of the mystery of God-made-Man. For all His majestic posture and regal attire, the little King of Prague is more striking for His outward expression of human littleness than by the impression of hidden greatness. The wardrobe of the Infant is similar to the priest’s alb: one is of white linen, the other is of lace. Covering these is a dalmatic made of silk or velvet over which is worn a cape. It represents the Infant Jesus dressed in royal robes, wearing a crown. He is King of the Universe. 

Later, the statue had been discarded in war and His hands destroyed. Found by a Carmelite, he fixed the hands and placed the statue in a place of honor in the Carmelite Church in Prague, Czech Republic. In 1637, as Fr. Cyril prayed before the Infant, he was filled with wonder, contemplating the loving God Who became a child for His people. Suddenly, the statue spoke to the stunned Carmelite: Have mercy on Me and I will have mercy on you. Give Me hands and I will give you peace. The more you honor Me, the more I will bless you. Many miracles have occurred through intercession to the Divine Infant. During one invasion, all the children of the city were taken to the Church for protection— praying to the Infant, they were all saved. 

For almost four centuries, this promise of protection and blessing has inspired devotion and love of the Infant Jesus of Prague. The home of the Infant Jesus of Prague is in the city of Prague, which is the capital of the Czech Republic. The original statue has been restored and preserved in the Carmelite church of Our Lady of Victory. 

The Church was returned to the Carmelites after the fall of Communism. The statue provides spiritual uplift for millions of people who have adopted the Holy Infant’s call to humility, simplicity, and sincerity and to become little in order to become great and pleasing before Christ the King. Devotion to the Miraculous Infant Jesus celebrates the “Child of God”—the great mystery of the Incarnation. 

The child in all of us believes in the humanity and divinity of Christ and rejoices in God’s caring and protective love for us. The Infant reminds us that God is holding us in the palm of His hand. 

The effective spiritual meditation is the reason why the Infant Jesus of Prague is so continuously appealing to human hearts all over the world, which he has so firmly in His hands. You can find His statue in almost any church, convent, monastery and house, representing a Divine Protection toward His devotees. Source: https://infantprague.org/about-the-infant-jesusof-prague/ 

Original source can be found here.