www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Infant Jesus of Prague

Friends,

There is much talk about what is true "Ruthenian" rubrics, practice, etc. I would like to discuss the issue of statues in the BC churches, particularly the Infant Jesus of Prague.

I have travelled throught a big area in Carpathian Rusinia including Slovakia, Poland, the Uzhgorod area of Ukraine, Transylvania in Romania and much of Hungary and I do not ever recall seeing an Infant of Prague statue in any Greek Catholic Church there. I did see other statues like the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart and Our Lady of Lourdes (rosary is big there you know).

The 'original' of the Infant of Prague is, of coure, in Prague, in I think the church of Our Lady of Victory (?). Way outside of traditional Rusin territory. Of course when Czecho-Slovakia was created much of sub-Carpathian Rusinia was incorporated into it thus creating a link with Prague the new capital.

Does anyone know when and where this devotion entered the BC church in the USA? Was it an attempt to be more Czecho-Slovak? Any comments are appreciated.

Bob

I bet this is one you will have to wait for Alex to answer!!!!!

Just to be sure, my question is regarding the Ruthenian Church. I think that Alex is Ukrainian, if this 'devotion' is present in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada I will be very interested in it but my curiosity is again regarding the Ruthenians.

There is a joke regarding the Infant of Prague that I believe is really old but hopefully not shocking to the people on the board:

God the Father is admonishing the Infant on his clothes "I don't care WHAT your Mother says, you aren't leaving the house dressed like that!!"

I have never heard any ethnic-oriented attachment to the Infant of Prague among our people, either in Subcarpathian Rus' or the USA. The fact that a portion of parishes here had, or in some cases still have this statue is more likely a reflection of the period of "catholicizing" our church rather than anything to do with a desire to be good "Czechoslovak" patriots.

While portions of Subcarpathian Rus' were incorporated into the newly-created state of Czechoslovakia in 1919, it was with the presumed understanding that our people would maintain an autonomous Ruthenian province, which evolved into the briefly independent state of Carpatho-Ukraine in 1938-39.

Amid the historical confusion that has led to the serious identity crisis on the part of many Rusyn people, and the wealth of descriptive titles attempting to reference our national identity, the one that always irks me the most is when people say that they are "Czechoslovakian" or of "Czechoslovak" ethnicity. While not hardly as common as the other terms, including "Slovak" or "Slavish" or "Rusnak" etc, etc, the "Czechoslovak" adjective, when used by our people, seems to be mainly among second and third generation Americans of Rusyn decent, not heavily involved in things pertaining to their heritage and whose ancestors immigrated here at a time when their homeland would have been part of that state.

In my opinion, there can be no greater ethnic myth than to think of oneself in the above terms. For mainly Roman Catholic people, there is either Czech or Slovak. To be a true Czechoslovakian, one would have to be at best, from a mixed parentage of both ethnicities.

But, gratefully, the number of our people who thought of themselves as Czechoslovakian is not that many and it would be, to me, a long shot to try and connect the veneration of the Infant Jesus of Prague in our churches here with a desire to "connect" with their Czechoslovak roots. In the attempt to latinize, the popularity of the "Infant" probably had some origin in what the people saw in the local Latin Rite churches, and priests and parishioners thought it a good idea to include a "niche" for Jesus in their Greek Catholic parishes. The fact that the statue is not found in old country churches, where the territory was actually a part of Czechoslovakia for some time, would lend me to believe that the veneration of this statue had little to do with Czechoslovak patriotism.

There are many other jokes that arose among us regarding the Infant of Prague and they don't offend me at all, but as I get older, I have a greater sense of reluctance to make light of devotions which lead some people to a greater sense of piety, as long as they contain at least some semblance of sanity.

Fr. Joe

I remember some years ago that I was in the home of a devout Roman Catholic lady when a neighbor who was Baptist came to visit her. The Baptist neighbor noticed a large statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague dressed in full regalia with a beautiful golden crown on His head. The neighbor looked for a few moments at the statue and then simply asked "Why do you have a statue of the baby Pope on your piano"? I just thought John Paul II would smile at this.
Blessings, Silouan

Dear Silouan,

Now you have left us hanging, like a TV show, "to be Continued".... What was the baptist neighbor's reaction to the real story?

John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck

I agree with Father Joe that this is probably a result of influences from the Roman Church here in America.

We have a statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague (under glass) here in our Ukrainian Catholic parish. We are keeping it out of respect for the devout parishioner who purchased it for the parish and is still devoted to it.

It is interesting that the true origin of the original statue is Spanish, taken by a princess to Prague when she was married to one of the kings there.

It seems to me that many images of the Infant Jesus are Spanish/Porguese in origin.

Stefan-Ivan

Bob,

Did you see many statues of the Infant Jesus in Roman Churches in Eastern Europe? I did not see any in Bohemia when I was there.

Stefan

I don't recall to be honest. I was in some RC churches in different parts of Central and Eastern Europe. I don't think I would have been
surprised to see one there.

You are to be commended for your sensitivity, Father.
Bishop Joseph Raya was never one to shy away from issuing provocative statements about particular devotions.
These I recall from his classes at the old John XXIII Institute (Fordham) days:
Eastern Christians worship only the Crucified and Risen Christ. There can be no devotion to the infant Christ. There is no infant Christ -- He grew up!
Also, he related how as a youngster he brought home a picture of the Sacred Heart from his RC grade school. His mother ripped it up, saying, "We worship the Whole Christ, we do no worship guts!"
Classes were always always interesting, to say the least.

[ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: durak ]

Dear Bob,

Yes, I agree that the devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague in the Ruthenian and Ukrainian Churches can largely be attributed to the overall Latin influence.

The devotion was extremely popular among Ukrainian Catholics in Europe.

Fr. Zachar Zoloty makes explicit mention of it in his book, still offered by the Ukrainian Redemptorists I believe, "The Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus."

The book is a great historical reference for the level of Latinization that existed among Ukrainian Catholics in Europe and in North America, where this book was very popular for years.

Reference is made to Eucharistic Processions, devotion to the Five Wounds, the Precious Blood etc.

The only "Eastern" aspect of that devotional book is the "Akathist to the Sacred Heart" at the back . . .

In addition, the Infant Jesus of Prague was formerly a patron of immigrants where the Child without parents was seen as a kind of patron of orphans or displaced persons finding themselves far from their homeland.

This also could have accounted for the popularity of this Western devotion in our Churches.

Another influence is the Carmelite one, of course, as the Carmelites promote this devotion and the Carmelite Brown Scapular was wildly popular in our two Churches.

Alex