4 posts tagged “catholicism”
How to use the Infant of Prague Chaplet:
1. On the medal say: Divine infant Jesus, I adore thy cross, and I accept all the cross thou wilt be pleased to send me. Adorable trinity, I offer thee for the glory of the holy name of God, all the adorations of the sacred heart of the holy infant Jesus.
2. Before each Our Father and Hail Mary say: And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
3. On the medal say: Holy infant Jesus, bless us and protect us.
Three Our Fathers are said in honor of the Holy Family. The twelve
Hail Marys are said in the honor of the twelve years of childhood Jesus.
Years ago, I had a roommate that said if I wanted to find money all I had to do was ask the Infant of Prague. I inquired as to the hows, whys and wherefores, and all I remember her telling me was that the Infant of Prague was something she had always heard about her family praying to growing up, but couldn’t really tell me what exactly it was all about.
Actually, she may have told me it was a statue with broken hands, but this was over 20 years ago and I can’t recall for sure, so anyway I took her at her word and I recall several instances of asking the Infant of Prague for found money, and I found $20 bucks in the lint trap of the dryer, a few dollars on the ground, another time I found a large amount of cash under a table at the end of the night while I was cocktail waitressing.
Years go by, and I always held that thought in the back of my head about the Infant of Prague sending you found money and wishing I knew more. I asked around, but no one had ever heard of the Infant of Prague, but then… ah, the advent of the internet dawns.
I came to learn that the Infant of Prague is a miraculous statue of Jesus as a small child, his feast day is the third Sunday in May (this year on 5/20/2007), that there is an apartment aptly called the Infant of Prague Apartment for rent across the street from the St. Mary the Victorious church, and his patronages include: children, schools and vocations, family life, foreign missions and travel, freedom, peace and health, and good finances -which would explain the asking for found money {and with all of the turmoil and angst I have been experiencing with my home life, wanting to go back to school and finding a fulfilling career, looks like the Infant and I are going to spending some quality time together}!
I say a miraculous statue, meaning miraculous in that accepting faith at face value, the Infant of Prague statue spoke to Father Cyrillus and asked that his hands be fixed, and that he would offer gifts to him if he would serve him this favor, and assures him, “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”!
Amazing links!
You can read an amazing historical account of the Infant of Prague at EWTN, and Viarosa.com has a nice write up of the history of both the chaplet, known as the Little Crown, of the Infant of Prague and the statue itself.
At Pragjesu.info/karmel, the official Infant of Prague website, both St. Mary the Victorious Church and the Infant of Prague statue are featured.
Prayer devotions and novenas can be found at many sites, but I really like catholic-forum and fisheaters, and a video can be seen HERE.
Catholic-Forum has some of the best images of the various Ceremonial Dressings, of which there are rumored to be 85! I had seen the statue dressed in different robes before, I suppose, but for all of my prior research I never knew actual ceremonial vestments existed. Thank you MadamJuJuJive for telling me about that so very interesting fact!
You can get a free Infant of Prague devotional chaplet and rosary at the 101Foundation, but with my most heartfelt please, I beg and beseech you not to ask them for one just because they are free!
*DISCLAIMER: This is written in the sense that Catholic doctrine is held as a universal truth. I have little or no religious background. Additionally, I neither agree with nor observe Catholic Dogma, rites and ritual and I neither propose nor purport that prayer is valid, effective, or rational nor that miraculous things happen by divine intervention nor that the Divine even exists. Again, I am so totally talking out of my ass. Enjoy!*
The way I understand it, the Bible assures (ass-u-r…) us that we each have a Guardian Angel that watches over us.
Catholic dogma tells us that when we are in need we can call on certain Saints by their indications for assistance based on their patronages. I have known more than one person to have a Saint Christopher, the Patron Saint of Travelers, medal in their car. I have called out to Saint Anthony the Finder of lost things, “Tony, Tony, Please come ‘round, something’s lost that must be found” on more than one occasion; and Saint Jude and I go way back. He has always offered staunch support and patronage to my own varied and numerous hopeless causes.
But, when we feel our need is desperate and dire enough our prayers can be turned to the beings holier than any Saint.
We are not asking God yet; we can beseech Mary by reciting the Hail Mary or one of the other countless Devotions to her, such as the Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Heavenly beauty and splendor of the Father, you are the most valued Heavenly treasure.
New Eve, immaculate in soul, spirit and body, created of the godly seed by the Spirit of God; you are the spiritual Mother of mankind. Pure Virgin, full of grace then and now, your whole being was raised Heavenly in full glory, to be elevated above all the hosts within the Kingdom of Heaven . O Heavenly Mother, Queen of Heaven and earth, I recognize the glory of your highest title, The Immaculate Heart of Mary! Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, you who continuously intercedes on our behalf, please present my need before your loving Son Jesus. (In your own words, make your special request here. Do not just mention a word. Speak to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as you would speak to another person, begging your Heavenly Mother to plea to Jesus on your behalf, that you be granted this special request.) O Immaculate Heart of Mary, I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus, for you have never turned away those in dire need. Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer, submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord, for all glories are His forever and ever.
Or my personal favorite, the prayer to the Blessed Virgin…
O Most Beautiful Flower of Mt. Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity. (Make request)
There are none that can withstand your power. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times)
Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3 times).
Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days. You must publish it, and it will be granted to you
…before asking Jesus, and then finally God.
Now, it is one thing to ask for something in Jesus’ name, but did you know that there are specific prayers to the embodiments of pain and suffering Jesus suffered for human sins that are supposed to pack quite the alleged wallop?
There are numerous specific Devotions to his Divine Mercy and to the Holiness of Jesus. We can offer our prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jesus’ Holy Name, to his Holy Face, the Holy Cross, or his Precious Blood to name just a few.
Perhaps the most powerful prayer is derived from acknowledging and recognizing the Passion, the spiritual, mental and physical suffering Jesus endured before his trial and execution by Crucifixion and it is not surprising that many chaplets, devotionals, and prayers of the Passion are closely related and intertwined. These prayers are powerful in that they encourage us to acknowledge and empathize with the pain and suffering of another at a time when we are asking for things for ourselves.
We can pay homage to the Crown of Thorns:
DEAR LORD, I am grieved when I consider Thy sad condition when Thou wore the Crown of Thorns upon Thy Holy Head. I desire to withdraw the thorns by offering to the Eternal Father the merits of Thy Wounds for the salvation of sinners. I wish to unite my actions to the merits of Thy Most Holy Crown, so that they may gain many merits, as Thou hast promised. Amen.
The Wound on the Shoulder:
O most loving Jesus, meek lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy most blessed body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, and to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on toward Heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen.
Splinters of the Cross: I couldn’t find a chaplet for this, but I did find a poem:
Little headaches, little heartaches, little griefs of every day, little trials and vexations, how they throng around our way! One great Cross, immense and heavy, so it seems to our weak will, might be borne with resignation, but these many small ones kill, yet all life is formed of small things, little leaves, make up the trees, many tiny drops of water blending, make the mighty seas. Let us not then by impatience mar the beauty of the whole, but for love of Jesus bear all in the silence of our soul. Asking Him for grace sufficient to sustain us through each loss, and to treasure each small offering as a splinter from His Cross.
And the Nails of the Cross (no chaplet found) and the 5 Holy Wounds (the devotional is much too long to post):
The wounds from the Crucifixion Nails, one nail in each hand and each foot and the wound to Jesus’ side from Saint Longinus’s lance are only the beginning of the joys and sorrows we can send our prayers heavenward with.
I have told you most of what I know about Catholic prayer rituals. If you would like to know more about Catholic traditions, ceremonies, rites and rituals, I think you will find FISHEATERS to be one of the very best, most informative websites devoted to Catholicism.
I was going to tell you about my most favorite devotional chaplet ever, but I will save that for another day, as I think you have enough to contemplate if you made it all the way through this post.
*Disclaimer: I have little or no religious background, I neither agree with nor observe Catholic dogma, rites and ritual (anymore) and I neither propose nor purport that any of these people or entities ever existed, nor that miraculous things happen by divine intervention, nor that the Divine even exists. I have no idea if any of this is valid. However, the irony of a monotheistic religion recognizing such a polytheistic ceremonial practice involving idolatry is interesting and intriguing!
Organized religion probably isn't your thing either, yet I am fairly certain you've heard of the Patron Saints and know a few of their causes and you may know that every Saint has special prayers, novenas and devotional items (idols) such as statuary and chaplets (prayer beads) for their specific intentions.
You may have even heard of St. Jude, the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes, St. Catherine of Alexandria and the story of the Catherine Wheel (not just the name of a musical act) or St. Christopher, the Patron Saint of Travelers, and you may have even been in a car with a St. Christopher medal on the visor, but, did you know Sts. Catherine and Christopher were 2 of the 14 Holy Helpers*?
The 14 Holy Helpers:
St. Erasmus (Elmo), Protector of the oppressed, Bishop: Against abdominal maladies
St. Christopher, Mighty intercessor of danger: against plagues, against sudden death
St. Giles, Despiser of the world, Hermit, Abbot, only Saint not martyred: against plagues, epilepsy, panic, madness, and nightmares
St. Cyriacus (Cyriac), Terror of Hell: Against temptations, especially at time of death, against diabolical possession and diseases of the eye
St. Achatius, Helpful advocate for a peaceful death: against headaches
St. Dionysius (Denis), Shining mirror of faith and confidence, Bishop: against headaches and diabolical possession
St. Eustachius (Eustace), Exemplar of patience in adversity: against fire, family troubles
St. Catherine of , Victorious defender of purity: against sudden death, diseases of the tongue
St. Margaret of , Valiant champion of the faith: for safe childbirth, against backache
St. Barbara, Mighty patroness of the dying: against fever, sudden death, fire, and lightening.
In the 1300s, the 14 Holy Helpers were Saints invoked as a group by those seeking relief from the ailments of the Black Plague as it was thought that those particular Saints would offer effective relief from the various physical symptoms to the pious.
Although bubonic plague still exists, we no longer suffer effects on the grand scale of the 1300s, yet we will always suffer from the plague of human nature and the assistance of Patron Saints is often invoked for fortification when seeking the theological and cardinal virtues of faith, hope and charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, humility, liberality, chastity, meekness, brotherly love, and diligence; as well as the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit- wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, mildness, and modesty as we strive to incorporate into our lives both the giving and receiving of the corporal works- the things we would want someone to do for us if we were in need- to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, the shelter the homeless, to visit the sick, to visit the imprisoned, to bury the dead; and spiritual works of mercy, to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, to admonish the sinner, to comfort the sorrowful, to forgive all injuries, to bear wrongs patiently, to pray for the living and the dead.
Patron Saints are also invoked for assistance in evading the vices- pride, greed, gluttony, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth, presumption, despair, resisting the known truth, envy of another's spiritual good, obstinacy in sin, and final impenitence.
Additionally, The Litany of the 14 Holy Helpers purports that as humans we suffer "temptations against faith, adversity, trial and tribulation, in anxiety and want, in every combat, in every temptation, in sickness, in all needs, in fear, terror, in dangers of salvation, honor, reputation, and dangers of property, in dangers by fire and water, from the scourge of earthquake, plague, famine and war, from lightening and storms, from a sudden and unprovided death, from eternal damnation".
No wonder people look to the Saints for solace and intervention, that's a pretty daunting message.
Yet, if we choose to exhibit and embrace faith, we can take the Bible at face value and find assurance and encouragement in Psalm 91: 10-12, that "no evil shall befall you, nor shall any affliction come near your tent, for to his Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone", indicating that we each have our own personal guardian angel that watches over us during our time on this plane of existence.
But sometimes we ask for help just because we want things – And if St. Jude says your cause is really hopeless then you may have to try asking for help from the Blessed Virgin, but sometimes, you must go directly to the Source. And this is where I ask you if you have ever heard of the Prayers for True Desperation, such as the Prayer to the Wound on the Shoulder, the 5 Holy Wounds, the Precious Blood, the Crown of Thorns, or the Infant of Prague? No? Well, I will tell you all them in my next post!
