Print Issue: April 25, 2002

Infant of Prague Comes To The Georgia Mountains

Father Balappa Selvaraj, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Blairsville, and Father Jerome Moras, a Carmelite monk from Infant Jesus of Prague Shrine in Prague, Czech Republic, stand by the handcarved image of the Infant Jesus of Prague. The statue was donated to the parish from the Trinity Foundation, a religious charity, founded for the purpose of furthering all aspects of the Catholic faith.

BLAIRSVILLE - Father Jerome Moras, a Carmelite monk from Infant Jesus of Prague Shine, Prague, Czech Republic, led a three day novena/retreat April 8-10 at St. Francis of Assisi Church, honoring the Infant of Prague.

Father Moras came to the church at the invitation of Father Balappa Selvaraj, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi. He brought a statue of the infant made in Arenzano, Italy. The statue depicting the Christ child is carved from a block of wood and layered in gold leaf.

It has been given as a gift to the parish by the Trinity Foundation, a religious charity, founded for the purpose of furthering all aspects of the Roman Catholic faith. The foundation¢s objectives are encouraging devotion to the divine Infant of Prague, devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus, patron saint of the impossible, and encouraging devotion to the Virgin Mary.

The statue was blessed at the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague in the Czech Republic in November. It is one of just three Infant statues from this sculptor in the United States; the other two are located in Connecticut and California. The Infant of Prague devotion originated in Spain but moved to Prague in the 1500s. St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila are said to have given a statue of the Infant of Prague to the Carmelite order as a spiritual treasure.

This statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague, is carved from a single block of wood. It took six months to make. The statue was blessed at the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague in Prague and was donated to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Blairsville.