Holy Infant of Good Health
| Holy Infant of Good Health "Santo Niño de la Salud" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Morelia, Mexico |
| Type | Christ statue |
| Shrine | Holy Infant of Good Health Shrine, Mississippi |
| Patronage | Sick people, protection from disease |
| Attributes | Statue of the Child Jesus, white robe, red embroidered ermine mantle, coronation crown, gold scepter |
The Holy Infant of Good Health (Santo Niño de la Salud) is a statue of the Christ Child regarded by many to be miraculous, which was found in 1939, in Morelia (Michoacán State), Mexico. The statue is eleven inches tall and has a number of healings have been attributed to the Child Jesus through veneration of this image.
History
Devotion to the Holy Infant began in 1939, when Rosa Maria Guadalupe Calderon (Lupita) was given the statue by her godmother, Maria de Jesús Magana, who had a small store attached to her home in Morelia. Shortly afterwards, cures were attributed to the Holy Child.[1]
On April 21, 1942, the image of the Holy Infant was placed in St. Augustine Church in Morelia and officially blessed and given the title of the “Santo Niño de la Salud” (Holy Infant of Good Health). Many came to know the Holy Infant under this title and the devotion spread throughout Mexico. People from Laredo, Texas, and other parts of the United States also became aware of this devotion. On December 15, 1957, the statue was transferred made to the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.[1]
In January 1959, a replica of the Infant was presented to Pope John XXIII. And on November 12, 1970, an Order of Religious sisters, the Missionaries of the Holy Infant of Good Health, were founded in Morelia.[1]
The little statue is dressed "with symbols of the power of Christ, wearing a royal mantle, trimmed in ermine, a golden scepter in the left hand while the right is raised in blessing, and on the head an imperial crown of precious stones." The Holy Infant of Good Health's Feast Day is celebrated on April 21.
Notes
Bibliography
- Miraculous Images of Our Lord, by Joan Carroll Cruz, OCDS, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc, 1995. ISBN 0-89555-496-8
- Holy Infant Jesus, by Ann Ball & Damian Hinojosa, The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2006. ISBN 0-8245-2407-1