The Story of the Infant Jesus in Singapore by Sandra Lee
The Infant King has been venerated in many parts of the world as the Infant Jesus of Prague and now the devotion is in Singapore, thanks to the vision of a few parishioners and the Carmelite friars at the church of Saints Peter and Paul.
It all began when some parishioners went to Prague in 2003 and attended the devotion service to the Infant King. They were so overwhelmed by the very inspiring session that they returned to Singapore and tried to convince Father Thomas Lim, the Spiritual Director, to initiate the devotion here. However, as the church was undergoing major renovation, Father Thomas said he would consider it only after the renovation work was complete. Shortly before being approached by the parishioners though, Father had mysteriously found an Infant Jesus statue wrapped with newspaper in a box outside his office. He also later discovered another Infant Jesus shrine in another part of the old building of the church.
In November that same year, the church started to face a host of problems with the renovation work, ranging from flooding to problems with the authorities. At that juncture, Father Thomas felt that divine intervention was necessary and thus the very first Infant Jesus devotion commenced on the 13th November 2003. The shrine which was discovered by Father Thomas was temporarily installed in church for the service. 50 people attended this service and the prayers were taken from a prayer booklet of another church. Father Thomas said that he decided to introduce the devotion here to enhance the people’s spirituality. In his own words, “devotion without spirituality is empty. Spirituality is what we need. This devotion is for the family, for the youth, for the promotion of vocations, for evangelization – where people come to know the catholic faith through child-like simplicity.”
A week after the first novena started, all problems faced by the church were miraculously resolved and the building of the new wing was completed on schedule. Many testimonies followed. A particular case in point was a pregnant lady who was told by the doctor that her baby had brain damage and a heart condition and was asked to abort the child. She, however, persevered and turned to the Infant Jesus for help and strength! Lo and behold! The child was eventually born perfect, much to the astonishment of 5 doctors! Among the many other testimonies, there were also testimonies by 4 couples who were not able to conceive and yet, after attending the devotion faithfully, all four conceived miraculously!
Through all these beautiful testimonies, Father Thomas was convinced that the Infant Jesus devotion was here to stay. As such, he granted the start of the yearly 9 day Christmas novena devotion, the first of which was held from the 16th to the 24th December 2003 where a special blessing of children and infants was conducted. The number of novena devotion sessions also increased. It started out with one session held every Thursday but soon, it was increased to twice a week, the second one being held on a Sunday. This was especially initiated to cater to the migrant workers who were not able to attend the service on a weekday. The first of such sessions was held on the 18th April 2004. During this time, a novena booklet was consolidated after much research and after getting the imprimatur from the Archbishop, His Grace, Nicholas Chia, the launch of the Infant Jesus novena book took place on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 15th July 2004, 6 months after the idea was conceived. The Carmelite sisters also helped out in this whole process by making the Infant Jesus chaplets which were then sold at every service. To date, about more than 300 parishioners from all over Singapore attend the novena and on special feast days, the number would swell to about 800!
Throughout the 4 years since the commencement of the novena devotion, the friars had been seeking for an Infant Jesus statue which was similar to the original one in Prague. Through the blessing of the Infant King, an exact replica was acquired on the 28th May 2007. The selection of the Infant Jesus vestments soon followed. The statue finally arrived in Saints Peter and Paul church, Singapore, on the 7th June 2007 and the crown, also crafted in the exact replica as the original crown on the Infant King was completed on the 18th October 2007.
It was also through divine providence that Father Anastasio Roggero, O.C.D Prague, visited Singapore for the first time on the 9th January 2008, by the invitation of Father Thomas Lim and a grand high mass was celebrated on the Feast of the Infant Jesus, 10th January 2008 where Father Anastasio blessed the newly installed Infant Jesus Shrine. The whole church was packed with many faithful devotees and though this was held on weekday, the number of congregation was so tremendous that it overflowed outside the church grounds! Father Anastasio’s timely visit also invigorated the committee of the Infant Jesus which was renamed by Father Anastacio himself as “Team Jesus!” His spiritual guidance and input, his unwavering support rejuvenated Team Jesus in setting and paving the direction for the whole mission of the Infant Jesus!
Father Anastacio’s visit also included celebrating a mass at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Primary school and meeting with the students and teachers there. Father also conducted a talk at Ss Peter and Paul church on the devotion of the Infant Jesus in Prague and the Infant Jesus Mission which included a video screening and an exhibition. He also visited the Carmelite nuns at Bukit Teresa Monastery and celebrated mass there.
Added to the many blessings already received, on the 29th January 2008, the Society of the Infant Jesus (Singapore) was officially approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs. This idea was envisioned by Father Anastasio as there is an Infant Jesus society in America. Thus, the Society of the Infant Jesus (Singapore) is affiliated to the one in America and it is the first society to be established in Asia. The objectives of this society are to promote devotion to the Infant Jesus by prayer, telling others about the Infant Jesus and perform acts of charity in the name of the Infant Jesus, to provide assistance to the Carmelite friars in its mission of faith formation and vocation, for example, the formation of the seminarians in Singapore and Asia, to promote religious and educational activities 
especially for the youth, to accept donations of money and to raise funds from the church community and well-wishes to fund the Society’s activities and to serve as a bridge to undertake projects for works with other charitable organizations to build homes, classrooms, orphanages in Singapore, Asian region such as China and beyond, Africa and Prague.
“The more you honour me, the more I shall bless you” the words of Infant Jesus has certainly come to fruition in the countless blessings testified in this article. May the Infant Jesus continue to watch over his flock here in Singapore and guide the Carmelite Friars and Team Jesus in His Holy Will!
