A couple on their honeymoon scheduled a tour so I wanted to get them the standard Mexican wedding gift, an Infant of Prague.
The Infant of Prague is a foot tall toddler-sized version of Jesus made in, you guessed it, Prague. He was given to St. Theresa who was on her way to a wedding thinking “This is a way cool wedding gift!” and bestowed the art to the couple. The couple later re-gifted it for their daughter on her wedding day and when she passed it returned to the Carmelite convent St. Theresa once belonged to.
With its history of being a wedding day gift the statue is considered an auspicious gift for any happy couple. In fact, if the bride turns her Infant of Prague to the wall on her wedding day morning they’ll be no rain on her wedding day!
I found an Infant of Prague on another tour earlier this week in Atotonilco so I purchased it and got it blessed.
Aside: A Martha Steward-ish guide to gift giving is when bestowing rosaries, religious art and such get a priest to bless it, folks here really appreciate that.
Now, a smart lad would have held toddler Jesus in his lap for the rest of the tour but I placed him the back of the SUV as I need my hands to talk. Though safely nestled, when we crossed the Laja river in Banda the silly boy from Prague leapt from his safe spot to bounce around the back of car until breaking into dozens of small pieces.
Well except for his three inch arm that once held the globe that slipped his grasp.
Once home I cleaned the car and placed the pieces in my kitchen trash. A mistake on my part, as the next Mexican to come in my home noticed and realizing I would have had the image blessed told me you can’t throw a blessed statue in the trash. They need to buried.
So she took toddler Jesus’ arm and buried it in a pot by my front door so it would bless those entering my home. A nice thought but not that one I had.
Instead that grasping, empty hand reminds me too much of the ending to the film Carrie where Sissy Spacek reaches up from the ground to drag Amy Irving down into Hell. That shock ending terrified me as a child and is all I think about every time I water the plant!
Luckily since his little 3 inch arm could never reach me I’m not too worried, but still, an unsettling thought.
So the lessons learned here are twofold – one is the need to bury blessed religious objects. The other is if you do have an undamaged grasping hand you may want to provide yet another “accident” to break the appendage into smaller pieces.
Meanwhile the newlyweds seemed perfectly content with a free book from my San Miguel de Allende Secrets series which, for the record, is far easier to wrap than a suicidal toddler Jesus!
DSICLAIMER: The opinions expressed hereby are those of the author and not necessarily those of the San Miguel Times.
Joseph Toone
- TripAdvisor’s top tour guide with History and Culture Walking Tours and Joseph Toone Tours.
- Amazon’s best selling author of the San Miguel de Allende Secrets books.
- Creator of the National Geographic-sponsored Maria Dolls coloring book helping indigenous doll makers.
- Producer of San Miguel de Allende Secrets YouTube channel with over 100 videos and 1,500 views monthly.
- International speaker on the Power of the Feminine in San Miguel de Allende.
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