Statue of the Child Jesus in the Carmel at Lisieux's walkway.


Saint Thérèse of Lisieux [1873-1897], was given the religious name "of the Child Jesus" and had a lifelong devotion to the Holy Child. In her autobiography, Story of a Soul, she writes that on entering the cloister, "the first thing that struck my eye was the statue of the Little Jesus smiling at me from the midst of flowers and light." This devotion to the Holy Child endured until her death. She put the image of the Holy Child on the coat of arms she designed for herself. She particularly treasured some holy cards of the child that had been given to her by friends. Some of these images are in the Museum Lisieux here at Catholic Tradition.. The cult of the Child Jesus thrived at the Carmel of Lisieux, France, and there were many images of the Christ Child that Thérèse would have seen daily. A copy of the Little King of Beaune overlooked the choir. The link for this is below. As in most Carmels, there was a copy of the Infant of Prague statue. Thérèse loved to decorate with flowers a small altar to the Holy Child in the cloister. This is the image you viewed above. We apologize for the slightly blurry one on display, but we were unable to obtain a clearer picture to use. A very special treasure of the convent today is a small wax sculpture of the Christ Child, which is dressed in cloth from the dress she wore on the day she took the habit. The Alençon lace on the sculpture was made by the Saint's mother, and the hair on the Holy Infant is actually from the Saint's tresses, cut when she was young. We do not have a picture of this work of art.





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