Issue 9 | 13 Jan. 2007

On Sunday

Unprecedented crowds for Infant Jesus Car Rally

Lakhs of devotees thronged the famous Infant Jesus Church in Viveknagar for the 10-day long 36th annual feat celebrations that will conclude with a grand car procession on Sunday, Jan 14. Rev Dr Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore will flag off the car rally, while Dr Ignatius Pinto, Archbishop Emeritus, Bangalore will hoist the flag. Assistant Parish Priest Patrick Lobo told TWB that the unfurling of the flag follows nine days of Novena that included special prayers and masses. Mass in various languages including Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Konkani, and English will be held till late in the night.

The Infant Jesus church is steeped in history and its "miraculous healing powers" attracts people across different faiths. The statue was sent as a wedding gift from the Spanish royal family in Prague in the Czech Republic, in the 17th century. The statue was given to the Carmelite monastery, and was worshipped ever since 1628. Subsequently, the monastery was destroyed in a war, but the statue remained undiscovered for a few years before being restored.

The church has an interesting history. In the mid sixties, the Sacred Heart Parish of Bangalore extended to areas like Somanahalli, now known as Viveknagar which were faraway for pastoral care. So, Rev. Fr. Paul Kinatukara, the parish priest of the Sacred Heart Church felt the need for a separate parish for areas around Somanahalli and undertook a vigorous unsuccessful search for a suitable land.

One day as the Parish Priest was walking, he entered a garden in Somanahalli. It was a well maintained rose garden. A mysterious power overcame him and made him resolve on the spot to buy this land at any cost.

As days rolled by, on suggestion, he prayed to the Infant Jesus of Prague [Nine hour Novena] for two months for help in his quest for land. His prayers were immediately answered and the rose garden was brought for a windfall price.

The newly acquired land, popularly known as the "Rose garden" surrounded by thick vegetation was infested with snakes and poisonous reptiles and with no streetlights was plunged in darkness at night. All this did not deter the faithful who flocked to the church.

May 1971, Rev. Fr. L. Peter, the first parish priest of the new church, brought the Infant Jesus statue from Sacred Heart church and installed it in an improvised old tent and thus began the "Tent Church" which lasted for over eight years.

On June 29, 1979, the Most Rev. Dr. D.S. Lourduswamy, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of the people, came from Rome, blessed and opened the new Infant Jesus Church in the presence of a very large gathering of devotees of different faiths.

The newly innovated church was inaugurated on June 9, 2005 by Most Rev. Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio in India.

The new church can accommodate about 2500 people with 9 faces and openings running all round the church. The interior of the church is so designed that wherever people are seated they will feel that the altar is facing them. The main mural replicates the nativity scene in the nativity church of Jerusalem.