The Infant of Prague - Sto. Niño - Don Bosco House
Suva - The Family
EAO: 13th January 2006 -- A strange collection, you
say! Indeed. But let me start with Don Bosco House, Suva
(Fiji). When, towards the very end of 1999 the Salesian Community
took possession of a sprawling English-style bungalow on the outskirts
of Fiji's capital, Suva, the house was emptied of all its previous
owners' contents but for three items: a set of furniture consisting of
a derelict yellow plastic-upholstered sofa and two armchairs, a black
and white photo of several colonial (British) teachers with their
Fijian counterparts in the Education Ministry of the 1950's and - a
small wooden statue of the Infant of Prague. Given that the house
belonged to Hindus, never to Catholics, this was a strange find, though
if one rummages around many of the Indian-run market spots in city and
'suburbs' (villages that get too close to the city!), it is common
enough to find ghastly pictures of the Sacred Heart and other similar
devotional items. The more ghastly, the better, it seems. We were
at least lucky with our find. Hopefully the small icon is either
where it was where I last left it, on a small mantelpiece, or in some
other place in the House where it can continue to be admired and
possibly inspire a little devotion.
This coming Sunday happens to be a day in the
Philippines particularly given to devotion to Sto. Niño, the Holy
Child. Really, they are one and the same, the Infant of Prague
and Sto. Niño, though on a per capita basis, one could bet that the
Holy Child is more devotionally revered by more people in the
Philippines than he is in Prague. I stand to be corrected, of
course. It was Magellan himself who presented the small statue to
Juana, wife of King Humabon, in a year that escapes me as I write, but
it was miraculously retrieved some fifty years later, and ever since
has been deeply revered by Filipino families in practically every
aspect of their lives. The original, I believe, is in the Cebu
Basilica, but you find him, always as a King, gold-embroidered,
red-caped in any house or in/on almost any mode of
transportation. He is open to rather wonderful devotional
transformations and can be found at times in sweater and shorts
even! But, He is always a prompt for deep devotion and, one
hopes, deep faith.
We Salesians are in a year that gives central focus
to The Family as highlighted in the Strenna and by the Rector Major in
his recent letter, harking back to the growth of that same Infant,
"Jesus increased in wisdom and in years...". It would be good for
readers of austraLasia to offer some information about action on behalf
of family in their part of the world. Already we are aware of
certain things happening and on the move. In the Philippines, for
example, the Salesian Cooperators are prominent in Pro life activity -
very prominent. It would be nice to hear more of what they
do. Fr Michael Court, Australia, until recently was on the World
Council of Marriage Encounter, and remains very much active and
committed to the support of family life through that medium. In
Thailand, Fr Banchong, whose doctoral studies were precisely in this
area, is working with a group of priests and lay people to set up a
pro-life movement in the country, something much appreciated if not
requested, by the Bishops there. And we know that Bishops
throughout Oceania and Asia are very much concerned about the state of
family life. UCAN, a Catholic news agency in the region, recently
ran an article on that.
Hopefully this quick overview will encourage others
to offer information about their activity. Bear a thought for the
Philippines anyway, this Sunday.
_______________________
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