The Christ Child

From the birth of Christ to his Baptism at the Jordan River years passed, during which we know very little about what Jesus did. The only incident recorded in the Gospel is when He was lost and found in the temple when He was 12 years old. We can only imagine what He did as a young boy and as a teenager and young adult. Several paintings have evolved of Jesus during his younger years. One of my favorites is the one reproduced here, which I found in the Cistercian Abbey at Spencer, Massachusetts. Several historically significant images of Jesus Christ as a child have received canonical blessings from the Pope, namely the Infant of Prague, the Santo Niño de Cebu in the Philippines, and the Santo Bambino of Aracoeli in Rome. Saint Joseph, St. Anthony of Padua and St Christopher are often depicted holding the Christ Child in various paintings and statues. The Christ Child was a popular subject in European wood sculpture beginning in the 1300s. Scripture tells us that Jesus ‘went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.’ (Luke 2: 51-52)