WORCESTER – A new shrine – a response to a prominent devotion among Hispanics – was dedicated in the vestibule at St. Paul Cathedral Sunday.
Bishop McManus blessed the shrine to the Divino Niño (the Divine Child, Jesus) following the Spanish community’s Corpus Christi Mass and procession.
Valeria Brambila, outfitted in her first Communion dress, placed flowers in front of the statue of the Divino Niño. Valeria made her first Communion on the weekend of May 27.
Discussions about erecting a shrine began about a year ago, according to Fanny Escobar, a parishioner who helped develop the shrine. Among those discussing the idea were Mrs. Escobar and her husband, Deacon Francisco Escobar; Msgr. Robert K. Johnson, rector, and Barbara Lizardo, parish receptionist. They decided to dedicate the shrine to the Divino Niño and collected $800 in donations, Mrs. Escobar said.
“This is very important for all of us, because the devotion is so strong,” Mrs. Escobar said. “It’s like he [the Divino Niño] listened to us and answered … us; he gave to us. All of us are happy.”
She said she hopes the Divino Niño helps parishioners to grow in their spirituality and draw closer to the church.
“There were piles of people lighting the candles,” Mrs. Escobar said, recalling how worshippers stopped at the shrine after the bishop blessed it. She hopes that this means that more people will come to church.
The devotion to the Divino Niño began in Bogotá, Colombia, according to the website www.catholictradition.org, which Mrs. Lizardo pointed out to The Catholic Free Press. The website tells the following story.
Salesian Father John Rizzo, who had a great devotion to the Infant Jesus, prayed to him in 1914 when asked to raise money from poor people for a new, grand church in Colombia. Praying before a statue of Mary, Help of Christians, he saw the Child Jesus with his arms outstretched, as if he was saying, “Take me with you.”
After he was transferred to a different parish in 1935, he bought a statue of the Christ Child with arms outstretched, and had the words, “Yo Reinare” (I will reign) added. With the statue he preached about the favors the Child would bestow on those with faith who help the poor.
He built a small chapel in honor of the Divine Child. Soon miracles began to be reported. Today there is a large church in Bogotá, to which thousands flock. Bread and hot chocolate is still given to poor children, continuing Father Rizzo’s practice.
In Colombia today, images of the Divino Niño are everywhere – from buses to taxis to businesses – said Mrs. Escobar, who is from there.
“In my own experience, there is a very, very strong devotion to him,” she said. “We know so many people have devotion because he’s done a lot of miracles.”
Mrs. Lizardo said that the devotion to the Divine Child is also strong in the Dominican Republic, where she is from.
“I learned to love him from my mother,” she said. “She told me that if I ever need a favor, to pray to him. … I got my first job after (making a) novena, when I was 18 years old.”
The Divino Niño novena, a nine-day devotion, is celebrated at St. Paul’s by Catholics from different Hispanic countries. The decision to build the shrine there was due in part to the growth of this novena.
St. Paul’s started to celebrate the novena 15 years ago, starting with a small group of people, and it has grown over the years, Mrs. Escobar said.
She shared a personal story about the novena’s growth. About five years ago she was experiencing pain in her pancreas and esophagus.
That’s when her husband suggested expanding the novena to include a different preacher each night and the traditional hot chocolate and bread at the end. The trouble was, they had only about a month to plan for the September novena. But they did it. Since then, she has not experienced the pain and many more people have participated in the novena – roughly 300 from around the diocese now – she said. Different groups are in charge of leading the readings, prayers and music, which has also helped to increase attendance. Two years ago Bishop McManus started participating in the novena.
Discussions about building a shrine started because of the increased participation, Mrs. Escobar said.
“It’s not just people from the Dominican Republic or Colombia who are (devoted). A lot of people from Hispanic countries are children of the Divine Child,” Mrs. Lizardo said.
While St. Paul’s Divine Child shrine is located in the vestibule of the cathedral, there is a small statue of him from Colombia in the lower chapel, which is open during the day for those who want to pray there.