The miraculous statue of the Holy Infant Jesus of Good Health is far less known than the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague. The statue is located in Morelia, Michoacan State, Mexico. The history of the Holy Infant of Good Health is provided after the prayers. Posted in this time of the Covid-19 plague.

Statue of the Holy Infant of Good Health, Morelia, Mexico

Triduum (3 days of prayer)

Act of contrition:
In your own words tell Jesus your sorrow for your sins.

Preparatory Prayer
(Recited daily)

Sweet Infant Jesus; humbly I come to love and adore You and to share with You my sorrows, feeling certain that You will kindly grant me the help I need. For with You there is nothing that remains impossible!

For love of us You took upon Yourself the fragility of our human flesh to save us from the slavery of sin and Satan. With confidence in your Loving Goodness I utter Your own words in the Garden of Agony: “ Lord, take this chalice away from me, yet not my will but Thine be done!”

You Who promised the Kingdom to the little ones, look upon one as little as me and turn my sorrows to tears of joy so that I may be all the more free to grow in Your Loving Friendship, which I pray I may have the happiness of enjoying eternally in Heaven. Amen.

First Day Prayer

Most Loving Infant Jesus of Good Health, to Your compassionate Heart I confide my needs and my sorrows. You who calmed the sea and the tempest, can also calm the anxieties of a troubled soul.

You who are more desirous of my happiness than I ever could be myself, will know what is best for my happiness now and hereafter.

If the favors I ask are not expedient for my soul’s salvation, you will know how best to enable me to take up my cross beside You.

Even now I feel an unspeakable joy within the depths of my soul that tells me You are graciously inclined to hear my pleas, even if not in the way I ask. Do accept, Adorable Infant Jesus, from my grateful heart, the raptures of my profoundest gratitude. Amen.   

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

Second Day Prayer

Most Merciful Infant Jesus of Good Health, to You I offer the feeble comfort of my loving sympathy in the sadness Your Heart must feel over our coldness and blindness.

Mercifully grant that I may offend You less and love You more and be more worthy of Your comforting help in my afflictions of body and soul.

You, who didst suffer already from your baby Infancy in Bethlehem in the Circumcision and the Flight into Egypt, will well understand the pleadings of a suppliant heart that knows no other saving refuge but You!

If it be Your Holy Will, do grant me the blessings of health so that, with the chalice taken away or newly consecrated, I may serve You with a clean and pure body and soul on the sure road of happiness that leads to Your welcoming Embrace at the Gate of Paradise. Amen.       

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

Third Day Prayer

Most Sovereign Infant Jesus of Good Health, to You I come like a penitent, sinful and sorrowful, but also like the sick and the lame who cried to You for Mercy!

For love of You I place the burden of my trials and sorrows upon the Paten with the Priest at the Altar, offering them together with Your Own Precious Soul and Body, for the Glory of the Father and the Divine Majesty.

There is such Power in Your Sweet Name of Jesus and tenderness in Your Infant Heart that I feel sure of every relief and cure, if You judge it to be beneficial for my present and my eternal health.

No matter what designs You may have for me, dear Infant Jesus, I gladly submit myself to them with all my heart, for though Your ways are unsearchable, You always plan what is best for me in time and in Eternity. Amen.       

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

Prayer to Jesus’ Mother
(Recited daily)

Dear Mary, Mother of the Holy Infant, to you I plead to speak for me to Your Loving Child Whom we honor under the title of “Infant Jesus of Good Health”.

As you became His Mother in Bethlehem, you became also my Mother at the foot of the Cross of Calvary. As your heart grieved to see Him writhing in the Agony of the Cross, so also look with pity upon me now when the cross of suffering seems to be more than I can bear.

Regard not my sins, for I am resolved to grow like you in loving Jesus and keeping His every word and Commandment. Dear Mother of mine, do show your tender Mercy for a repentant sinner who awaits only a favorable word of Motherly Benediction.

With confidence I leave all in your hands, dear Mary, knowing that you will not despise my petitions but will speak lovingly to Jesus for me for the needs of this body and soul of mine. Amen.

Madonna with the Child Jesus, Benvenuto Tisi, 1513

Thanksgiving Prayer

O Holy Infant of Good Health, even in Your Infancy you do not cease to work wonders and even make possible the impossible for those who come to Your availing aid.

I too, have already felt the reality of Your constant help to those in distress; yet, as a finite being, my gratitude would seem limited to You, O my Infinite God!

Please then, accept the humble and happy “Thank You” I now offer for the granting of things I have asked and the need of which almost led me to despair! All this through your merits, O Holy Infant Jesus of Good Health! Amen.

-composed by Father Emery Petho

Prayers in times of Anxiety and Depression at this page.

History - from the Missionaries of the Holy Infant Jesus of Good Health

https://holyinfantofgoodhealthinmississippi.com/devotion/the-story/

The devotion to the Holy Infant began in 1939, but many years earlier, there was a poor, young Mexican girl named Rosa Maria Guadalupe Calderon (Lupita) from Morelia, Mexico.  Around the time of Lupita’s First Communion, she told her First Communion godmother, Maria de Jesús Magaña that she would like to have a beautiful statue of Jesus as an infant.  Her godmother never forgot the desire of Lupita, and she searched and looked for this special image for many years.

Lupita was a young lady living and working in Mexico City in the late 1930’s.  Her godmother, Maria, had a small store attached to her home in Morelia.  One day, while working, two ladies dressed in black came into her store carrying a beautiful statue of Jesus.  Her godmother knew that she had finally found that special statue of Jesus for Lupita.

Maria’s friend, who was also in the store that day, did not consider this image of Jesus so special.  She talked Maria out of purchasing it.  After the ladies in black left the store, Maria regretted that she did not purchase the statue for Lupita.  She had no idea who these ladies were or where they came from.

The next day, the two ladies in black returned to Maria’s store carrying with them the same beautiful statue of Jesus.  With much delight, she purchased it from the ladies and then stepped into the next room to place the statue on her dresser.  When Maria returned, the two ladies were gone.  She ran quickly out the door looking for them, but they were nowhere to be found.

She asked a gentleman standing outside the door of her store for the direction in which the two ladies had gone.  She wanted to speak with them to find out more about where the statue came from.  The man looked at her with a puzzled look and said, “Madam, I have been standing outside your door for quite some time and no one ever went into your store or came out of your store.”  So who were these two ladies God had sent to deliver this special statue of Jesus?

Maria had a dream one night of a beautiful temple (Church).  In this temple were many small children.  (Her dream will unfold as the story is told.)  While she had this beautiful image of Jesus in her home, Maria knew in her heart that she was not to give the statue to Lupita until she returned to Morelia to live.  Maria told her, “Love Him and take care of Him because one day He will have His own Temple.”

On November 12, 1939, her godmother gave her the beautiful statue of the Infant Jesus.  Lupita was so delighted to receive this special image of Jesus she had always wanted.  On this day, upon returning to her home with the image of Jesus, Lupita’s sister, who had a tumor on her cheek, asked Lupita to pray with her.  While praying, Lupita’s sister touched the image to the tumor on her cheek and they asked God if it would be His will, would He please heal her through His Son.  It was the night before she was to have surgery.  The next morning when they woke up, Lupita’s sister had been completely cured.  They went to the doctor and the doctor confirmed the healing.  This was the first miracle that occurred when praying before the image of Jesus.  It was at this time God was showing Lupita the beginning of a special mission.

Lupita placed the statue in her bedroom and each day when she would return from work, the statue was mysteriously sitting by the window.  Lupita asked her family who was moving the statue of Jesus by the window, but each time they all denied ever doing so.

Lupita realized that Jesus wanted to be by the window, because He wanted to be where everyone could come and pay homage to Him.  But most of all, He wanted to be closer to them and cure their illness.  To this day, in the same house, the window is opened daily and there is another statue of the same image of Jesus for all who walk by to stop, to pay homage, and to ask for their necessities.  This room is also part of a Chapel that is in the home that was Lupita’s.  This home is now used as a formation house for religious sisters.

From that day on, many prayers for healing physical and spiritual began to be answered.  Lupita started to refer to the image as the “Holy Infant of Good Health” (Santo Niño de la Salud).

Lupita’s parish priest, Raymundo Pardo, was very much aware of the happenings and came to Lupita and asked her how did she know that Jesus wanted to be called the Holy Infant of Good Health?  She said that she had given this name because of all the healings.

To confirm that this is what Jesus wanted to be called, Lupita and her parish priest placed before the image of the Holy Infant seven names of people who were seriously to terminally ill.  They asked Jesus to heal all by a specific date.  All of these people were completely healed before the date they had given.

On April 21, 1942, the image of the Holy Infant was temporarily placed in St. Augustine Church in Morelia and officially blessed and given the title of the “Santo Niño de la Salud” (Holy Infant of Good Health).  From that day on, for many years, Lupita privately spread the devotion throughout Mexico.  Many came to know the Holy Infant under this title and many healings and prayers were answered.  During this time, people from Laredo, Texas, and other parts of the United States became aware of this devotion.

There was a lady named Estela Barreda from Laredo, Texas, who became very close to Lupita and helped her with the devotion in Mexico and the United States.  Another woman, Margot James, who was from California and moved to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in the early 1950’s, also brought with her the devotion to the Holy Infant of Good Health.

As the devotion continued to spread throughout Mexico and the United States, the bishop of Morelia, Bishop Luis Maria Altamirano, went to Lupita and said that it was time for her image of the Holy Infant of Good Health to be placed in a church to become a public devotion.  This would allow many to come throughout Mexico and from other countries to pay homage.

On December 15, 1957, a grand procession was made from Lupita’s home to the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.   The Bishop, many priests, and religious orders, along with the people of Morelia, came to participate in this procession.  It was truly a happy day for Lupita, but also one of great sadness in her heart.  She now had to give back to God the beautiful image He had given her.  Lupita, with her humble and childlike faith, never gave in to her sorrow of loss and continued to persevere and do what God was calling her to do.

The godmother’s dream of the temple being built would also become a reality.  It was a miracle of its own.  On August 17, 1958, in this poor area of Mexico, ground was broken for a temple to be built in honor of the Holy Infant of Good Health.  Within four short years, the church was completed.  This was another miracle truly unfolding.

In 1956, while Margot James was working at the Divine Word Seminary in Bay St. Louis, MS, Fr. Ralph Tyken, SVD, became ill with cancer.  By praying to the Holy Infant, he was cured of cancer.  In thanksgiving for his healing, Fr. Ralph helped find some benefactors from the United States who helped the community in Morelia with construction of the church in honor of the Holy Infant of Good Health

On January 5, 1959, Mother Mildred, OSB, a Benedictine nun from Mexico City went to Rome to present Pope John XXIII personally with a Sacred Image.  The devotion was granted a plenary indulgence for those who go on pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Holy Infant of Good Health.

On April 15, 1961, the statue of the Holy Infant was placed in the Cathedral in Morelia and a 7-day novena was prayed.  On April 22, 1961, the statue was carried in a grand procession of about three miles with bishops, priests, religious, and lay people, walking and praying along the way to the Holy Infant’s newly built temple (Church).  The sacred image was enthroned in the Shrine high above the main altar in a gold round circular glass enclosure.  The miraculous image of the Holy Infant has never been taken out of the Shrine since April 22, 1961.  It is a simple, but beautiful, very large church made of stone.  Many come from all over the world to pay homage to the Holy Infant.  Countless miracles have occurred.

By the early 60’s, Lupita felt a need to help poor children by providing housing, clothing, and food for them in her own home.  It was at this time, she established the first orphanage with 10 children.  This was foreseen in her godmother, Maria’s dream.

In 1966, she received an inspiration from God to establish a religious order.  Lupita and Estela Barreda founded the religious order of the Missionaries of the Holy Infant Jesus of Good Health.  On November 12, 1970, Lupita, along with seven other women who helped her with the orphanage received their final vows as religious sisters.  Through Lupita’s obedience and love for Jesus’ infancy, this devotion continues to spread and draw many closer to Jesus bearing much fruit.

About the Miracles

From the book 'Miraculous Images of Our Lord' by Joan Carroll Cruz, TAN Books, 1995

The miracles worked by the Holy Infant of Good Health are numerous, and in most cases were described and verified by physicians. One of the doctors, Antonio Marin Landa, tells that he placed his whole family under the protection of the Holy Child and writes, “Of His immeasurable greatness He has lavished many miracles on me in the past, and I am still experiencing them today, as I hope to go on experiencing them in the future, out of the treasures of His inexhaustible goodness.”

The doctor goes on to tell of his preservation from injury after the bus in which he was riding fell off a precipice, of his son who was preserved from serious injury after being gored in the chest by a bull, and the safety of his brother, who escaped his house as it was being destroyed in a sudden and terrible flood.

One of the most remarkable cures involved a four-year-old boy who had sustained a shock that left him deaf, dumb and paralyzed. His case was pronounced hopeless. On learning of the Holy Infant, the boy’s parents carried him to the home of the statue’s owner and recited prayers before the holy image. A month later, when the child remained in the same condition, the family began a novena to the Holy Infant. As part of the novena, they carried the child each day to the statue. On the sixth day of the novena, the boy started to move; on the seventh day, he started to talk; on the eighth day, he began to walk and on the ninth day, he was completely cured. ...

      In addition to the preservation of life in desperate situations, the Holy Infant of Good Health has cured cases of infantile paralysis, heart ailments, brain injuries, severe tonsillitis, infections, rare fevers and many other ailments.

St. Joseph with Child Jesus, Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609-1685)

Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Immaculata Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis.