The figure of the Santo Niño de Atocha is well known and revered in Latin American countries. He is depicted as a small boy wearing a long caped dress (traditional pilgrim’s attire) and holding a small basket in his left hand.
Learn about the history of the Santo Niño de Atocha and learn the prayer to the divine child to ask for impossible matters.
History of the Holy Child of Atocha
The history dates back to the 13th century when Spain was under Muslim rule. When the city of Atocha was invaded by the Muslims, the Christians were imprisoned, punished and forbidden to receive food.
Finally, children under the age of 12 were allowed to bring food to prisoners. It was at that moment that in the city of Atocha, a rumor began to spread that a little boy carried a basket of food and a pitcher of water that never ran out. It is at that moment that the legend of the child Jesus of Atocha began.
What is asked of the holy child of Atocha
The holy child of Atocha is a highly revered and popular figure, due to his reputation for compliance with urgent and desperate requests. If you want to make a request, follow these steps before praying the novena to the Holy Child of Atocha:
Materials
- a clay bowl
- Paper and pencil
- Tobacco (a cigar)
- brown sugar
- blue candle
- Sweet
Process
- light the blue candle
- Write your request on the paper and place it in the ceramic or clay bowl
- Say a prayer for the impossible to the holy child of Atocha
- Sprinkle the bowl with sugar
- Light the cigar and place it in the bowl to be consumed
- Place sweets at the feet of the figure of the holy child of Atocha and thank him for his favors.
Novena of the Holy Child of Atocha
If you think you have problems that are impossible to solve, there is a prayer from the Santo Niño de Atocha that can help you even when you find yourself in extreme situations or when you think there is no way out.
It is called a novena because it has to be prayed for 9 days in a row.s and each day has a particular prayer. She knows the prayer of the child of Atocha and make the impossible come true.
Day 1
Oh most graceful Child of Atocha! That having been born for the love of men, you wanted in your grown age to suffer so many insults and insults; I greet you, my good, loving Child, I bless and praise you on this first day I offer you these three Creeds with Gloria Patri and Jaculatoria, in memory of that copious sweat of blood, terrible sadness, and mortal agony that you suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, I beg you for the great labors and afflictions that you suffered in your Passion and prison, grant us what I request and on this day I implore you, I trust in your mercy and clemency, putting your kind Mother Santa Maria de Atocha as mediator, in whose most pure hands I put my request in one of them you are sitting as if in a chair of authority; and for the great pain that she had when you said goodbye and separated to go to suffer in whose memory of such resignation I always have my powers and senses so that I can enjoy you in the heavenly homeland, forever and ever. Amen.
Day 2
Sweet Child of Atocha, who wanted in your grown age to be brought before the judges and be cruelly flogged; I, life of my life, salute you; I, most patient Child, bless you, I praise you and I present you these three Creeds with Gloria Patri and Jaculatoria, in memory of that intense pain that your innocent heart felt going with the holy wood loaded on your delicate shoulders through the street of Bitterness. you met your Most Holy Mother, I ask you, most delicate Child of my heart, that through the blessed tears that your eyes shed, grant me what I repeat to you on this Second day, because I implore your mercy; and you well know the needs, the afflictions and the work that afflict me, and I hope, most precious Niño de Atocha, that I will have for you, good success in my indicated end, making use of the memory that I make of you, and together I present to you the same pain that in this encounter suffered the sovereign Queen, in whose divine hands I put my understanding so that you illustrate it with the divinity of your lights so that the happiness of enjoying you in the heavenly Jerusalem of heaven always awaits you.
Day 3
O loving Child of Atocha! That in your grown age you wanted to be nailed to the cross; I salute you, soul of my soul; Innocent lamb I bless and praise you and I offer you these three Creeds with Gloria Patri and Ejaculation, in memory of those terrible agonies that you suffered as a man, may I be granted what I ask for on this third and last day of the triduum, in which I have made memory of your Most Holy Passion, trusting in your mercy, I hope that I will achieve it, for which your divine Mother had at the time that her most pure eyes saw you expire, also uniting those three needs that this beautiful Lady suffered at the foot of the Holy Cross, in whose benign hands I place my will so that always inflamed for You, my spirit has nothing more to desire, but a happy moment to reunite with You forever and rejoice in Glory. Amen.
Day 4
Graciosísimo Niño de Atocha, most eminent circle of infinite piety; I greet and praise you on this fourth day and I offer you these three Our Fathers and Hail Marys with Gloria Patri; in union with this fourth ejaculatory prayer, in memory of that fourth journey that you made to the well of Sichén in the most precious bed of the precious entrails of your dear Mother Santa María de Atocha, as divine Solomon, where, knowing that your blessed delivery was approaching, unwrap the bundle of the trousseau of your clothes, and on your knees washes the little shirt and cloths that they wear to wrap you like a rich treasure from heaven.
I beg you, Niño de Atocha, that through these hardships that I remind you of, I can achieve from you what I want. And I think I achieve it because of that joy that your divine Lady had when she applied her mother-of-pearl lips to your precious cheeks, with the most tender compliments and loving conversations, she hugged you in your arms as your most loving Mother and with ardent desires she embraced her heart to see your sacred humanity nourished with the sweet milk of her breasts, so I expect from you, divine Child, to obtain for all this the happy office that I desire; and at the end of this novena I will deserve to do your wonders for me, calming my conflicts and tribulations, giving me peace and rest in this life, and at the end of it a happy death to go and praise you for ever and ever. Amen
day 5
Perennial Child of Atocha, incomparable and wonderful Child; I greet you and praise you on this fifth day and I offer you these three Our Fathers and Hail Marys with Gloria Patri, enriched with this Fifth Ejaculation, in memory of that Fifth journey that your dear Fathers made from the well of Sichén, to that little place called Necmas, where they took an uninhabitable abode of sheep as a hospice, although with happy bleats the happy lambs of their company received them, showing them the joy that occupied them that night, for that humility with which they retired among the pines in that inn of brutes , for the cordial love that you profess to your dear Mother Saint Mary of Atocha, I ask you to grant me what I request in my indicated purpose, and I hope that for all this that I beg you, I will have the happiness of reaching the happy office of my supplication, for which I interpose the merits of this rough pilgrimage, accompanying them with the choir of virtues, by which you work infinite miracles, typical of your sovereign power; I trust that for such great intercessors, I will deserve to be heard in these my complaints that I show you on this day; And finally I think I won’t leave disconsolate because I am sure and confident that the one who looks for you finds you and the one who invokes you, you assist him; Come most powerful Child in our protection; always come to our defense and grant us a happy death to accompany you in the blessed Necmas of eternal Glory. Amen
day 6
Graceful Child of Atocha, you are laughing, rejoicing with your dear Mother, I greet you and praise you on this sixth day and I offer you these three Our Fathers and Hail Marys with Gloria Patri and I accompany you with this Sixth prayer in memory of that Sixth day that you did, placing in the most divine womb of your Most Holy Mother Santa María de Atocha, even to that uninhabited place where at twelve years of age you lost sight of it. Because of this pain that he felt in his heart after having suffered so many jobs with such modest humility, climbing the mountains, stepping on the high snowflakes with his most delicate feet, crossing mountains, suffering the cold winds, the rain from heaven and the ingratitude and inclement weather. I ask you for all this that I remind you of, that you grant me the favor that I beg of you at this hour, for which I interpose the merits of all the dominations that precede all the inferior spirits and are ministers of your Divine Providence; and they are subject to your will always and for these great merits and for what I remember you every day in this novena, introducing them to my plea, I hope not to leave without achieving what I request so much, and then at the end of my life reach your grace until you rejoice in the heavenly paradise of the eternal dwelling. Amen
day 7
In the month of May 1839, José María Díaz had the misfortune of having stabbed another to death in the act of litigation, who was instantly apprehended by the authority of Fresnillo, who, looking at the murder that this man had committed , formed a criminal case and without administering any appeal, the court of justice was sentenced to ten years in prison and when he made the conclusion of his case to the said Díaz, upon hearing her relate, he invoked in his heart the Holy Child of Our Lady of Atocha , and obeyed what was sentenced, he kisses his cause and returning to his prison with tears in his eyes invokes the Holy Child again, with full confidence that he would not fulfill what was sentenced, because he was certain that the Holy Child, not He had to forsake him and for Him he would have to obtain his freedom and He would have to be his defender, his prosecutor and his judge and he had to get him out of that prison, who granted it to him, because he did not last more than a year and three months in prison. jail right there; to such a degree, that when he least expected to be released, he succeeded and in testimony of such a miracle, he placed this portent in the Sanctuary of Silversmiths, in the same form that appears in this Novena and in which it is found, giving the Holy Child infinite thanks for the rare prodigy, the one that will prove to us that whoever acclaims his protection does not let him perish neither in jobs nor in prison.
day 8
Most Wise Child of Atocha, General Protector of all men, General Protection of the Underdogs, Divine Physician for any disease, Most Powerful Child, I salute you, I praise you on this eighth day and I offer you these Three Our Fathers and Hail Marys with Gloria Patri, accompanying them with this eighth ejaculatory prayer for the eighth day that you incarnated in the purest entrails of your most lovable Mother,…