EARLY LIFE
Francis Xavier was born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta on April 7, 1506. He entered this world in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre.
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| A painting of Saint Francis Xavier, held in the Kobe City Museum |
Francisco was born into an aristocratic Basque family. He was the youngest son of a high government official. Francisco's father lost his post when Spain won possession of Navarre.
Francis's mother was Doña María de Azpilcueta y Aznárez, sole heiress of two noble Navarrese families.
In 1512, Castile invaded Navarre. Many fortresses were devastated, including the family castle, and land was confiscated.
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| The castle of the Xavier family By Jsanchezes, |
Francis' father died in 1515.
Francisco was first taught by his father’s chaplain then later entered the University of Paris.
UNIVERSITY AND EARLY CAREER
At the age of 19 Francis went to study in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe, University of Paris where he earned the title of Magister- similar to a modern Doctor of philosophy degree.
Francis furthered his studies at Paris University in theology, and became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola, who was already planning the foundation of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius won the confidence of Xavier. Five others having joined them, the seven professed vows of poverty, chastity, and later obedience to the Pope in the church of Montmartre, Paris, on August 15, 1534.
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| Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, Paris |
The seven vowed to leave at the end of 1534 for the Holy Land to convert infidels. But the war between the Venetians and the Turks prevented this, and the pope detailed them to other tasks.
In 1537, the Jesuit fraternity traveled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted Xavier and his colleagues to be ordained priests. On June 24, 1537, Xavier received Holy orders with St. Ignatius.
MISSIONARY WORK
Known as "The Apostle of the Indies" Xavier had high qualifications to be a missionary: he was animated with glowing zeal; endowed with great linguistic gifts, and restless pushing forward marked his activity.
In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He left Lisbon on April 7, 1541, his thirty-fifth birthday, along with two other Jesuits and the new viceroy Martim Afonso de Sousa, on board the Santiago.
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| Francisco Xavier asking John III of Portugal for an expedition |
After a 13-month voyage, Xavier arrived in Goa, India in 1542 and during the few months he stayed there he sparked off a moral revolution.
Xavier learned that along the coast, which extends from Cape Comorin on the southern tip of India to the island of Mannar, off Ceylon (Sri Lanka), there was a group of people called Paravas. Many of them had already converted to Christianity in return for Portuguese protection but know little about the religion they had adopted. Accompanied by several native clerics from the seminary at Goa, Xavier set sail for Cape Comorin in October 1542.
Once he arrived in South India, Xavier started laboring amongst the pearl fishers there. When he rang a handbell, the villagers gathered in the church, then Xavier recited the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Rosary. He then explained to them through interpreters about the meaning of the words and many of these poor people with their faith strengthened turned from nominal Christianity to a real faith.
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| Conversion of the Paravars by Francis Xavier in South India,19th-cent lithograph |
Xavier met a Japanese man from Kagoshima named Anjirō in Malacca in December 1547. Anjirō became the first Japanese Christian and adopted the name of 'Paulo de Santa Fe'. He later helped Xavier as a mediator and interpreter.
Xavier reached Japan on July 27, 1549, with Anjirō and three other Jesuits, only six years after the first ever Portuguese merchant visited there.
When Xavier arrived in Japan the local Japanese people initially assumed that the he was Buddhist monk from India and that Christianity was a new Buddhist sect.
After learning Japanese at Kagoshima, Xavier was given leave to teach as a representative of the Portuguese King. During his time teaching as a representative of the Portuguese King Xavier made 150 converts.
After the feudal ruler of his area made it a capital offence to become a Christian, Xavier set out as a wandering missionary. During 1551, Xavier preached in some important cities, forming the nucleus of several Christian communities, which in time increased with extraordinary rapidity.
He most remarkable mission was establishing a Christian community, which has survived to this day, despite numerous periods of severe persecution.
In both South India and Japan Xavier was granted the gift of tongues, healed countless people, raised several from the dead and prophesied the future.
A bright and cheerful man of great personal charm, Xavier had both abundant common sense and a mystical sense. He was a man of remarkable energy and organisational ability.
In his early years at the University of Paris, Xavier acquired some reputation as an athlete especially as a high-jumper.
After working about two years and a half in Japan Xavier left this mission in charge of Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernández, and returned to Goa, arriving there at the beginning of 1552. During his trip to Goa, he had met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from Cochin. Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the Chinese Emperor on their behalf.
On April 17, 1552 Xavier set sail with Diogo Pereira on the Santa Cruz for China. He reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan off the shore, near Canton and whilst waiting for a junk to take him to the mainland, he fell ill with a fever. A poor man, George Alvarez, found him lying on the shore and carried him to his hut. He died on the island on December 2, 1552, at age 46, without having reached mainland China.
Xavier was first buried on Shangchuan Dao’s beach. His intact body was taken from the island in February 1553. It was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on March 22, 1553. An open grave in the church now marks the place of Xavier's burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house.
On December 11, 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body, having resisted extensive decay, is now in the Basilica of Bom Jésus in Goa, where it was placed into a silver casket on December 2, 1637. This casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths between 1636 and 1637, was an exemplary blend of Italian and Indian aesthetic sensibilities.
There is a debate as to how the body could have remained incorrupt for so long. Some say that Francis Xavier was mummified, while others argue that the incorruptible body is evidence of a miracle.
The silver casket is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition which occurs for a duration of six weeks every ten years, the most recent of which took place between November 22, 2014 and January 4, 2015.
Xavier was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622, although on account of the death of Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year.
Pius XI named St. Francis Xavier in 1927 the patron Saint of Catholic Missionaries in foreign countries.
His feast day is December 3.
Sources CatholicEncyclopaedia, Donmartin
After the feudal ruler of his area made it a capital offence to become a Christian, Xavier set out as a wandering missionary. During 1551, Xavier preached in some important cities, forming the nucleus of several Christian communities, which in time increased with extraordinary rapidity.
He most remarkable mission was establishing a Christian community, which has survived to this day, despite numerous periods of severe persecution.
In both South India and Japan Xavier was granted the gift of tongues, healed countless people, raised several from the dead and prophesied the future.
PERSONAL LIFE
A bright and cheerful man of great personal charm, Xavier had both abundant common sense and a mystical sense. He was a man of remarkable energy and organisational ability.
In his early years at the University of Paris, Xavier acquired some reputation as an athlete especially as a high-jumper.
LAST YEARS, DEATH AND LEGACY
After working about two years and a half in Japan Xavier left this mission in charge of Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernández, and returned to Goa, arriving there at the beginning of 1552. During his trip to Goa, he had met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from Cochin. Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the Chinese Emperor on their behalf.
On April 17, 1552 Xavier set sail with Diogo Pereira on the Santa Cruz for China. He reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan off the shore, near Canton and whilst waiting for a junk to take him to the mainland, he fell ill with a fever. A poor man, George Alvarez, found him lying on the shore and carried him to his hut. He died on the island on December 2, 1552, at age 46, without having reached mainland China.
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| By Nicoco007 - |
Xavier was first buried on Shangchuan Dao’s beach. His intact body was taken from the island in February 1553. It was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on March 22, 1553. An open grave in the church now marks the place of Xavier's burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house.
On December 11, 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body, having resisted extensive decay, is now in the Basilica of Bom Jésus in Goa, where it was placed into a silver casket on December 2, 1637. This casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths between 1636 and 1637, was an exemplary blend of Italian and Indian aesthetic sensibilities.
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| Casket of Saint Francis Xavier in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India |
There is a debate as to how the body could have remained incorrupt for so long. Some say that Francis Xavier was mummified, while others argue that the incorruptible body is evidence of a miracle.
The silver casket is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition which occurs for a duration of six weeks every ten years, the most recent of which took place between November 22, 2014 and January 4, 2015.
Xavier was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622, although on account of the death of Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year.
Pius XI named St. Francis Xavier in 1927 the patron Saint of Catholic Missionaries in foreign countries.
His feast day is December 3.
Sources CatholicEncyclopaedia, Donmartin
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