( 1506-1552)
Born in Spain in the family castle of Xavier (hence his family name), Francis studied at the University of Paris, where he met a school mate, Ignatius of Loyola, who after his own conversion was very influential on Francis’ conversion.
In 1534 Francis was among the first seven Jesuits, who under the leadership of Ignatius of Loyola, in the Church of Montmartre in Paris make the vow to serve Jesus in poverty and chastity. The Society of Jesus was born. It was the 15th of August. In 1537 Francis, together with Ignatius and the other six companions were ordained priests in Venice and in 1540 he was sent to India. After a strenuous and dangerous voyage finally Francis landed at Goa on May 6, 1542. In 1545 from Goa, Francis went to Malacca, which was another important Portuguese port in Malaysia. Francis made Malacca his second Evangelization centre in South East Asia. During his many missionary journeys, Francis passed through Malacca five times. In 1548 Francis returned to Goa together with a Japanese man, Jagiro, whom he had met in Malacca.
On 15 April 1549, Xavier, together with Jagiro and other two Japanese, a Spanish priest and a brother, sailed from Goa for Japan. In 1549, August 15, Francis lands in Kagoshima (Japan). They were the first Christian missionaries to visit Japan.
Francis remained in Japan only for a few years (around three years), but his memory has remained well recorded in Japan’s history and people’s hearts. During his stay in Japan, Francis had great admiration for Japanese people. But at the same time he had another important intuition and vision about Evangelization in Asia. He had noticed how much of the Japanese culture (writing, painting, architecture, schooling etc.) had a Chinese origin. He had heard much of the Celestial Empire and in sense he had come close to the Chinese culture, which shapes many Far Eastern civilizations. Though Francis probably had not formed a proper estimate of the extent and greatness of that culture, he nevertheless understood how wide a field it afforded for the spread of the light of the Gospel in Asia. On his return to Goa (February, 1552), the urge of going to China grew by the day, and on April of the same year, Francis together with a group of four people ( one of the them was a Chinese friend, Antonio de Santa Fe) sailed from Goa for China. They stopped for a while in Malacca, from where they continued their journey to China. In the autumn of 1552 they arrived in the small island of Sancian near the coast of China. After months of anxious waiting for a vessel to get them into China, Francis suddenly became ill with fever and with no proper care available on the desolate isle, he died like Moses, in sight of the land of promise, at the age of 46. Only his faithful Chinese friend Antonio de Santa Fe was with him to the end. Antonio de Santa Fe put Francis’ body in a rough wooden coffin and buried it on Sancian island. After two and a half months, Francis’ body was taken from the grave (the body was found still intact) and carried on a Portuguese vessel to Malacca. From Malacca it was carried back to Goa. The tomb of St Francis in Goa still attracts thousands of pilgrims of all nationalities and religions. Hindus have a special veneration for the “man of God”. Every ten years (the number of years Francis lived in the Far East) a public exposition of the body of St Francis (which is still intact) is held in the Basilica. It is truly a matter of wonder that one man in the short space of ten years (6 May, 1542 - 3 December, 1552) could have visited so many countries, traversed so many seas, preached the Gospel to so many nations, and converted so many people. The incomparable apostolic zeal, which animated him, and the stupendous miracles, which God wrought through him, explain this marvel, which has no equal elsewhere. St. Francis Xavier is considered the greatest missionary since the time of the Apostles, and the zeal he displayed, the wonderful miracles he performed, and the great number of people he brought to the light of Christian Faith, entitle him to this distinction. The fame of this “holy man” spread all over the Far East. India, Malacca and Japan treasure St Francis’ memory. And because Francis had kept a regular correspondence with his friends in Europe, especially the superior of the Society, Ignatius of Loyola, these letters have become an important source of information on India and the Far East, and have infused enthusiasm to generations of European youth in search of their vocation. Francis was canonized together with St. Ignatius in 1622. Pope Pius X proclaimed St Francis Xavier patron of all foreign missions. |
