Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier
Apostle to the Far East
Born	April 7, 1506 in Javier, Spain
Died	December 2,1552 in China
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church
Beatified	October 25, 1619 by Paul V
Canonized	March 12, 1622 by Gregory XV
Feast	December 3
Attributes	crucifix; preacher carrying a flaming heart; bell; globe; vessel; young bearded Jesuit in the company of Saint Ignatius Loyola; young bearded Jesuit with a torch, flame, cross and lily
Patronage	African missions; Agartala, India; Ahmedabad, India; Alexandria, Louisiana; Apostleship of Prayer; Australia; Bombay, India; Borneo; Cape Town, South Africa; China; Dinajpur, Bangladesh; East Indies; Fathers of the Precious Blood; foreign missions; Freising, Germany; Goa India; Green Bay, Wisconsin; India; Indianapolis, Indiana;Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan;Joiliet, Illinois; Kabankalan, Philippines; Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines; diocese of Malindi, Kenya; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; Navarre, Spain; navigators; New Zealand; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith

Template:Jesuit Spanish San Francisco Javier, or Xavier Saint Francis Xavier (Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa; Spanish: San Francisco Javier; Portuguese: São Francisco Xavier; Chinese: 聖方濟各沙勿略) (7 April, 1506 - 2 December, 1552), a pioneering Roman Catholic Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order), was instrumental in the establishment of Christianity in India, the Malay Archipelago, and Japan. The Roman Catholic Church considers him to have converted more people to Christianity than anyone else since St. Paul, and he was made a Roman Catholic saint on October 25, 1619.

In 1529, while attending the University of Paris, Xavier became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola, who had undergone a profound religious conversion and was gathering about himself a group of men who shared his ideals. Together with five others they founded the Society of Jesus on August 15, 1534, by taking a vow of poverty and celibacy at a site now in the Montmartre area of Paris. King John III of Portugal, asked for diligent priests to evangelize and minister to the Christians in his new Asian dominions, and on March 15, 1540, Xavier left Rome for the Indies, arriving in Goa, the center Portuguese activity in the East, on May 6, 1542. He spent the next three years mostly on the southeastern coast of India among the simple, poor pearl fishermen, the Paravas, then baptized the Macuans on the southwestern coast. In the fall of 1545, he went to the Malay Archipelago, where he spent several months evangelizing in Malacca, then laid the foundations for a permanent mission in the Maluku region among the people of Ambon Island, Ternate, and Morotai (or Moro). In 1548 he returned to India, where more Jesuits had since arrived to join him, and became interested in Japan. On August 15, 1549, he arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, and by late 1551, when he left for India, he had found 2,000 converts there. Xavier died of a fever on December 2, 1552, on the island of Sancian (now Shang-ch'uan Tao), while attempting to secure entrance to China.

Life

Early Life and Education

According to a family register. Francis Xavier was born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilcueta on April 7, 1506, in the castle of Xavier (or Xavero) near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Kingdom of Navarre (now in northern Spain), where Basque was the native language. He was the third and youngest son of Juan de Jasso, privy councillor to King John III of Navarre (Jean d'Albret), and Maria de Azpilcueta y Xavier, sole heiress of two noble Navarrese families Following the Spanish custom of the time, he was given the surname of his father and his mother; his name is accurately written Francisco de Xavier (Latin Xaverius) rather than Francisco Xavier, as Xavier is originally a place name. In 1512, many fortresses were devastated, including the family castle, and land was confiscated by the crown of Castile. Francis' father died in 1515.

Francis grew up at Xavier and received his early education there. Like many younger sons of the nobility, he was destined for an ecclesiastical career, and in 1525, at age nineteen, he went to study at the University of Paris, where he received a licence ès arts in 1530. He furthered his studies there in theology.

In 1529, Ignatius Loyola, another Basque student, was assigned to room with Francis. Fifteen years older than Xavier and a former soldier, Loyola had undergone a profound religious conversion and was then gathering about himself a group of men who shared his ideals. Gradually he won over a recalcitrant Xavier, and together with five others they founded the Society of Jesus on August 15, 1534, taking a vow of poverty and celibacy at a site now in the Montmartre area of Paris. They vowed to live in imitation of Christ, and solemnly pledged to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and then to devote themselves to the salvation of believers and unbelievers alike. Xavier then performed the Spiritual Exercises, a thirty-day series of meditations devised by Ignatius, based on his own experience of religious conversion, to guide the individual toward greater generosity in the service of God and man. This experience helped Francis Xavier develop the motivation that carried him for the rest of his life, and prepared the way for his recurrent mystical experiences.

Mission to India

When all seven members had completed their studies, they met in Venice, where Xavier was ordained a priest on June 24, 1537. After unsuccessfully seeking passage to the Holy Land for more than a year, the seven, along with fresh recruits, went to Rome to put themselves at the disposal of the Pope. As a result of their preaching and caring for the sick throughout central Italy, they had become much in demand, and several Catholic princes sought their services. One of these was King John III of Portugal, who wanted diligent priests to evangelize and minister to the Christians in his new Asian dominions. When illness prevented one of the two originally chosen for the task from departing, Ignatius designated Xavier as his substitute. Francis left Rome the next day, March 15, 1540, for the Indies, traveling first to Lisbon. That autumn, Pope Paul III formally recognized the followers of Ignatius as a religious order, the Society of Jesus.

Francis arrived in Goa, the center Portuguese activity in the East, on May 6, 1542; his companion had remained behind to work in Lisbon. He spent the next three years mostly on the southeastern coast of India among the simple, poor pearl fishermen, the Paravas. About 20,000 of them had accepted Baptism seven years before, in order to secure Portuguese support against their enemies; since then, however, they had been neglected. Francis translated a small catechism into native Tamil with the help of interpreters, and went tirelessly from village to village instructing and confirming the new converts in their faith. His evident goodness and the force of his conviction made a deep impression on them.

Shortly afterward, the primitive Macuans on the southwestern coast requested baptism, and, after brief instructions, Xavier baptized 10,000 of them in the last months of 1544. He organized schools to help maintain their new faith.

In the fall of 1545, new opportunities for Christianity attracted Xavier to the Malay Archipelago. He spent several months evangelizing among the mixed population of the Portuguese commercial centre at Malacca, then went to found missions among the Malays and the savage headhunters in the Spice Islands (Moluccas). Francis Xavier's work initiated permanent change in eastern Indonesia, where in 1546-1547 he worked in the Maluku region among the people of Ambon Island, Ternate, and Morotai (or Moro), and laid the foundations for a permanent mission. In 1548 he returned to India, where more Jesuits had since arrived to join him. In Goa the College of Holy Faith, founded several years previously, was turned over to the Jesuits, and Francis began to develop it into a center for educating native priests and catechists for the diocese of Goa, which stretched from the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, to China.

Years in Japan

Xavier now became interested in Japan, which had been reached by Europeans only five years earlier. In Malacca he had met Anjiro, a Japanese deeply interested in Christianity, and through their conversations had realized that the Japanese people was cultured and sophisticated, unlike the fishermen in India or the headhunters of the Moluccas. On August 15, 1549, a Portuguese ship bearing Francis, the newly baptized Anjiro, and several companions entered the Japanese port of Kagoshima. Xavier's first letter from Japan, which was reprinted more than thirty times before the end of the century, expressed his enthusiasm for the Japanese, “the best people yet discovered.” Xavier discovered that his lifestyle of poverty, which had so inspired the Paravas and Malays, often repelled the Japanese, and abandoned it for one of studied display and dignity.

Late in 1551, having received no mail since his arrival in Japan, Francis decided to return temporarily to India, leaving his companions to care for about 2,000 Christians in five communities. In India, he was delayed by his administrative responsibilities as the superior of the new Jesuit Province of the Indies. Meanwhile, he had come to realize that in order to convert Japan, it would be necessary to understand China; it was to the Chinese that the Japanese looked for wisdom. Xavier determined to travel to China, and traveled to the island of Sancian (now Shang-ch'uan Tao, off the Chinese coast) to attempt to secure entrance to the country which was then closed to foreigners.

Death

File:Nasugbu 31 (New Church Altar).JPG

The Altar of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines. St. Francis is the principal patron of the town, together with Our Lady of Escalera.

On November 21, on Shangchuan Island, Xavier fainted after celebrating Mass. He died of a fever on December 3, 1552, at the age of forty-six, without having reached mainland China.

He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. In February of 1553, his intact body was taken from the island and 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 is now in the in the Basilica of Bom Jésus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.

Casket of Saint Francis Xavier in the Basilica of Bom Jésus in Goa

The right forearm, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached by Pr. Gen. Claudio Acquaviva in 1614 and has been displayed since in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome, Il Gesù.

Beatification

Francis Xavier is a Catholic saint. He was beatified by Paul V on October 25, 1619, and was canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622, at the same time as Ignatius Loyola. He is the patron saint of Navarre, Spain; Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines; Australia; Borneo; China; the East Indies; Goa, India; Japan; New Zealand, and of missionaries. His feast day is December 3. In 1927 he was named patron of all missions.

Legacy

Many regard Francis Xavier as a saint who brought the Christian faith to Asia. In the Roman Catholic church he is commonly known as 'St. Francis Xavier,' 'the Patron Saint of the East,' and is still prayed to and honored as a pure representative of Jesus Christ and his gospel by Christians all over the world. Innumerable hospitals, schools, and other institutions in India are named after him.

St. Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his missionary work, both as an organizer and a pioneer. He developed Jesuit missionary methods that subsequently became a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India and, as one of the first Jesuit missionaries to the East Indies, his work is of fundamental significance to the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan.

Pope Benedict XVI said of both Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier that, "not only their history which was interwoven for many years from Paris and Rome, but a unique desire — a unique passion, it could be said — moved and sustained them through different human events: the passion to give to God-Trinity a glory always greater and to work for the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ to the peoples who had been ignored."

Evaluation

Twentieth-century scholarship has dispelled many of the legends and the criticisms connected with Xavier. A modern estimate puts the figure of those baptized by him at about thirty thousand, as opposed to the one million asserted by Baroque legend. Francis Xavier did not possess the gift of tongues attributed to him, and had to struggle with language wherever he worked. He is justly credited for his concept that a missionary must adapt to the customs and language of the people he evangelizes, and for advocating the education of a native clergy, initiatives not always followed by his successors.

Research has shown that he always provided for the continuing pastoral care of the communities he founded and did not abandon them after baptism, as some critics maintained. Many of his own efforts were directed to instructing those baptized hastily by others. The areas he evangelized in India have remained Catholic to the present day. During the seventeenth century, prolonged persecution destroyed the missions he founded in the Moluccas and Japan, but only after thousands had died as martyrs. After he left Maluku, others carried on his work and by the 1560s there were 10,000 Catholics in the area, mostly on Ambon. By the 1590s there were 50,000 to 60,000.

Educational Institutions Named after Francis Xavier

• St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India. St. Xavier's College is one of India's oldest, and Mumbai's most famous college.

• Xavier University (Cincinnati), founded in 1831, is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States and is the fourth oldest (sixth oldest Catholic college).

• In 1839, Theodore James Ryken founded the Xaverian Brothers, or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (CFX). Over 20 colleges or high schools in the United States are Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools (XBSS).

• St. Francis Xavier University, named after him, is a small university in eastern Canada established in 1853. Students at this university celebrate the life of St. Francis Xavier every year on December 3. It is also the date that senior students receive their university ring (X-Ring), which is marked with an "X" and is recognized around the world.

• Xavier School in the Philippines is named after him as well. The school was established as a missionary school, by Jesuits expelled from China, continuing the work of St. Francis Xavier.

• The Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá, Colombia.

Miscellaneous

• Many churches all over the world have been named in honor of Xavier. One notable church is the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Iowa. It is one of only 52 minor basilicas in the United States, and the only one outside a metropolitan area.
• The Dutch student fraternity KSV St. Franciscus Xaverius in Wageningen (Province of Gelderland) is named after him.
• The station Saint François Xavier (Paris Metro)|Saint François Xavier, on Line 13 of the Paris Métro, is named after him.
• The town of St. Xavier, Montana, is named after him.

See also

• Religion in China
• Christianity in China
• Goa Inquisition

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Brodrick, James. 1952. Saint Francis Xavier, 1506-1552. New York: Wicklow Press.
• Don Peter, W. L. A. 1987. Francis Xavier, teacher of nations: the educational aspects of the missionary career of St. Francis Xavier. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Don Peter. ISBN: 9559512609 : 9789559512608
• Gowen, Herbert H. 1967. Five foreigners in Japan. Essay index reprint series. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press.
• Jackson, Samuel Macauley. 1969. The new Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia of religious knowledge. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
• Martindale, C. C., and Anthony Symondson. 2006. Francis Xavier. CTS great saint series. London: Catholic Truth Society. ISBN: 1860823742 9781860823749
• Mendonça, Délio de. 2006. Saint Francis Xavier in India. Goa, India: Délio de Mendonça.

External links and references

• Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909 on St. Francis Xavier
• St. Francis Xavier - Pictorial Biography
• François Xavier(in French)
• St. Francis of the Millennium
• The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus - The Jesuits in Goa
• The feast of St Francis Xavier in Goa
• St Francis Xavier and Malacca
• Picture of Shangchuan island. The chapel marks the location of his death
• Another picture of the church on Shangchuan island
• Old map of Shangchuan island
• St. Francisco Xavier
• The Miracles of St Francis Xavier by John Hardon, SJ
• St Francis Xavier: History of His Incorrupt Body
• Brief History of St Francis Xavier
• Patron Saints @ Catholic Forum
• Web sites abour San Francis Xavier (Spanish)

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