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Great Saint Francis, well beloved and full of charity, in union with you I reverently adore the Divine Majesty. I give thanks to God for the singular gifts of grace bestowed on you in life and of glory after death, and I beg of you, with all the affection of my heart, by your powerful intercession, obtain for me the grace to live a holy life and die a holy death. I beg you to obtain for me {mention your petition}. But if what I ask is not for the glory of God and for my well-being, obtain for me, I beseech you, what will more certainly attain these ends. Amen.
prayer
Saint Francis Xavier
Memorial to St. Francis Xavier, Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan.
Apostle to the Far East
Born 1506, Javier
Died December 2,1552, China
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified 1619
Canonized 1622
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; Japan; Joiliet, Illinois; Kabankalan, Philippines; diocese of Malindi, Kenya; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; Navarre, Spain; navigators; New Zealand; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith
A short hymn or prayer
Not to be confused with St. Francis Borgia, another Spanish nobleman turned Jesuit.
Saint Francis Xavier (Spanish: San Francisco Javier; Portuguese: São Francisco Xavier; Chinese: 聖方濟各沙勿略) (April 7, 1506 – December 2, 1552) was a pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). The Roman Catholic Church considers him to have converted more people to Christianity than anyone else since St. Paul.

Early life

Xavier was born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilcueta in the Castle of Xavier (modern Spanish Javier, Basque Xabier) near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in Navarre, Spain. He was born to an aristocratic Basque family of Navarre. In 1512, when Castile invaded Navarre, many fortresses were devastated, including the family castle, and land was confiscated. Francis' father died in 1515.

At the age of 19, Francis Xavier went to study at the University of Paris, where he received a licence ès arts in 1530. He furthered his studies there in theology, and became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola. Xavier, Ignatius, and five others founded the Society of Jesus on August 15, 1534, taking a vow of poverty and chastity.

Missionary work

Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in foreign countries. As King John III of Portugal desired Jesuit missionaries for the Portuguese East Indies, he was ordered there in 1540. He left Lisbon on April 7, 1541, together with two other Jesuits and the new viceroy Martim de Sousa, on board the Santiago. From August of that year until March 1542, he remained in Mozambique then reached Goa, the capital of the then Portuguese Indian colonies on May 6 1542. His official role there was Apostolic Nuncio and he spent the following three years operating out of Goa.

On September 20, 1542, he left for his first missionary activity among the Paravas, pearl-fishers along the east coast of southern India, North of Cape Comorin. He then exerted himself to convert the king of Travancore to Christianity and also visited Ceylon. Dissatisfied with the results of his activity, he set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to Macassar on the island of Celebes (today's Indonesia).

After arriving to Malacca in October of that year and waiting three months in vain for a ship to Macassar, he gave up the goal of his voyage and left Malacca on January 1, 1546 for Amboyna where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited other Molucca Islands including Ternate and More. Shortly after Easter 1546, he returned to Ambon Island and later Malacca. During this time, frustrated by the elites in Goa, St. Francis wrote to King D. João III for an Inquisition to be installed in Goa. However, this Inquisition did not begin until eight years after his death. In December 1547, in Malacca, Francis Xavier met a Japanese nobleman from Kagoshima named Anjiro. Anjiro had heard from Francis in 1545 and had travelled from Kagoshima to Malacca with the purpose of meeting him. Having been charged with murder, Anjiro fled Japan. He poured his heart out to Francis Xavier, telling him about his former life and the customs and culture of his beloved homeland. Anjiro was a samurai and as such provided Xavier with a skilled mediator and translator for the mission to Japan that now seemed much closer to reality. “I asked * whether the Japanese would become Christians if I went with him to this country, and he replied that they would not do so immediately, but would first ask me many questions and see what I knew. Above all, they would want to see whether my life corresponded with my teaching…All the Portuguese merchants who have come from Japan assure me that by going there I could render God our Lord much service, and more than among the peoples of India, because the Japanese are a race greatly given to the exercise of reason.” Thus intrigued, Xavier baptized Anjiro—who was now called Paulo de Santa Fe—and began to plan for a mission to this recently discovered land. Anjiro helped Francis Xavier translate a few paragraphs of Christian doctrine into phonetic Japanese which Xavier learned by heart.

He returned to India in January 1548. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures in India.

Then due to displeasure at what he considered unchristian life and manners on the part of the Portuguese which impeded proselyting work, he travelled from the South into East Asia. He left Goa on April 15, 1549, stopped at Malacca and visited Canton. He was accompanied by Anjiro, two other Japanese men, the father Cosme de Torrès and Brother Juan Fernandez. He had taken with him presents for the "King of Japan" since he was intending to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio.

Xavier reached Japan on July 27, 1549, but it was not until August 15 that he went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of the province of Satsuma on the island of Kyushu. He was received in a friendly manner and was hosted by Anjiro's family until October 1550. From October to December 1550, he resided in Yamaguchi. Shortly before Christmas, he left for Kyoto but failed to meet with the Emperor. He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551 where he was permitted to preach by the daimyo of the province. However, lacking fluency in the Japanese language, he had to limit himself to reading aloud the translation of a catechism.

With the passage of time, his sojourn in Japan can be considered fruitful as attested by congregations established in Hirado, Yamaguchi and Bungo. Xavier worked for more than two years in Japan and saw his successor-Jesuits established. He then decided to return to India. During his trip, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou, China where he saw the rich merchant Diégo Pereira, an old friend from Cochin, who showed him a letter from Portuguese being held prisoners in Guangzhou asking for a Portuguese ambassador to talk to the Chinese Emperor in their favor. Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on December 27, 1551 and was back in Goa by January, 1552.

On April 17 he set sail with Diégo Pereira, leaving Goa on board the Santa Cruz for China. He introduced himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as ambassador of the King of Portugal. Shortly thereafter, he realized that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the capitan Alvaro de Ataide de Gama who now had total control over the harbor. The capitan refused to recognize his title of Nuncio, asked Pereira to resign from his title of ambassador, named a new crew for the ship and demanded the gifts for the chinese Emperor be left in Malacca.

In early September 1552, the Santa Cruz reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan, 14 km away from the southern coast of mainland China, near Taishan, Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong. At this time, he was only accompanied by a Jesuit student, Alvaro Ferreira, a Chinese man called Antonio and a Malabar servant called Christopher. Around mid-November, he sent a letter saying that a man had agreed to take him to the mainland in exchange for a large sum of money. Having sent back Alvaro Ferreira, he remained alone with Antonio.

Death

On November 21, he fainted after celebrating Mass. He died on the island on December 2, 1552, at age 46, without having reached mainland China.

He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan island. His intact body was taken from the island in February 1553 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, having resisted extensive decay, is now 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. Today, the silver casket has been removed, exposing the glass and leaving the body visible, though it is raised up on a high mausoleum. The glass container is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition which occurs for a duration of 6 weeks every 10 years, the most recent of which took place in 2004. There is a debate as to how the body could have remained incorrupt for so long.

Legacy

St. Francis Xavier accomplished a great deal of missionary work, both as organizer and as pioneer. By his compromises in India with the Christians of St. Thomas, he developed the Jesuit missionary methods along lines that subsequently became a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India and by being one of the first Jesuit missionary to East India, his work is of fundamental significance with regard to the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan and the systematic and aggressive incorporation of great masses of non-European peoples on broad lines of policy by the Church.

Recognition

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, Australia, Borneo, China, East Indies, Goa, Japan, New Zealand and of missionaries. His feast day is December 3.

Educational institutions

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

There are numberous St. Xavier's educational institutions worldwide including:

Australia
  • Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia One of the best Australian Schools, and certainly in the top 3 in the Melbourne Metropolitan area. Situated on a large block of land approximately the size of 6 blocks, it contains a beautiful chapel, originally planned to be approximately four times the present size, but due to theft of funds it had to be scaled down. The chapel contains one of the best views of the City of Melbourne. Xavier College is very prominent in sports, providing two of Australia's Awesome Foursome (rowing team) and numerous AFL stars. It is also prominent in music, producing such talents as the Australian #1 Flaunt It's creator, TV Rock.
  • Saint Francis Xavier College in Canberra Australia
  • St. Francis Xavier Primary School, in Melbourne, Australia
  • Xavier College, in Adelaide, Australia

Canada
  • St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. It is traditionally one of the highest rated primarily undergraduate universities in Canada, as defined by MacLean's Magazine in their annual ranking of Canadian universities.
  • St. Francis Xavier Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario. It is part of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and has, since 1999, offered the International Baccalaureate diploma program.

Colombia

England

Hong Kong

India

Ahmedabad:

Mumbai:

  • St. Xavier's College, Bombay, one of the best colleges in India
  • St. Xavier's High School, Fort
  • St. Xavier's Boy's Academy, Churchgate
  • St. Xavier's Technical Inst Mahim
  • St. Xavier's High School & JR. College Bhandup.

Goa:

Kolkata:

Ranchi:

Misc.:

Japan

Malaysia

Nepal

Philippines

United States
  • Three American universities: Xavier University in Cincinnati, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, and Saint Xavier University in Chicago
  • St Francis Xavier College, an All-Boys High School in Kutama, Zimbabwe that was formed before World War Two. It was the first high school in the country to cater for indigenous students. It is also referred to, admittedly more commonly, as Kutama College.
  • St. Xavier High School, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, was founded in 1831
  • Xavierian High School located in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, New York, United States, founded in 1957
  • Xavierian Brothers High School located in Westwood, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1963
  • Xavier High School located in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
  • Xavier High School, located in Middletown, Connecticut, founded in 1963

Misc.

See also

Catholic missionaries in China

Protestant missionaries in China

External links and references

1506 births | 1552 deaths | Jesuits | Saints | Christianity in Japan | Christianity in India | Foreigners in Japan | History of Catholicism in Asia | Jesuit education | Roman Catholic missionaries | Spanish saints | Diplomats of the Holy See | Kanyakumari

František Xaverský | Francisco Xavier | Francisco de Xavier | Francisco Javier | Francisco Xavier | Frantzisko Xabierkoa | François Xavier | Sv. Franjo Ksaverski | Fransiskus Xaverius | San Francesco Saverio | פרנסיסקו חאווייר | Franciscus Xaverius | Xavéri Szent Ferenc | Franciscus Xaverius | フランシスコ・ザビエル | Franciszek Ksawery | Francisco Xavier | Франциск Ксаверий | Francisco de Xavier y Jassu | Frans Xavier | 方济各·沙勿略

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Francis Xavier".

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