Dec-3: Feast of St Francis Xavier SJ

December 3rd is the feast day of Saint Francis Xavier (San Francisco Javier). Known as the "Goencho Saib or Lord of Goa", "Apostle of the Indies" and "Apostle of Japan", he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since Paul the Apostle. He is the patron saint of foreign missions (along with St. Thérèse of Lisieux) and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) along with Saint Ignatius de Loyola and 5 others.

Francis Xavier (christened Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta) was born on April 7th 1506 in the town of Javier (then known as Xavier, which became part of his name) in the Kingdom of Navarre, a Basque area in the Pyrenees (present-day Spain). 

At age 19, St. Francis Xavier went to study at the College of Sainte-Barbe in the University of Paris and it was here that he encountered St. Ignatius of Loyola (christened Iñigo Lopez de Oñaz y Loyola), who told him of his desire to start a new order dedicated to serving the Lord, vowing chastity, poverty, obedience to the Pope and committing themselves to the missions of the Church. 

St. Francis Xavier however was initially not convinced, as he had worldly ambitions of a glorious secular career. St. Ignatius of Loyola, then asked him, in the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ These words greatly moved St. Francis Xavier, who decided to join with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Peter Faber and four others to establish the Society of Jesus (aka Jesuits). On August 15, 1534 the group of seven took their vows in crypt below the Church of Saint Denis (now Saint Pierre de Montmartre, Paris). Francis Xavier started his study of theology that same year and was ordained on June 24, 1537.

During Lent 1539, the group traveled to the Vatican to petition Pope Paul III to recognise their new religious institute and permit them to send missionaries to the Holy Land. The Pope gave his consent; however in lieu of a war between the Ottoman and the Venetians the road to the Holy Land was closed, so the Pope requested two missionaries be sent instead to the new Portuguese colony in India set up 30 years earlier – a request that had come from King John III of Portugal. When one of the chosen took suddenly ill, Ignatius asked Francis Xavier to replace him. 

While waiting for a ship, the duo of Francis Xavier and Simon Rodrigues, preached and took care of prisoners in Lisbon. They so impressed King John III that his companion Rodrigues stayed back while Xavier would go alone to India - so by a twist of fate, Francis Xavier became the very first Jesuit missionary priest. As Xavier was boarding the ship on April 7, 1541, he was told he had been appointed apostolic nuncio (diplomat who takes up permanent residence in another country to formally represent the Church there) with authority over all the Portuguese clergy in Goa.

Over a period of 12 years, Francis led a series of overseas missions, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time - Mozambique, Malacca Goa (India), Japan and on to Borneo and the Moluccan Islands, Malacca and the Malayan Archipelago. Along the way he visited many islands and communities, braving rough seas and disease. Even though he had to learn the local customs, languages and overcome the fierce opposition from the locals, he never wavered from his mission to serve the Lord. Part of his unceasing labours were due to a conviction that all the non-baptised were damned to eternal damnation, a conviction held by Christians of all kinds at the time. He is remembered for his tireless efforts in proclaiming the Gospel in foreign lands and for his solidarity in word and lifestyle with the poor.

During his first mission in India where he first set foot on May 6, 1542, he spent the first five months preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals.He was famous for walking through the streets ringing a bell to summon the children and servants to catechism. During this time he was invited to head Saint Paul's College, a pioneer seminary for the education of secular priests, which became the first Jesuit headquarters in Asia. 

His next assignment was with the Paravas, pearl fishers on the southeast coast near Cape Comorin. Many of them had been baptised ten years before, merely to please the Portuguese who had helped them against the Moors, but remained uninstructed in the faith. Xavier lived among the poor, sleeping on the ground and living mainly on rice and water. He won over their fidelity building over 40 churches in the area.  That community remain faithful to this day. Also during this time, Xavier was able to visit the tomb of Thomas the Apostle in Mylapore (then in Portuguese India but now part of the City of Madras/Chennai)

Next he began by reforming the Church in Goa, concentrating on the Portuguese colonists who, though nominally Catholic, were notoriously cruel to slaves and lived in open concubinage, with total neglect of the poor. By his example, preaching, and writing verses on Christian truths set to popular melodies, he was able to effect a change of heart.

For long he dreamed of going further east, although he was not a good sailor and was poor at languages (despite a myth to the contrary). Xavier then sailed to the Portuguese colony of Malacca, on the west coast of the Malayan Peninsula, before moving on to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands (in eastern Indonesia) where he arrived in February 1546.

In Malacca, Xavier met a Japanese named Anjiro, who converted to Christianity and adopted the name of 'Paulo de Santa Fé'. What he told Xavier about Japan intrigued him and decided to evangelise there. But first in January 1548 Francis returned to Goa to attend to his responsibilities as superior of the mission there. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures. 

He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca, and visited Canton. In April 1549 he finally set sail for Japan with Anjiro and a number of Jesuits. Because of delays on the way, they did not reach Kagoshima, Anjiro’s hometown at the southernmost tip of Japan, until August. Here they were welcomed by Shimazu Takahisa (1514–1571), daimyō of Satsuma, who allowed the missionaries to preach Christianity but he himself did not convert. Xavier noticed that identifying with the poor did not work as well in feudal Japan - so he was forced to change his tactics. Xavier was convinced that the he would spread the religion by converting the Emperor. So they travelled to the royal city of Miyako (present day Tokyo) but were unsuccessful in meeting the Emperor. Next, they sought an audience with the daimyō of Yamaguchi, then Japan's second largest city and by some accounts the most powerful man in Japan. They were received formally by the daimyō and presented him with an array of expensive gifts and with impressive credentials from King John III of Portugal and Pope III. He in turn allowed them to preach Christianity saying the Japanese were free to convert. He also gave them a deserted Buddhist monastery to live in. Within six months they had 600 converts. By the time Francis Xavier left Japan, there were about 2,000 Christians in Japan.  

It was his goal to one day spread the Gospel in China. In September 1552 he landed on Shangchuan (Sancian) island, off the south coast of China, near Canton (Guangzhou). It was a hideout for Chinese smugglers and a base for Portuguese ships (soon to be replaced by Macau), but unfortunately he contracted a fever that sent him into coma. He died on Shangchuan Island on the morning of December 3rd 1552. 

He was buried on the island and his body placed in quicklime to hasten its decomposition so that it could be brought to India. But on being exhumed, it was found to be miraculously in perfect condition. It was first brought to Malacca and later to its present resting place in the Basilica of the Bom Jesu in Goa in a splendid silver castle paid for by the Medici family.

Pope Paul V beautified Francis Xavier in 1619, and Pope Gregory XV canonized him on March 12, 1622 at the same ceremony along with Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Philip Neri and Isidore the Farmer. What an impressive cumulus of Saints!! In 1927, Pope Pius XI named Saint Francis Xavier co-patron of all foreign Catholic missions, alongside Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Xavier Tomb Monument and Chapel on the Shangchuan Island, in ruins after years of neglect under communist rule in China, was restored with support from the alumni of Wah Yan College, a Jesuit high school in Hong Kong.

In December 2014, the church celebrated the 16th decennial (occurring every 10 years) exposition of the holy remnants of St. Francis Xavier. My family and I were blessed to be able to pay our respects to Goencho Saib, along with approximately 2.5 million pilgrims from Goa and all around the world.

Sources:

• https://teilhard.com/2013/12/03/feast-of-st-francis-xavier-s-j-december-3/
• https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=423