St. Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier is considered one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Catholic Church and the principal founder of Christian missions in the Far East. His evangelizing work contributed to the spread of Christianity in India, Japan and many regions of Asia.

He was born on April 7, 1506 with the name Francisco de Gassu y Javier in his family castle at Javier, in the region of Navarre, Spain.

At the age of nineteen, he moved to Paris to pursue his studies. There he met Ignatius of Loyola, an encounter that profoundly changed his spiritual life.

In 1534, together with Ignatius and five companions, he pronounced the famous Vow of Montmartre, committing himself to a life of poverty, chastity and evangelization.

In 1537 he was ordained a priest, and in 1540, with papal approval, he participated in the foundation of the Jesuit Order, which would become one of the most important missionary orders of the Church.

On his thirty-fifth birthday, he departed for the Indies, beginning his extraordinary missionary work.

His missionary activity was immediately crowned with great success. In the region of Goa alone, he baptized more than 10,000 fishermen in a single month.

Wherever he traveled, Saint Francis Xavier established mission stations, organized Christian communities and trained local collaborators so that the evangelizing mission could continue even after his departure.

In 1549, he traveled to Japan, where he founded one of the first Christian communities in the country. Christianity spread rapidly, and only a few years after his mission, Japan counted nearly 400,000 Christians.

Driven by the desire to bring the Gospel also to China, he undertook another missionary journey. However, while attempting to enter the country, he became seriously ill.

Saint Francis Xavier died on December 3, 1552 on the island of Sancian, near the Chinese coast.

His body still rests today in the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa, an important pilgrimage site. His right arm, used to administer thousands of baptisms, is preserved in Rome in the Church of the Gesù.

In 1622, he was canonized by Pope Gregory XV.

Because of his extraordinary missionary work, Saint Francis Xavier is regarded as the greatest missionary of the Church after Saint Paul the Apostle.

Iconography: Saint Francis Xavier is depicted as a Jesuit with a crucifix, preaching or baptizing, often surrounded by people from India and Japan, with a burning heart.

Feast day: December 3.

Patronage: Of missions, India, sailors, the Catholic press, and invoked against hurricanes and plague.