St. Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier was born in Navarre in 1506 and became a priest of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. His missionary journeys took him from Europe to India, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Before those journeys, however, he was a student and teacher in Paris with ambitions for learning and advancement. The change in those ambitions is an important part of his vocation.

At the College of Sainte-Barbe he formed a friendship with Pierre Favre and came to know Ignatius of Loyola. Butler describes Francis resisting Ignatius's example of poverty before gradually recognizing the force of his teaching about eternal life. Ignatius's patience and practical kindness helped win his confidence. In 1534 Francis joined the companions who made vows at Montmartre, committing themselves to a life of poverty and service to God.

The companions later travelled to Venice while hoping to reach the Holy Land. There Francis served sick people in hospital, making beds, dressing wounds, and keeping watch beside patients. He was ordained a priest in 1537. When their intended journey could not proceed, the companions placed themselves at the pope's service. Their common undertaking developed into the Society of Jesus, and Francis was chosen for a mission requested by the king of Portugal.

He sailed from Lisbon in 1541 and reached Goa on May 6, 1542, after a long voyage. There he preached, cared for patients, and gathered children for instruction, calling them together with a small bell. His work along southern India's pearl-fishing coast included Christian communities that already existed but lacked sufficient instruction and priests. Teaching prayers and the faith, seeking helpers, and arranging continuing care mattered alongside the journeys themselves.

The mission brought difficulties as well as opportunities. New Christians faced hostility, and Francis also encountered the harmful example and misconduct of Portuguese soldiers. His concern for the people he taught involved protecting their religious life and asking others to support them. Later journeys took him through Malacca and the Moluccas. Letters and the preparation of fellow workers helped him remain concerned with communities he could not personally stay beside.

A Japanese man called Angeroo in Butler's account, baptized Paul, helped turn his attention towards Japan. Francis travelled there with Jesuit companions and Japanese helpers, arriving in 1549. Teaching required translation, patient learning, and the assistance of people who knew the language. He met welcome in some places and resistance in others; his difficult journey towards the imperial capital did not achieve what he had hoped. Others continued the work in the communities formed during his stay.

After returning to India, Francis prepared to enter China. Obstacles at Malacca delayed him, and he eventually reached Sancian, an island off the Chinese coast. He waited for a way to cross to the mainland, but fell ill and died there in early December 1552, aged forty-six. The mission he had most recently planned remained unfulfilled. His death ended a little more than ten years of work in Asia.

Francis was canonized in 1622, and his traditional feast is December 3. His lasting contribution includes the Christian communities he helped strengthen, the workers he encouraged, and letters that carried the needs of the missions to others. A separately cited Church decree of December 14, 1927 names St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus co-principal patron with him of missions and missionaries throughout the world. That declared patronage is the basis for the connection shown on his profile.