Francis Xavier 7th April 1506 -3rd December 1552

[Audio] Francis Xavier 7th April 1506 -3rd December 1552 He venerated as Saint Francis Xavier Spanish Catholic missionary and saint who co-founded the Society of Jesus. He was a representative of the Portuguese empire who led the first Christian mission to Japan. Born in the town of Xavier, Spain was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of Poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534..

[Audio] Early Life Francis Xavier was born in the Castle of Xavier, in the Kingdom of Navarre, on 7th April 1506 into an influential noble family. He was the youngest son. His father is a Don Juan de Jasso y Atondo, who was Lord of Idocin, president of the Royal Council of the Kingdom of Navarre and Seneschal of the Castle of Xaavier. His mother is Dona Maria de Azpilcueta y Aznarez who is the sole heiress to the castle of Xavier. His brother Miguel de Jasso became Lord of Xavier at the death of his parents, a direct ancestor of the Counts of Javier..

[Audio] In 1512, Ferninard, King of Aragon invaded Navarre initiating a war that lasted over 18 years. Three years later, Francis’s father died when Francis was only nine years old. In 1516, Francis’s brothers participated in a failed Navarrese-French attempt to expel the Spanish invaders from the kingdom. In 1522, one of Francis’s brothers participated with 200 Navarrese nobles but failed. In 1525, Francis went to study at the College Sainte-Barbe, University of Paris where he spent the next eleven years. In the early days he acquired some reputation as an an athete and a high-jumper..

[Audio] In 1529, Francis shared lodgings with his friend Peter Faver. A new student Ignatius of Loyola, came to room with them. At 38, Ignatius was much older than Faver and Francis who were both 23 at the time. In 1530, Francis received the degree of Master of Arts, and afterwards taught Aristotelian philosophy at Beauvais College, University of Paris..

[Audio] On 15 August 1534, seven students met in a crypt beneath the Church of Saint Denis, on the hill of Montmarte, over looking Paris. The made private vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience to the Pope and also vowed to go Holy Land to Convert infidels. Francis began his study of Theology in 1534 and was ordained on 24 June 1537. In 1539, after long discussions, Ignatius drew up a formula for a new religious order, the Society of Jesus. Ignatius’s plan for the order was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540..

[Audio] In 1540, King John of Portugal, appeal to Holy See, requesting Jesuit missionaries to spread faith in his new possession In India as he believed that christian values were eroding among the Portugese. Ignatius promptly appointed Nicolas Bobadilla and Simao Rodrigues. At the last moment, however, Bobadilla became seriously ill. With some hesitance and uneasiness, Ignatius asked Francis to go in Bodadilla’s place. Thus, Francis Xavier began his life as the first Jesuit missionary almost accidentally..

[Audio] Leaving Rome on 15 March 1540, in the Ambassador’s train, Francis took with him a breviary a catechism and De Institutione bene vivendi by Croatian humanist Marko Marulic a latin book that had become popular in the Counter-Reformation. According to a 1549 letter to Balthasar Gago from Goa, it was the only book that Francis read Or studied. Francis reached Lisbon in June 1540 and four days After his arrival, he and Rodrigues were summoned to a private audience with the King and the Queen..

[Audio] He led an extensive mission in Asia, mainly the Portuguese Empire in the East and was influential in evangelisation work, most notably in early modern India. He extensively involved in the missionary activity in Portugese India. Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in Asia, mainly in four centres: Malacca, Amboina, Ternate (in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia), Japan and off-shore China. His growing information about new places indicated to him that he had to go to what he understood were centres of influence for the whole region..

[Audio] China appeared large from his days in India. Japan was particularly attractive because of its culture. For Francis Xavier, these areas were interconnected; they could not be evangelised seperately. For forty-five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia. Francis was the first missionary to go Japan. As the first Jesuit in India, Francis had difficulty achieving much success in his missionary trips..

[Audio] His successors, such as de Nobili, Matteo Ricci and Beschi attempted to convert the noblemen first as a means to influence more people, while Francis had initially interacted most with the lower classes. Later though, in Japan, Francis changed tack by paying tribute to the Emperor and seeking an audience with him..

[Audio] Last days of Francis Xavier and His death. During his trip from Japan back to India, a tempest (a violent wind) forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, where he met Diogo Pereira, a rich Merchant and an old friend from Cochin. Pereira showed him a letter from Portugese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a portuguese ambassador to speak to the Chinese Emperor on their behalf. Laterduring his voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551 and was back in Goa by January 1552..

[Audio] On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira on the Santa Cruz for China. He planned to introduce himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as the ambassador of the King of Portugal. But then her realised that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the captain Alvaro de Ataide da Gama who now had total control over the harbour. The captain refused to recognise his title of Nuncio, asked Pereira to resign from his title of ambassodor, named a new crew for the ship, and demanded the gifts for the Chinese Emperor be left in Malacca..

[Audio] In late August 1552, the Santa Cruz reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan, 14 km away from the sourthern coast of mainland China, near Taishan, Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong. At this time, he was accompanied only 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. He died from a fever at Shangchuan, Taishan, China on 3rd December 1552 while he was waiting for a boat that would take him to mainland China..

[Audio] Burial and Relics Xavier was first buried on a beach at Shangchuan Island, Taishan, Guangdong. His body was taken from the island in Feburary 1553 and temporarily buried in St.Paul’s Church now marks the place of Xavier’s burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after 15 April 1553, and moved it to his house. On 11December 1553, Xavier’s body was shipped to Goa. The mostly-incorruptible body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on 2 December 1637. This casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths between 1636 and 1637, was an exemplary blend of Italian and Indian aesthetic sensibilities..

[Audio] Francis Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619 and was canonized by Gregory XV on 12 March 1662, at the same time as Ignatius Loyola. Pius XI proclaimed him the “Patron of Catholic Missions.” He was made co-patron of Navarre. He is known as the “Apostle of the Indies”, “Apostle of Far East”, “Apostle of China”, “Apostle of Japan”, he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since Paul the Apostle. In 1927, Pope Pius IX published the decree “Apostolicorum in Missionibus” naming Francis Xavier along with Therese of Lisieux, co-patron of all foreign missions..