St. Francis Xavier

And so the feast of St. Francis Xavier comes around again. Years ago, having just read his biography, I chose him as my confirmation saint for his zeal for souls and missionary spirit. Xavier met his countryman St Ignatius Loyola as a student in Paris and joined his band there, becoming one of the first jesuits. He accompanied St Ignatius and the others on their abortive attempt to get to the Holy Land and ended up in Rome. From there he was one of the first jesuits sent via Portugal to Goa.

He promptly began traveling up and down the coast of India preaching the Gospel and baptizing the natives. Much like St Paul he was driven ever onwards and ended up travelling as far as newly discovered Japan. Realizing how much that country depended on the influence of Chinese culture he tried to get into China, in order to preach Christ to the Chinese and to use the impetus of Chinese acceptance of the message of Christ to further the work in Japan. He died on the island of Shangchuan, just West of Macau and Hong Kong, while still awaiting pemission to enter China. As might be expected he is the patron of Goa and also of all missionaries.

May his prayer prompt us to redouble our efforts to make Jesus Christ more known and more loved by everyone around us, ad maiorem Dei gloriam and for the salvation of souls.