Feast of St. Francis Xavier (December 3)

 


St. Francis Xavier was the original X-Man. Born in the Kingdom of Navarre in 1506, he was educated in Paris where he was a roommate of St. Ignasius Loyola. They became two of the first Jesuits when the order was founded in 1540.

Xavier was a missionary. His travels took him to Mozambique and then to India, where he preached in Goa. From Goa, it was off to Sri Lanka, then Indonesia, then Japan and China - converting people along the way. It is said he converted more people to Catholicism than anyone except St. Paul. Xavier died on an island off the coast of China in 1552 at the age of 46. He was buried there, but a year later was dug up and moved to Malacca; from there his body went to Goa. The body is incorrupt - that is, has not decayed. In 1614, his right arm was cut off - you know, the one used to bless people - and shipped off to Rome where it is displayed at the main Jesuit church, Il Jesu.

His body in Goa is at the Basilica of Bom Jesus (bom is Portugese for "good") and is exposed every ten years. That is, they lift the lid of the glass covered coffin. The last time he was exposed was 2003.

St. Francis Xavier is the Patron Saint of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Borneo, and cities in Japan, India, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Bangladesh.

Oh...and Green Bay, Wisconsin. And Indianapolis. And Joliet.