History

St. Francis Xavier.

Francis Xavier’s life has been an inspiration for the whole of the Church, especially for the Society of Jesus, of which he was a member, and also for our own Xavarian Brothers. In eleven short years he travelled from Europe to the East, where he taught and baptised in countries as farafield as India, Japan, The East Indies and China.

He was born in Spanish Navare in 1506. At eighteen years old he went to the University of Paris, where he met Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuit Order of priests. Francis Xavier was one of the first ordained Jesuits, and he was sent by Ignatius to do missionary work in the East.

He set out from Lisbon, sailed round the Southern Cape of Africa, and crossed the Indian Ocean to Goa, where he landed in 1542. In the next three years he converted many thousands to Christianity in Goa, Southern India and modern Sri Lanka. His methods were simple. He lived with the poor, sleeping on the ground and living on rice and water. He learned local languages, he taught and preached with enthusiasm. He visited hospitals, and said Mass for lepers and slaves. So successful was his work, that he sometimes became physically exhausted baptising crowds of people. As he departed each settlement, he left priests to carry on his work.

In 1545 he travelled further east, to the Malay Peninsula and the East Indian Islands. Again he converted thousands. He returned to Goa, but set out again in 1549 for Japan, rarely visited by Europeans. In Japan Francis Xavier had less success than in India, so he changed his tactics. He dressed more formally, and took European presents, like clocks, to the local rulers. They gave him hospitality and opportunities to preach and to found Christian settlements. He returned to India in 1552, but then made plans to travel to China, a land forbidden to foreigners.

He landed south of Canton, but almost immediately he was taken by fever. After weeks of suffering, he died on December 3, 1552. His body was returned to Goa where it was buried in the cathedral. He was canonized saint in 1622.

Extracts from the article Br. Brother Bernadine C.F.X.that was written for the 1947 Jubilee booklet:

Clapham College Chronology: