December 3 : Saint Francis Xavier

The great missionary St. Francis Xavier was from a Basque noble family, like his beloved mentor St. Ignatius Loyola. When Francis met Ignatius in Paris he was a proud, autocratic, ambitious man wanting to accomplish great deeds in the world. Ignatius patiently encouraged Francis to look at his life differently. Ignatius asked Francis, “What profits a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Francis joined Peter Faber as the first of Ignatius’s companions. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. He was ordained a priest in 1537. In 1541, Ignatius sent Francis Xavier for the mission in India. Arriving at the city of Goa in 1542, the missionary Francis Xavier travelled from Goa to Cape Comorin in south India, then to the East Indies, Malacca, and the Moluccas, and onward to Japan. It was Francis Xavier’s great ambition to get permission to enter China as a missionary. Before reaching the mainland, he died in 1552.St. Francis Xavier’s great ambition was to bring the world to Jesus Christ. He preached the Gospel to the poor and sick, spending most of his time ministering to their needs. His nights were taken up in prayer. He barely ate enough to stay alive. Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V on Oct. 25, 1619, and canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 at the same ceremony as Ignatius of Loyola.