Saint Francis Xavier - Memory of a Great Missionary
On December 3, we remember Saint Francis Xavier, Patron Saint of all Catholic Missionaries. Saint from Xavier imitated Jesus perfectly and therefore, like him, he traveled through villages, went to cities to meet people thirsty for salvation. Francis, like our Lord, was always on the way, with the Good News on his lips and his heart on fire with the love to Jesus. Encouraged by St. Ignatius talked to the Lord "as friend to friend", wanting to do something great for Him. He did indeed hear the Lord's call in the Gospels: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations."
Francis was born at Xavier Castle (Spain) on April 7, 1506. His father was a doctor of the University of Bologna. Before the saint became a missionary in distant India, in Moluccas, Ceylon and Japan, he traveled a long spiritual journey. He received careful religious education in his family home. Every evening, all the household members prayed at the cross in the castle chapel. His father died when he was 9 years old. In 1525 he was sent to study in Paris, and after his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed to the parish in Pamplona. In Paris, he met Ignatius of Loyola. Francis met this curious Bask thanks to Peter Faber, with whom our saint shared a room.
A breakthrough experience in the life of St. Francis Xavier, there were 30-day Spiritual Exercises under the direction of Ignatius himself. It was a time of spiritual struggle. To endure an hour of five meditations a day, he tied himself to a chair. Soon after the retreat, he joined the group of the first companions with whom he made vows of chastity and poverty in the chapel of Montmartre in Paris on August 15, 1534. From then on, the friends' participation in the Lord was to experience "unity of hearts and minds." In 1537, along with other confreres, he was ordained a priest and began preaching with great success in Italy.
Francis Xavier, having experienced the forgiving love from Jesus, wanted to share it with all people. He discovered that God wants everyone to be saved, so the Jesuit wanted to share with them the greatest treasure of his heart - Jesus. He wanted to be "loco por Cristo", mad for Christ! In March 1540, Francis Xavier, at the request of Ignatius, who had not yet been elected general, went to Portugal, from where on April 7, 1541 he set out on missions to India. How deep was the experience of the unity of the hearts of the first Jesuits, testimony to the bravery with which he endured separation from them when he was already on missions. He rejoiced and was glad as he read the letters that reached him from Rome.
The Lord Jesus was with Francis when he preached and taught the catechism to children in India, when he sang the "Our Father" for them and recited the "Creed". Every day the Holy Spirit gave him the gift of quickly learning foreign languages, but the most important thing was the language of love! He experienced the living presence of the Holy Trinity, in the name of which he baptized tens of thousands of people. It happened that in one day he baptized 200 people, the elderly and children.
Today we no longer understand how great the desire of the saint from Xavier Castle was that the fire of God's love will spread throughout the world! We write a lot and talk about the need to understand the phenomenon of multiculturalism and about dialogue. We are like those Paris professors at the Sorbonne, full of human knowledge, not God's wisdom! Father Francis Xavier appealed to them to finally open their hearts to the Lord's will for them. He wanted all people who discovered how much they had been gifted by Christ to be able to respond generously to the call of the King of ages. On the part of St. Francis, it was a completely disinterested answer. Our Saint expressed it in his favorite prayer, Why do I love you?
Not for reward, I love you, my Lord!
But just as you love me, God
my heart wants to love you as much as it can!
You are my King, my God, my only refuge!
My love knows no other motive
We know from various testimonies how dramatic the last weeks and hours were in the life of St. Francis. He was dying exhausted by fever and abandoned on the Shangchuan Island. At the gate of the Chinese empire, the weary missionary gave his spirit to God. For him, he sacrificed all his talents and abilities to the end fighting under the Banner of the Cross. With the rest of his strength, he probably prayed with the words of the Anima Christi prayer: at the hour of my death, call me and make me come to you, that I may praise You with Your saints. It took place on December 3, 1552. On that day, his relatives noticed drops of blood on the face of the Crucified in the chapel at Xavier Castle, where he was born.
Despite the heat, the body remained intact for several months and was transported from Goa to the Jesuit church. There it rests in a mausoleum, an altar. The relic of the Saint's arm was sent to Rome, where it is located in the church of the Di Gesu of Jesuit Order in the altar of Francis Xavier.
Francis Xavier was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. Our Saint was a seed that, when thrown into the furrow of the world, brought and still bears much fruit, drawing many young people to follow Jesus. In 1910, Pope Pius X proclaimed St. Francis, the patron of the Work for the Promotion of Faith, and in 1927 Pope Pius XI proclaimed our Saint together with St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, the main patron of Catholic missions.
Saint Francis Xavier, You let the fire of love for Jesus Christ burn in your heart, which transforms, breaks from mediocrity and opens up new perspectives for God's grace to act. Ask God for our willingness to respond generously to His love for each of us.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george