Today is the Feast of Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), the great Spanish Jesuit missionary who took the message of Jesus Christ and His Holy Church eastwards to India, Ceylon, Malacca, Molucca Islands, Philippines, and Japan. In 1552 he started on a voyage to China but died on Shangchuan Island, within view of the Chinese mainland. A native of Taiwan, Deacon Joseph Jong is a permanent deacon at Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing and a devotee of Saint Francis Xavier. He writes:
“Father Francis Xavier was a miracle worker, prophet, healer and had the gift of tongues; worked under the extremes of heat and cold; sought out and helped the poor and forgotten wherever he traveled to, mostly by foot; baptized more than 40,000 people. His body is incorruptible. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622.”
“Although Father Xavier’s missionary stopped at Shangchuan, his spirit of bold in evangelization and courageous in practice pioneers for the subsequent Jesuit missionaries and makes a significant contribution for the spread of Christianity in the East. Thirty-one years later, Father Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit, successfully initiated his mission among the circle of intellectual gentry in China, in Ming Dynasty. This successful mission is founded on Father Xavier’s dream.”
Saint Francis Xavier is a patron saint for missionaries, navigators, for the regions of Goa, India, Japan, New Zealand, plague epidemics, parish missions, and propagation of faith. Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us!