Saint Francis Xavier in a painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Francis Xavier was probably the greatest missionary in history. Having lived for just 46 years and 8 months, he accomplished incredible missionary work in 10-11 years. Born five hundred years ago, on April 7, 1506, in the castle of Javier (or Xavier) in Navarre (Spain), at the age of 15 he went to Paris to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at the Sorbonne University. Of great intelligence, he completed his studies brilliantly, but, not having much financial means, he was forced to share the room that the university rented to students with two other people: a young man of his age, who came from Savoy, Pietro Favre, and a strange 38 year old student, Basque like him, Ignatius of Loyola. Francesco was responsible for tutoring the new arrival in philosophy; but he had such a dislike for Ignatius that he left it to Peter Favre to repeat Aristotelian philosophy to him.
Little by little, however, and with great difficulty Ignazio managed to win him over to his ideal of life: consecrating himself to God and to the apostolate. Thus, on 15 August 1534, Francis, together with Ignatius and five other students of the Sorbonne, took vows of chastity, evangelical poverty and to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to convert the Turks. If this had not been possible, Francis, Ignatius and the other companions would have gone to Rome and offered themselves to the Pope to be sent by him wherever the good of the Church required it. Since it was not possible to reach Jerusalem, Francis and his companions went to Rome to see Pope Paul III, who was happy to welcome them, thinking of sending them “on a mission” to various places, in Italy and outside of Italy. Before separating, they decided to establish a religious order, which would be called the Society of Jesus, and elected Ignatius as superior general.
In 1540 it was Francis’ turn to be sent on a mission. The king of Portugal asked Paul III for two Jesuits for the evangelization of the Indies: this name indicated the territories conquered by the Portuguese in Asia. Since the designated person passed away at the last moment, Ignazio asked Francesco to take his place. The answer was prompt: “Yes, here I am”. It was March 14, 1540. On March 15, Francis was traveling to Lisbon with his meager luggage. On 7 April 1541, at the age of 35, he left Portugal for the Indies. He had with him a Bull from Paul III naming him apostolic nuncio to all Asian countries. The circumnavigation of Africa, which lasted 13 months, was extremely painful due to the scarcity of drinking water and food, the unbearable heat, the calms – the ship was stopped for 60 days in the Gulf of Guinea – and the storms around the Cape of Good Hope.
Francis Xavier in Goa in 1542; 19th century French colored engraving.
The evangelization of children through songs
Goa, India, was the capital of the Portuguese Empire in Asia. Francis arrived there on 6 May 1542 and established the center of his activity in the city hospital, treating the sick, victims of the sea voyage: he became their slave, sleeping on the bare ground next to the most seriously ill to always be ready for their requests . The care of the sick, throughout his life, would be among the main commitments of his apostolate wherever he went. The other would have been the spiritual assistance to the prisoners and, above all, to the Portuguese merchants and soldiers, whose conduct was certainly not exemplary, since, in addition to being only concerned with their spice trade, they had organized real harems of Indian and Malay women. Even in Goa he began his method of apostolate: he walked the streets and squares, shouting at children and adults to come to church to listen to his instructions. In church he began by singing the lessons he himself had written in verse, which he had the children repeat. Then he explained each point of the doctrine, using only the words that his listeners could understand.
Francis remained in Goa for only five months. He was then sent to Cape Comorin, in South India, to catechize the paravas, an indigenous tribe who practiced deep-sea diving in search of pearl oysters. The tribe spoke Tamil and Francis, who did not have the gift of languages, had the Creed, the Pater Noster, the Ave Maria and the 10 commandments translated into Tamil and began teaching them to the children with the method tested in Goa. The success was great. Francis wrote to Ignatius, in Rome, that children and young people, eager to learn the rudiments of the faith, besieged him to such an extent that he could not find time to recite the Office, to eat or to sleep. As soon as they had more or less learned the Creed and the main prayers, Francis baptized them. There were so many that Francis’ hand got tired in administering the baptism. He then understood that to those children “the kingdom of heaven belonged”.
Saint Francis Xavier baptizes a native.
From Japan to the “forbidden dream” of China
Francis spent two years among the paravas in very difficult conditions: food was scarce; he slept little, spending part of the night in prayer; he was always alone; he moved from village to village under a burning sun or pouring rain. He had great difficulty with Tamil and spoke it poorly; but the fire that emanated from his person, the love of God that inflamed his every gesture, the love he had for everyone, in particular for the poor, the sick and children, attracted to him many simple souls, who even without understanding everything what he said, they were asking to be baptized.
Francis was in Southern India when he learned that a community of Christians in the Moluccas (modern-day Indonesia) was without priests and devoid of any spiritual help. As Apostolic Nuncio for the whole East, he felt obliged to go to the Moluccas to bring help to those abandoned Christians. Therefore on January 1, 1545 he embarked for Malacca, which was the most important Portuguese commercial center, and from there reached the island of Amboina, 1,740 miles away. The journey from India to Malacca and from Malacca to Amboina was particularly dangerous, due to storms, shallow waters and pirates; but Francis used to face the worst dangers with total trust in God. Having arrived in Amboina, he remained there for three months; then he left for the island of Ternate.
Back in Malacca, he heard for the first time about a country called Cipang, Japan. It was a country particularly willing – Francis believed – to convert to Christianity. He therefore thought he had to go there. After returning to Goa to assign the work to the new Jesuits who had arrived from Europe, Francis left for Malacca and from there boarded a junk owned by a Chinese sailor who had promised to take him to Japan. He arrived there on August 15, 1549, but immediately realized that he had had many illusions about the possibility of converting Japan. In fact, he failed to meet the emperor after a journey on foot to Miyako, which was the most terrible of his life; he was mocked by the bonzes, and by the time he left Japan two years later, only 500 Japanese had converted to Christianity. But the door had been opened.
The departure was determined by the belief that Japan could only be converted after the conversion of China, but this country was forbidden to foreigners. Only a few Chinese traders could have introduced it for a fee. Thus, Francis left for China and stopped on the island of Sancian, opposite Canton. He had made an agreement with a Chinese merchant, but he did not show up. It was November 1552, and Francesco was struck by a violent fever. Cold and without food, he died at dawn on December 3, without being able to receive the sacraments. He was buried the next day, without a cross being placed on his grave. His was a miserable death, but not a fruitless one: just two months earlier, the person who would open the doors of China to Christianity and make Francis Xavier’s dream come true was born in Macerata: Matteo Ricci.
