Christian Missionary St. Francis Xavier, Essay Example

Although St. Francis Xavier (1506 to 1552) has long been considered as one of the most important and influential 16th century European-born missionaries who lived a life of piety and devotion to spreading the Gospel to all corners of the world, his early life was far removed from the church and its teachings. Born as Francisco do Yasu y Javier in northern Spain to a Basque family, Xavier spent his early manhood as a teacher of philosophy at the College de Sainte-Barbe in the city of Paris where he enjoyed “a highly promising career in academics” filled with success and abundant with great prestige and honor. At about this time, Xavier encountered Ignatius Loyola, also an instructor at the college, who saw something unique in his young friend. After many attempts to sway Xavier to accept Jesus Christ as his savior and redeemer, Loyola finally persuaded Xavier to live the life of a missionary for Christ. Thus, in 1534 at the age of twenty-eight, Xavier committed his life to helping the less fortunate and joined the Society of Jesus (later known as the Jesuits), founded by Loyola, who along with Xavier, “vowed poverty, chastity, and apostolic service according to the directions” of Pope Paul III. ¹

Several years later, Xavier left France with several other voluntary missionaries aboard a sailing ship to Portugal where in 1541, they boarded another ship bound for the Portuguese colony of Goa off the western coast of India. Upon arriving at the colony, Xavier immediately immersed himself into the languages and culture of the people of Goa, located on the western coast of India which at the time in the mid 1500’s was under Portuguese domination that endured for almost five hundred years. Xavier also set about

____________

1. “St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552,” last modified 2012, accessed February 11, 2014, http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1218.

writing a new Catholic catechism which he believed would help in converting the native peoples of Goa to Christianity. ²

While in the colony of Goa, Xavier devoted all of his time and energies to helping the Guan people to live better lives as Christians and as a way of demonstrating his concern for not only their health and well-being but also for their souls, Xavier paid visits to local prisons and hospitals, ” visited the prisons and the hospitals, “conducted worship services among the lepers, and walked the streets ringing a bell to call the children for religious instruction.” Because Xavier was once a teacher in Paris, he instinctively knew how to properly instruct the Guan people. First of all, he studied the Holy Scriptures and found pertinent passages that reflected the people’s misery and destitution. He then composed “verses in their language setting forth the truths of the Christian faith” and even set the verses to music, based on traditional Indian folk music. Within a short period of time, Xavier became well-known and respected among the Guan people, especially because of his “catchy” words and tunes that became popular with the Goa natives and even some of the white Europeans from Portugal. ³

However, like most European missionaries, Xavier discovered that his preaching to the native peoples of Goa was not welcomed by most of the Portuguese settlers and especially the Portuguese soldiers stationed in Goa who for the most part treated the natives with great disrespect and brutality. As a result, Xavier wrote a long and detailed letter to King John III of Portugal in which he criticized him for not taking action against

____________

2. James E. Kiefer, “Francis Xavier, Missionary,” last modified 2014, accessed

February 11, 2014, http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/71.html.

3. Ibid.

the settlers and the Portuguese soldiers–“It is possible that when our Lord God calls your Highness to his Judgment,” wrote Xavier, “that your Highness may hear angry words from him” in the form of “Why did you not punish those who were your subjects and owned your authority and were enemies to me in India?” ⁴

Xavier remained in Goa throughout most of the 1540’s but because of his missionary success, he decided to expand his reach and began preaching to the people of Malacca which was also under Portuguese control. In Malacca, Xavier met up with a Japanese expatriate named Anjiro who told Xavier about Japan and its ancient culture. So intrigued was Xavier that he began to think about paying a visit to Japan which at the time was almost entirely devoid of Christian missionaries. Sometime around 1550, Xavier, along with “another Jesuit priest and three Japanese converts,” arrived in Japan and like his first arrival in Goa learned to speak and write the Japanese language which helped him to compose another Catholic catechism in Japanese. But unfortunately, many of the Japanese officials did not give Xavier a friendly welcome; however, this did not dissuade him from preaching the Gospel. Thus, Xavier became the first European missionary to preach in Japan and as James E. Kiefer notes managed to convert about 2000 Japanese to Christianity. ⁵

Because of his relative success in Japan, Xavier then decided to attempt to visit China which during the middle years of the 16th century was closed to all foreigners. After bribing the captain of a Japanese ship to transport him to China, Xavier fell ill with

____________

4. Ibid.
5. “Francis Xavier, Missionary,” last modified 2014, accessed February 11, 2014,

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/71.html.

an unidentified type of fever and died on December 3, 1552at the young age of forty-six. ⁶ Overall, the missionary career of Francis Xavier, canonized as a saint in 1622, opened the door for other European missionaries during the 1600’s and beyond. As noted by the Catholic Encyclopedia, “It is truly a matter of wonder that one man in the short space of ten years. . . visited so many countries, traversed so many seas” and preached the Holy Scriptures to thousands of non-believers. These facts, helped along by some alleged miracles, makes St. Francis Xavier one of the “greatest missionaries since the time of the Apostles” ⁷ who almost unaided brought the thousands of non-believers into “the light of true Faith.” ⁸

____________

6. Ibid.
7. A. Astrain, “St. Francis Xavier,” Catholic Encyclopedia, last modified 2009, accessed February 11, 2014, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm.
8. Ibid.

Bibliography

Astrain, A. “St. Francis Xavier.” Catholic Encyclopedia. Last modified 2009. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm.

Kiefer, James E. “Francis Xavier, Missionary.” Last modified 2014. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/71.html.

“St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552.” Last modified 2012. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1218.