Francis
Xavier was born April 7, 1506, in the Kingdom of Navarra (northen part of Spain),
the youngest son of the lord of Xavier castle.
In
September 1525, he entered the St. Barbara School of Paris University, where he studied
philosophy. There he met and was greatly influenced by Ignacio de Loyola. On August 15,
1534, Xavier, Loyola and five others took an oath in e small church in the Montmartre
district of Paris. Their oath said: <<We must overcome all hardship and spread the
word of God, even if we are to suffer in the future>>. This was the founding of the
Society of Jesus (Jesuits), though it was no formally authorized until September 27, 1540.
On April 7, 1542 Xavier boarded a ship named Santiago and left Lisbon, Portugal, to spread
the word of God in Asia. The
day he left was Xavier's 35th birthday. From 1541 until 1549 he traveled and preached in
India, Ceylon, the Moluccas and Malacca. In Goa in India, he met Yajiro, a samurai from
Satsuma (presently called Kagoshima). The meeting with Yajiro (picture on left)(Anjiro)
led Xavier to decided to take his missionary work to Japan. In June 1549 he departed
Malacca for Japan. He sailed along Chinese coast and then north through the Loochoo
Islands, landing at Kagoshima on August 15, 1549. After an audience with Lord Takahisa
Shimazu at Ichiuji Castle in Ijuin, Xavier got permission to carry out his missionary
work. During his missionary days in Kagoshima, he met with the Buddhist priest Ninshitsu
Osho and learned about Buddhism. The two men developed a close friedship, even though they
believed in different religions. Xavier baptized (picture on left) more than 100 people in
Kagoshima but he hoped to carry his missionary message to all of Japan. With the
permission of the Lord of Kagoshima, he traveled to Hirado, Yamaguchi and Sakai. In
January 1551, he went to Kyoto. At that time, Kyoto was in the midst of a civil war,
Ounin-no-ran, so he was unable to get an audience with the Emperor or permission to carry
his missionary work throughout Japan. Xavier departed Sakay to go Back to Hirado. In
April, he had an audience with Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi in Yamaguchi and he got permission to
carry out his missionary work in Yamaguchi.
Lord Yoshitaka Ouchi gave Xavier a warm welcome and more than 500 people in his region
were baptized by Xavier.
In
September of 1551, Xavier went to Oita at the invitation of Lord Yoshishige Otomo and
there he continued his missionary work. On November 15 of that year, Xavier put an end to
his 2 years and 2 months of missionary work in Japan. He left Japan and in the middle of
February 1552, he returned to Goa. Half a year later Xavier departed again to Sancian
Island to carry out his missionary work in China.
Xavier
died at the age of 46 from disease on December 3, 1552, while he was waiting for his
chance lo land in China.
Xavier
was buried on Sancian Island, but at the end of February 1553 his body was moved first to
the Church of Santa Maria in Malacca and then to St. Paulo Church in Goa, where it was
reburied in December. Now Xavier's body is at Bom Jesus Church in Goa, where he quietly
sleeps and his tombstone is beautifully decorated. In 1614, Claudio Aquaviva, the head of
the Society of Jesus at that time, removed Xavier's right arm and placed it at Gesł
Church in Rome. Xavier's right arm remains there even now.