After man's fall, that is, after the original sin, God promised a Savior, a Redeemer, and
fulfilled his promise in the person of Jesus Christ. And since then, he has raised up men
to preach this faith and to bring salvation to others. And of these, there's hardly any
greater than the saint that we remember today, that we celebrate today, St. Francis Xavier.
St. Francis Xavier was born in Navarre, Spain, in 1506. And after having completed his preliminary
studies, he then went on to Paris. And it's there that he met St. Ignatius of Loyola and the other
first companions of St. Ignatius, who would form that first group of the Society of Jesus, the
Jesuits. St. Francis Xavier was ordained in 1537, along with St. Ignatius of Loyola. And he was
known for his great zeal, his aptitude.
He had a great apostolic zeal, as well as his great learning. And for this reason, he was sent by the
King of Portugal to evangelize India. And so he was sent to India, and there he preached, he taught
the catechism, and he worked in the hospitals. He also traveled to the various islands around India
and as far as Mindanao in the Philippines. That was around the year 1544.
And for this reason, St. Francis Xavier is also called the first apostle of the Philippines.
Along his missionary journeys, he would establish centers, which he would then leave to his brother
Jesuits, leave to their charge, as he continued on. And so he made plans for going to Japan, and
eventually did make it there with a few of his brothers.
St. Francis Xavier is known for his gift of miracles, as well. It is said that he had the gift
of tongues. And of course, while he himself put forth his effort to study and learn the languages,
nevertheless, he was given the grace of the gift of tongues from time to time, periodically. Again,
it wasn't a constant gift, but nevertheless, to aid his preaching, he was given the gift of tongues.
He was also known to have healed many sicknesses, to even have raised the dead. And he's known also
for the gift of prophecy. So once arriving at Japan, he continued his preaching mission. He also
translated the various catechetical treatises for the Japanese, and there he evangelized principally
the southern and central parts of Japan. He was also known to have healed many sicknesses, to even have raised the dead.
He returned for a short time to India, to Goa, to set a few things straight with the mission centers
that he had set up there. And then he finally also planned to go to China. And this was where he would
meet his death on December 2, 1552, off the coast of China at the age of 46. It's truly a matter of wonder
how he was able to read some of his했어요 tanak, Sammy Chepin's. Just assen
how one man, in the short span of ten years, could have visited so many countries and converted
so many people. Really, you see the work of God in the missionary efforts of St. Francis Xavier wannt
Obviously, some of these facts weren't wore off until this year. But the Brethren, the Se층ens in gratitude,
brought advance, the Holy Communion, the Holy Gospels, and the Proverbs of Israel and the Episcopal
Symbols and that Bible, and he Admitted himself to Gonzaga Schenalair, risks of victory in the days following.
cut off, and brought back to Rome to be enshrined in the church of the Gesu,
where it still is today, there at Rome.
St. Francis Xavier, after his death, also remained incorrupt.
His body, after having died off the coast of China, was packed in lime,
actually to increase the corruption of his body so that it would be easier to transport back to India.
And they found, a year after they opened it up, and found that he was still very flexible,
and they actually cut off a part of his knee, and blood began to run from his left knee,
as if he were still alive.
So he remained very fresh. The body remained very fresh for a few centuries.
Now, in our own day, it's partially decomposed.
You can...
Of course, find pictures of it on the internet, and see that there is partial decomposition,
but nevertheless, it's still a great miracle, because after all of these centuries,
his body was never treated, was never mummified, has never been hermetically sealed, or anything like that,
but has always been more or less open to the elements.
It's in a casing, but it's just sealed by screws.
And so today, we give thanks to God for having raised up St. Francis Xavier,
who today is also the patron of the missions.
And so we entrust also our missions, the missions of the Franciscans of the Immaculate,
to the intercession of this great saint.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us.
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