Spiritual Profile

Francis Xavier
“ God's devoted disciple ”

When Xavier's body arrived in Goa ( India ) in 1553 the town declared him "Lord of Goa". The Catholic Church declared him a Saint on 12th March 1662. At the same time the Court of the Kingdom of Navarre decided to make him its Patron Saint, and in 1748 he was declared Patron Saint of the Orient by Pope Benedict XV. In 1904 Pope Pious X named him Patron of The Papal Mission for the Propagation of the Faith. More recently, he was named Patron of tourism by Pope Pious XII and Pope John Paul II has referred to him as "the Prince of missionaries".

We remember Francis Xavier with pride as the worthy bearer of all of these titles and we are privy to many facts and figures which serve to reinforce his merit: over 60,000 miles covered in just over nine years, and an incredible list of diverse geographical regions visited on his numerous voyages - Europe, America (Brazilian coast), Africa (Mozambique), India, the Moluccas, Japan, China. he even dreamt of travelling to Ethiopia... thousands of baptisms performed and Holy Communions celebrated, numerous letters written, sermons preached... . All in all, far-reaching works.

But there is something greater still which enables us to understand the driving force behind such devotion. Francis Xavier found his true love for God under the spiritual supervision of Ignatius Loyola, and from that time onwards he was unable to live if not under the banner of Christ and the sign of the Cross. That is what drove him to be such a fervent missionary, to tirelessly travel the world bearing the Cross, a sign of his determination to spread the Kingdom of God to new and faraway lands. His life and work is the result of his unconditional devotion to the service of God.

We should also remember some of Francis Xavier's virtues that have served as an example to us: charity, zeal, constancy, loyalty, strength combined with humility, obedience, and above all, trust in God. These are the virtues that led him to devote his life to His service. We cannot take a more in-depth look at these qualities here but we can highlight them and recognise, with all sincerity, that we know more about the external acts of this universal man than about his true nature, yet it is this nature that made him into what we know and constitutes such an important and stimulating spiritual figure for followers of Jesus today.

On 5th November 1549, Javier wrote to his fellow missionaries in Goa saying: "Our aim here is to bring knowledge to the people of their creator, redeemer and saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. We have faith that He will give us strength, grace, help and favour to carry this forward... He can see it in our hearts, which are nothing more than a manifestation of our intentions and poor desires to liberate souls". Here, the determination, humility and trust in God that moved and sustained Xavier are made perfectly clear, and they give rise to admiration and encouragement. He was always ready to serve his "Lord and Creator" through his dedication to helping others.