Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

The Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

Feast Day: December 3

The Roman Catholic Church honors Saint Francis Xavier as one of the first Jesuits who went on to evangelize vast portions of Asia.

Francis Xavier was born during 1506 to a wealthy and influential family. While his brothers entered the military, Francis followed an intellectual path to a college in Paris. There he studied philosophy and later taught it after earning his masters degree.

In Paris, the young man would discover his destiny with the help of his long-time friend Peter Faber and an older student named Ignatius Loyola – who came to Paris in 1528 to finish a degree. Ignatius brought together a group of men looking to glorify God with their lives.

Francis became a priest in 1537. Three years later, Pope Paul III confirmed Ignatius and his companions as a religious order, the Jesuits. During that year, the king of Portugal asked the Pope to send missionaries to his newly-acquired territories in India.

Xavier's missionary efforts among them often succeeded, though he had more difficulty converting the upper classes and encountered opposition from both Hindus and Muslims. In 1545 he extended his efforts to Malaysia, before moving on to Japan in 1549.

Saint Francis Xavier became ill and died on Dec. 3, 1552. He is the patron saint of missionaries and missions. In 1622, both St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius Loyola were canonized on the same day.