Francis Xavier, Saint

Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506-52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525-34), where he became an associate of St. Ignatius of Loyola, with whom he and five others took the vow in Montmartre that made them the nucleus of the Society of Jesus (see Jesus, Society of). In 1536-37 he went to Venice, where he worked in the hospitals; he was ordained (1537) there with Ignatius. He worked at Rome with Ignatius for the new order until 1540, when he left for Portugal to join a mission the king was sending to Goa. St. Francis left Lisbon in 1541 with a brief as papal nuncio. At Goa he immediately began to preach and was very successful. After five months he went to the pearl fisheries of W India and spent 15 months on the coast from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) northward. After a second stay in Goa he sailed to Malacca (1545), which he left in 1546 for the Moluccas; in 1547 he went back to Malacca. Meanwhile more Jesuits were coming to India, and St. Francis assigned them to missions he had started. In 1549 he set sail for Japan and landed at Kagoshima. He and his companions remained in Japan for more than two years and set up many Christian communities. He went back to Goa (1552) and set out for China with a Portuguese embassy. On his way he died on the island of Changchuen (St. John). He is buried at Goa. St. Francis was one of the greatest of Christian missionaries; his travels covered many thousands of miles in 11 years, and his successes in preaching and in personal conversion were tremendous. He possessed a singular combination of profound mysticism and common sense. Feast: Dec. 3.

(born April 7, 1506, Xavier Castle, near Sangüesa, Navarre—died Dec. 3, 1552, Sancian Island, China; canonized March 12, 1622; feast day December 3) Spanish-born French missionary to the Far East. Born into a noble Basque family, he was educated at the University of Paris, where he met Ignatius of Loyola and became one of the first seven members of the Jesuits. He was ordained in 1537, and in 1542 he embarked on a three-year mission to India. In 1545 he established missions in the Malay Archipelago, and in 1549 he traveled to Japan, where he was the first to introduce Christianity systematically. He returned to India in 1551 and died the following year while attempting to secure entrance to China. He is believed to have baptized about 30,000 converts; his success was partly due to adaptation to local cultures. In 1927 he was named patron of all missions.

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Saint Francis Xavier College is a Roman Catholic Sixth Form College. It is located on the borders of Clapham and Balham close to Clapham South tube station, London. It offers courses for 16-19 year olds, as well as Adult Education classes.

The college is named after Saint Francis Xavier.

Mr. Borland is the current principle.

External links

• Saint Francis Xavier College website