Today, December 3, is the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier.
Born in 1506 in Spain, Francis Xavier was a friend of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The latter encouraged him to use his talents in preaching the Gospel. He is considered as one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus, and also the first Jesuit missionary.
In Goa, India, he evangelized in the streets, took care of the sick, and taught catechism to children. Some accounts say that he converted the entire city.
He was a champion of the oppressed, the poor, and the neglected members of society. He reprimanded his patron, King John of Portugal, over the slave trade: “You have no right to spread the Catholic faith while you take away all the country’s riches. It upsets me to know that at the hour of your death you may be ordered out of paradise.”
He is remembered as a dutiful missionary in India, the East Indies, and Japan, baptizing more than 40,000 converts. At certain points in his journey, he dined with head hunters, washed the sores of lepers in Venice, and baptized 10,000 people in a single month.
He endured the most dreadful conditions on long sea voyages, and the extremes of heat and cold. He travelled thousands of miles, mostly on his bare feet, and he saw the greater part of the Far East.
Francis had the gift of tongues and worked many miracles, including raising people from the dead and calming storms.
In 1552, Francis died from a fever in China. He was beatified in 1619 by Pope Paul V. Pope Gregory XV canonized him, together with his founder St. Ignatius of Loyola, in 1622. Pope Pius XI declared him “Patron Saint of Catholic Missions” along with St. Therese of the Child Jesus.