Francis Xavier was a Spanish Catholic priest, missionary and saint from Navarre. He was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris, in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work.
About Francis Xavier in brief
Francis Xavier was a Spanish Catholic priest, missionary and saint from Navarre. He was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris, in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India. He also was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas. Xavier was about to extend his missionary preaching to China when he died on Shangchuan Island. In 1927, Pope Pius XI published the decree \”Apostolicorum in Missionibus\” naming Francis Xavier, along with Thérèse of Lisieux, co-patron of all foreign missions. The Day of Navarre in Navarre, Spain, marks the anniversary of Francis Xavier’s death, on 3 December 1552. Francis Xavier was born in the royal castle of Xavier, in the Kingdom ofNavarre, on 7 April 1506 according to a family register. His father died when Francis was only nine years old. Francis’s mother was Doña María de Azpilcueta y Aznárez, sole heiress of two noble Navarrese families. In 1512, Ferdinand, King of Aragon and regent of Castile, invaded Navarre,. initiating a war that lasted over 18 years. Francis was the youngest son of Juan de Jasso y Atondo, seneschal of Xavier castle, who belonged to a prosperous farming family and had acquired a doctorate in law at the University of Bologna.
Francis received the degree of Master of Arts in 1530, and afterwards taught at Aristotelian University in Paris. In 1624, he was made co-Patron of Navara. He is now co- Patron saint of Navarras, with Fermin, and he was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. He had a reputation as an athlete and a high-jumper. Francis went to study in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe, University of Paris, where he would spend the next eleven years. His brother Juan was privy counsellor and finance minister to King John III of Navarrette. Francis had no interest in becoming a priest, but in 1529, Francis shared lodgings with his friend Pierre Favre. At the time Francis regarded the lodger as a joke and was sarcastic about his efforts to convert students. When Pierre left, Francis was able to slowly break down his family’s resistance to Francis’ efforts to visit his family and his family. According to most biographies, Francis is said to have posed the question: \”What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?\”
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