When the king of Portugal requested missionaries for his colonies in India from Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Ignatius sent one of his best men: Francis Xavier. Francisco Javier was a fellow Spaniard and good friend having roomed with Ignatius while they studied in Paris. Francisco Javier became one of the first members of the Society of Jesus which Ignatius founded. In 1541 Francisco Javier set out for the Orient and spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel in India and Japan. Through his preaching, thousands came to believe in the Gospel and were baptized. He died near China on the island of Sancian in 1552 as a very tiered man, wasted away and consumed by his desire to preach the Gospel. His hand, used to baptize thousands of men and women, is preserved at the mother church of the Jesuit Order of Rome.
The Jesuit Order has preserved thousands of writings from missionary Jesuits throughout the world telling of their experiences in distant lands. Amazingly letters written by Francis Xavier to Ignatius reporting on his mission work have survived. Here is an excerpt from one written in 1542.
“We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here – the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.
“I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I have conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
“Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
“This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like – even to India!”
This letter reveals Saint Francis Xavier’s zeal to gain souls for Christ. His sense of urgency is still applicable today. Five hundred years later, we still need courageous men and women willing to listen actively to what God is saying to them so to give themselves entirely to God’s will. Men and women willing to place their lives in God’s hands and say Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Saint Francis Xavier received the grace to do this and God worked amazing things through him. What will God accomplish through us if we only heed Saint Francis’ words?
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In