Francis Xavier

“ Father Xavier must not be left in too luxurious a position. The Chevalier La Salle was now fitting out his little band designed to explore the lakes and follow the Mississippi from its source to the Gulf. A most important expedition; it would be well that the Jesuit fathers should share in the honors if it proved successful, and if the little party perished in its hazardous enterprise Père Francis Xavier could perhaps be spared as easily as any member of his spiritual army. ”

“ Francis Xavier; for on those efforts must depend, in a great measure, the permanency and spread of Catholic missions the world over. Unfortunately, the Society of St. Francis Xavier has gone backward rather than forward, in Germany, during the last ten years. In many places it has ceded to other societies. And yet it should not be so. The Society of St. Francis Xavier is and must remain the first and most important of all missionary associations. It embraces the missions to all parts of the world, and they all look to it for support. ”

“ We may not approve of many of the opinions and methods of Francis Xavier, the great missionary and saint of the Roman Church, but we cannot fail to admire his burning zeal in the cause of Christ, and look with something like awe on his high-souled devotion to the work of an evangelist. He was swept on by an enthusiasm that never failed, and which carried him over obstacles that would have daunted any ordinary man. ”

“ It takes more than an impulse of emotional pity to make a hero of the Francis Xavier type; one can’t be an apostle by mere willing and wishing.”
“Yes, but one can,” denied Franceline; “that is just the one kind of hero that it only wants will to be. One cannot be a warrior or a poet, or that kind of thing, because that requires genius; but one may be a martyr or an apostle simply by willing. Love is the only genius that one wants; it was love that turned the twelve fishermen into apostles and heroes, you know.” ”

“ It is enough for us to know, that never saint has been, perhaps, more honoured, nor more loved, in the church, than St Francis Xavier; and that even the enemies of the Society of Jesus have had a veneration and tenderness for him.
But these opinions are not confined to Catholics alone; the very heretics revere Xavier, and Baldeus speaks of him in these terms, in his History of the Indies: "If the religion of Xavier agreed with ours, we ought to esteem and reverence him as another St Paul ”

“ Francis Xavier and so many hundreds of his imitators should display such eagerness in going to India, Japan, and other savage lands, and labor and toil for so many years among barbarous and uncivilized people, suffering countless hardships and trials, looking, hoping, and praying earnestly for no other reward than the happiness and grace of being cut to pieces, burnt, beaten to death, or other wise martyred for Christ's sake. ”

“ The abominable man did all he could towards the debauching of Francis Xavier, who was handsome, and well shaped, but he could never accomplish his wicked purpose; so much was the youth estranged from the uncleanness of all fleshly pleasures.
For what remains, nothing can more clearly make out his love to purity, than what happened to him once at Rome. Simon Rodriguez being fallen sick, Father Ignatius commanded Xavier to take care of him during his distemper. ”

“ Francis Xavier, generally called the Apostle of the Indies. He was one of the disciples of Loyola, and the most indefatigable and successful of all the Roman Catholic missionaries. The great scene of his labours was the East Indies and Japan. His zeal led him to contemplate the conversion of the Chinese; but he died on the voyage. He was the patron saint of the Queen of James II., and his aid was invoked when her majesty desired a son. In reference to this august occasion, his life by Bouhours was translated into English by Dryden. ”

“ Francis Xavier (1506-1552) , the leader of the Counter-Reformation, were both healers, so it is said. Luther's cure of his friend and helper, Melanchthon, by prayer for and encouragement of the patient, is well known. Xavier's miracles were legion, but have been somewhat130 discredited by a recent author.69 I add but one example. "A certain Tomé Paninguem, a fencing-master, says, I knew Antonio de Miranda, who was a servant of the Father Francis, and assisted him when saying Mass. He told me that when going one night on business to Combature, he was bitten by a venomous serpent. ”

“ Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. I bear, all unworthy as I am, the name of Xavier. I have been taught by the most distinguished Jesuits, and I know how much good they have done for the Church, so that as the Church cannot be separated from the Pope, he cannot be separated from the Society. These are sad days and there never was witnessed greater audacity and hate. Impiety has never employed greater cunning against the truth. Perhaps very soon other grievous wounds will be inflicted on the Church; but together we shall fight the enemies of God. ”

“ Francis Xavier that she had looked upon a man with more tenderness than was suitable. The Saint closed what he had to say to her with these words: "You are unworthy to have God look upon you, since for the sake of looking upon a man, you do not regard the risk of losing God." This was enough, for, during the rest of her life, she never again turned her eyes toward any man. ”

“ I should have been just such a man as he describes, if I had not given myself to mortification."
When an old monk was asked how he could bear the noise of some shepherd boys near him, he answered: "I was at first inclined to say something to them; but I thought better of it, and said to myself, 'If I cannot endure so little as this, how shall I endure greater trials, when they come to me?' "
St. Francis Xavier acted in the same way on occasion, and said that we must not deceive ourselves; for whoever does not conquer himself in trifles, will not be able to do so in greater matters. ”

“ Indeed, his longanimity in the cases both of Rodriguez and Bobadilla is astounding, and it is very doubtful if St. Francis Xavier, whom he wanted to be his successor, would have been as tolerant or as gentle. In his directions for works to be undertaken he was not meticulous nor [98] minute, but left the widest possible margin for personal initiative; nor would he tolerate an obedience that was prompted by servile fear. He continually insisted that the only motive of action in the Society was love of God and the neighbor. ”

“ Francis Xavier—that is the name of the Sister who died last night—took my hand and told me not to grieve; for wherever we were, she said, there was France and there was God." ”

“ His privations, heroism, and success have been the constant theme of the Roman Catholic Church. And it is impossible to study his life without a conviction that there was in it a devout and gallant purpose to bless the world.
Our limits and our line of thought alike demand of us that we shall not attempt, in any exhaustive form, to treat of Francis Xavier from the theologic or controversial side. He interests us, apart from his personal character, simply because two Latin hymns have been accredited to his pen. ”

“ ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, 1506-1552 A.D. The most eminent of all Jesuit missionaries, St. Francis Xavier, had belonged to Loyola's original band. He was a little, blue-eyed man, an engaging preacher, an excellent organizer, and possessed of so attractive a personality that even the ruffians and pirates with whom he had to associate on his voyages became his friends. ”

“ Francis Xavier's laughed openly at his conceit; but he was always greatly encouraged by any one calling him “Father”; and now that he is gone I, for one, who knew both his little eccentricities and his hard sacrifices, will not throw stones at his grave—plenty were thrown at himself in his lifetime—nor shall I wound his memory by calling him Mr. Jinks. My opinion, as a layman, unattached and perhaps not even intelligent, is of very small account, but it is that of many other laymen ”

“ Francis Xavier, the preceding year. King John also founded for them, in 1546, a noble college at Coïmbra, the second which they had in Europe. F. Simon Rodriguez directed this establishment, and many others in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil, and died at Lisbon in the highest reputation for sanctity and learning in 1579. Among the rules which St. Ignatius gave to the masters, he principally inculcated the lessons of humility, modesty, and devotion; he prescribed that all their scholars should hear mass every day, go to confession every month, and always begin their studies by prayer ”

“ Francis Xavier, making himself all things to all men amidst his shipmates on his voyage to the Indies."
From what has been said of Father Hecker's aptitude to win non-Catholics to hear and believe him, it should not be thought that in order to do so he was obliged to leave off any sign of his priestly character. He was distinctly priestly in his demeanor, though, as already observed, not exactly what one would call a thorough "ecclesiastic." He ever dressed soberly. ”

“ Francis Xavier, he says that an acquaintance had written him that a German priest, living in Third Street, wanted to see him. This was one of the Redemptorist Fathers who were newly established in the city. This priest, whose name is not given, undertook to assume direction of Isaac, and was very urgent with him to make a spiritual retreat with a view to deciding his vocation. "He is a very zealous person—too much so it seems to me," is the comment in the diary, and the answer was a refusal. ”

“ After teaching philosophy, theology, and mathematics at Liège, he was sent to the English mission. In September 1743 he was declared rector of the ‘college’ of St. Francis Xavier, which included the counties of Hereford, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Somerset, and the whole of South Wales; and died in that office on 10 April (N.S.) 1746 at Rotherwas, near Hereford, the seat of the Bodenham family, where he had been chaplain for upwards of twenty years. ”

“ Francis Xavier in ten years visited fifty kingdoms and baptized a million converts, but the ten years' labor of some of our modern missionaries, spent in laying solid foundations and thoroughly training a few chosen men, may, after all, come to more in its permanent results upon the world, than all that was done by Rome's great apostle. ”

“ I consecrate myself to thy honor, and give myself to thee, that thou mayest always be my father, my protector, and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a great purity of heart and a fervent love of the interior life. After thy example may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the immaculate heart of Mary! And do thou, O blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of thy holy death. Amen.
Invocation to St. Joseph.
Help us, Joseph, in our earthly strife; ever to lead a pure and blameless life. ”

“ Francis Xavier, in our church at Manila. Many people were there. He preached very eloquently, and called forth tears from the audience at the narration of the miracle. The devotion of the people toward the saint has been greatly increased. They have all copied his pictures from a painting which the father had painted in Portugal, and which he says greatly resembles the pilgrim figure in which he saw the saint. The Portuguese found here a patache from Macan; and consequently, their people went [thither] by the last of October, in the patache. In their galliot went the captain-general. ”

“ The good man, sensibly afflicted at the ill conduct of his graceless son, wept day and night; and Xavier began at first to comfort him, saying, those vices were ordinary in youth, and riper age would reclaim him from them. Having done speaking, he stood mute awhile, and recollected himself; then, suddenly lifting up his eyes to heaven, "Know," said he, "that you are the most happy father in the world. This libertine son, who has given you so many disquiets, shall one day change his manners, he shall be a religious of the order of St Francis, and at last shall die a martyr." ”

“ DEFEND, O Lord, we beseech Thee, by the intercession of blessed Mary ever Virgin, this Thy family from all adversity; and mercifully protect us, who prostrate ourselves before Thee with all our hearts, from the snares of the enemy.
O God, Who by Thy unspeakable providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother; grant that, while we venerate him as our protector on earth, we may deserve to be aided by his intercession in heaven. Who livest and reignest, world without end. ”

“ The Father arose, instantly cured. So well has the saint kept this promise, that this devotion in his honor became universally known as the Novena of Grace. Its efficacy is not restricted to the dates mentioned. It may be made very appropriately in preparation for the feast of St. Francis Xavier, viz., the 3d of December. Though any prayers may be said in honor of the saint, the following are generally recommended.
Prayer to St. ”

“ Chrysostom compares meditation to a fountain gushing in the midst of a garden. Just as a garden that is freely watered brings forth an abundance of flowers and foliage, so does the soul that meditates present to the eyes of God the pleasing sight of ever increasing virtues. Her holy desires and aspirations are constantly ascending like a sweet odor to heaven. ”

“ Joseph with God, I would wish to induce every one to honor him by a particular cultus. Hitherto I have always seen that persons who had a real devotion to him, sustained by works, made progress in virtue; for that heavenly protector favors in a special manner the spiritual advancement of souls who recommend themselves to him. I will content myself, then, with conjuring, for the love of God, those who do not believe me to make the experiment. They shall discover for themselves how advantageous it is to honor that glorious Patriarch with a special devotion. ”