The Life of St. Francis Xavier

St. Xavier is Born

Apr 7, 1506

He was born to an aristocratic family in the family castle of Xavier in the Kingdom of Navarre located in spain.

Xavier's Father Dies

Oct 15, 1515

His father dies when he was only nine years old.

Xavier Goes to College in Paris

Sep 1, 1525

Xavier decides to attend the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris which is where he meets Ignatius and Pierre Favre.

Xavier Takes Vows as Part of the Society of Jesus

Aug 15, 1534

After meeting St. Ignatius Xavier decided to abandon his strive for academic success to join up with five others to form the Society of Jesus and to do Catholic missionary work. In 1534 he and the rest of the Society of Jesus met at the chappel of Montmarte to take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obediance.

Xaver is Ordained a Priest

Jun 24, 1537

Xavier and the rest of the Society of Jesus travel to Venice, Spain. At Venice Xavier is orained a priest.

Xavier Travels to India

Apr 7, 1541

Xavier takes a trip to India to do missionary work, and after a dangerous voyage, arrives in the Indian city Goa. During his first five months in India, he preached and spoke the word of God to those sick and stuck in hospitals. Another thing his did was go through the streets and ring a bell which would invite children to him. He would then take the children to a church and explain the catechism to them.

Xavier Travels to Western India

Oct 16, 1542

After some time Xavier decides to travel to the pearl fisheries located on the southern coast of India along the Indian peninsula. Xavier spent three years there trying to bring back christianity to a place who had lost it years ago. His trip was a relative success and he converted many people to christianity while even preaching as far as the Island of Ceylon. Although many people were open to hear his preaching, many were not and he was the object much persecution.

Babtism of the Macuans

Nov 1, 1544

In the later months of 1544, Xaver babtised a group of south-western Indians known as the Macuans. After preaching ot them and providing instruction, he ended up babtising a total of 10,000 people.

Xavier Travels to the Molucca Islands,

Jan 14, 1546

Xavier decided to travel to the Molucca Islands after his short stay at Malacca. The Molucca Islands contained mostly Portuguese sttlements. He preached the gospel there for about a year and a half, and it is believed the he might have traveled to the Philippines, but no one is sure.

Xaver Returns to Goa, India

Mar 8, 1548

Xavier returned back to Goa, India where he reunited with many Jesuits. While in Goa, Xaver had a large impact on the College of Holy Faith. During his stay, the college was turned over to the Jesuits and Xavier made huge strides in transforming it into a center for the education of native priests.

Xavier Traves to Japan

Aug 15, 1549

While in Japan, Xavier found the Japanese to be a great people and was quoted saying the Japenese were "The best people yet discovered." While in Japan he found that he had to change his style of preaching in poverty because he found that this would repel the Japanese.

Xavier Goes Back to India

Nov 22, 1551

Since his arrival in Japan, Xavier had received no mail so he decided to return shortly to India. He told the fellow Jesuits that had traveled to Japan with him to look after the 2,000 christians distributed amongst five communities.

Xavier Dies

Dec 3, 1552

After returning to India Xavier realised that the only way to convert the Japanese was by first converting the Chinese, because the Japanese looked up to the Chinese for wisdom. While trying to gain entrance to China, Xavier died from a fever on the island of Sancian which was off the Chinese coast.