Jesuit, tireless missionary: brought Christianity to Asia with boldness

Today we celebrate Saint Francis Xavier. He was born near Pamplona (Spain) in the castle of Javier, in the year 1506. He was from a family that had been rich, but due to the wars had fallen into disrepair. From a very young age he had great desires to excel and succeed in life, and he was alert and had excellent qualities for studies. God made him excel, but in holiness. When he was studying in Paris, he joined the group of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1537, and dedicated himself to works of charity. In the year 1541 he went to the East. —Saint Francis Xavier tirelessly evangelized India and Japan for ten years and converted many to the faith. He died in 1552 on the Shangchuan Island, at the gates of China.