SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER

To day is 3rd December and it is the feast day of the Spanish Catholic Saint, St.Francis Xavier. He is the patron saint of Goa. I did not know about this Saint both in Kerala and Chennai. In Chennai St.Thomas is well known. It was only during the time when I worked in Goa, I came to understand the powerful presence of St.Francis Xavier.

I went to Bom Jesus Basilica to pray, probably every second week, when I travelled to Kolhapur via Belgaum. The Church is located in OLD GOA which is about 10 km. from Panjim. His INCORRUPT body is kept in a glass case in a silver casket. Earlier his body was open for public veneration every year. Now it is opened only once in 10 years since it was found that his body was shrinking when it comes into contact with the air.

'Bom Jesus' (literally, 'Good (or Holy) Jesus') is the name used for the infant Jesus. This Jesuit church is India’s first Minor Basilica, and is considered as one of the best examples of baroque architecture in India. The mausoleum was designed by the 17th century Florentine sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini.

Francis Xavier was born on 7th April,1506 in a wealthy noble family in the Kingdom of Navarre,Spain. He died on the Sancian island while waiting for a ship to take him to Continental China (December 3, 1552).The body of Francis Xavier was first taken to Malacca and two years later shipped back to Goa. It is said that the saint's body was as fresh as the day it was buried.

He was beatified by Paul V on October 25, 1619, and was canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 1622.

St. Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his missionary work, both as organizer and as pioneer. By his compromises in India with the Christians of St. Thomas, he developed the Jesuit missionary methods that subsequently became a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India. As one of the first Jesuit missionaries to the East Indies, his work is of fundamental significance to Christians in the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan.The Roman Catholic Church considers him to have converted more people to Christianity than anyone since St. Paul.

The remains of the saint attract a huge number of devotees (Christian and non-Christian alike) from all over the world, especially during the public viewing of his body every ten years (last held in 2004). The saint has miraculous powers of healing

My eldest son is named after this Saint. By some miraculous coincidence, today my son,Francis Xavier, is in the Spanish town Madrid.

SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER PRAY FOR US,