St. Francis Xavier Day

Place or Community:

St. Francis Xavier’s Day is observed by the Catholics to honor the death of the great Catholic missionary, St. Francis Xavier.

Month:

Various ceremonies are performed on the 3rd of December each year in the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa.

Description:

Saint Xavier was born in Spain in 1506 and reached India with the Portuguese viceroy of Goa in 1543.

He took upon the supreme duty of spreading the message of the Lord to the people of Goa and influencing them by reading scriptures and preaching sermons. He went from street to street, house to house to conduct meetings.

He however, did not master the local language but was successful in translating the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer with the help of the Goan scholars.

His missionary activities were not just restricted to India and to the Goans. He traveled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Malacca and Japan.

He commanded immense respect from the people whom he visited. He achieved tremendous success in converting hundreds of people to Christianity especially in Japan.

It was in China in the island of Sancian that he died on December 2, 1552.

It is believed that when a Jesuit brother discovered the body of Francis Xavier, he found that the body had not decomposed at all and infact blood oozed out when he cut a finger from the body. On reporting this incident to the Vatican, the title of saint was conferred upon Francis Xavier.

The body of St Francis Xavier was kept in Malacca for two years before being brought to Goa. Before placing the mortal remains in a sliver casket in the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa, one hand of the saint was cut off.

Under the orders from the Pope, the pieces of the hand were distributed to various parts of the world.

His death anniversary is celebrated each year on 3rd December and every 10 years his body was taken out in a glass case with feet exposed for the people to show respect and worship.

The devotees believed that he had tremendous healing powers and therefore many people carried wax models of the parts of the body that was in pain and offered to the saint.

However, the body gradually showed signs of decay and so the authorities decided not to display the body anymore after the last exposition in 1994.