When Ignatius of Loyola describes the houses where the Jesuits could normally dwell, he specifies Houses of Formation, Institutions, and Professed Houses but one other reality he often lingers on: It is the Road. For the Jesuits being on the road, to be ready to go where there is greater need ‘even unto Indies’, is the norm as well as demand of vocation. St Francis Xavier is a man who developed the charism to be constantly on the road as he grew in affinity to new frontiers of evangelization. Not only did he travel extensively and non-stop in India (especially between Goa and Tuticorin), but he was restless going to Ceylon, Indonesia, Malacca, Japan etc. Even the islands of cannibalism, namely Amboina and the Moro islands, could not deter him from reaching out to the people. Knowing full well that entry into the mainland China was banned under the penalty of death, he tried secretly to land there. He hired a Chinese merchant to land him at night in some part of Canton. At that point, he breathed his lost on the island Sancian, just about 13 Km away from the portal of his dream-entry into mainland China.
What he was:
From his childhood up to his sainthood there was a constant change of paradigm-shift in the modality of operation but the inner dynamic driving force had been the same. As a child he believed in ‘Knowledge is Power’ (and that is why he did not show much interest in feudal or temporal administration) and showed interest in academic learning. He went, at the age of seventeen to the University of Paris, to enter the College of St Barbara. Later as a student he entertained the concept of academic power (as he wanted to become the Rector of the University he was studying in), and finally he realized the power of the Word of God and he succumbed to it. But the fire of the First Jesuits was the burning-bush of Moses in him – The watch-word of the first Companions, namely ‘care of the soul’, has been the driving force within him. From the Xavier castle to the huts of the poor along the east-coast in India he was propelled by the Ignatian dynamism of ‘magis’ (ever to excel and ever to do more). He was ready to walk the talk – As the common people accepted him and his message of the faith, he also identified himself with them: his food was the same as that of the poorest, rice and water; he slept on the ground in a native hut. In his letters he reveals how intense was the joy that his ministry gave him. His commitment to the faithful was exemplary: He has to face violence from his opponents of faith. His hut was burned down over his head time and again and once he had to hide himself among the branches of a large tree to escape attempt on his life. He considered obstacles as God’s grace. He wrote from the islands of Moluccas (probably the islands now known as the Spice Islands):
The dangers to which I am exposed and the tasks I undertake for God are inexhaustible springs of spiritual joy, so much so that these islands are the places in all the world for a man to lose his sight by excess of weeping; but they are tears of joy. I do not remember ever to have tasted such inward delight; and these consolations take from me all sense of bodily hardships and of troubles from open enemies and not too trustworthy friends.
Once goal is set there is no turning back. He was also living out the spirit of Paul to become all for all to save some. Simplicity was his hallmark. Though he embarked from Lisbon as the papal nuncio he declined to take a servant along with him. He would cook his own food in the ship and would wash his own linen but at the same time he took care the spiritual needs of all on board. And in the villages on the east-coast in Tamilnadu he would go around ringing the bell and gathering people before he would instruct them in faith. He was ready to move in any village – He had been, along the Fishery Coast, to Punnaikayal (Punicale), Manapad (Manapar), Kulasekharapattanam (Livar), Nare Kinher (Nar), Alantalai (Alendale), Thiruchendur (Trichantur), Tuticorin, Virapandyanpattnam, and other places. He got immersed with the poor. But his evangelical poverty did not have the desired appeal in Japan. When he realized that his simplicity in appearance would not bring him to the presence of the Emperor in Japan, he did not hesitate to put on festive clothes in order to present himself to the Emperor: Handsomely dressed, with attendants accompanying him with attractive gifts, he presented himself to Oshindono, the ruler of Nagate, and obtained his permission to preach in his province.
Once he set his eyes on something noble nothing would deter him. He sailed to Amboina in December 1545 and the Moro Islands when he heard that there were ‘many Christians and a great opportunity for making more’. In his letter of May 10th 1546 he writes:
There are islands here where they eat one another… When they fall sick and die, they have a great banquet, during the course of which they eat the hands and heels of the deceased… There are islands where a neighbor (when he wishes to have a great feast) will ask another for his father as a loan if he is very old, so that he may be eaten, promising the other that he will give him his own father when he is old and he wishes to have a banquet… The people on this island wish to become Christians, and this is why I am going there.
He was a man on the move: Apart from India, he visited Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Malacca, Japan etc. He wanted to do more and in less time. He was intoxicated by the missionary spirit. He felt the spirit of Jesus propelling him from within. He became the fire in order to kindle the fire of faith in everyone he met. The more he saw people coming to the feet of Lord Jesus, the more he wanted to accomplish.
Basically he was an affectionate person. He used to long for letters from friends and he enjoyed writing to them in turn. In one of his letters we read:
It is now the third year since I left Portugal. I am writing to you for the third time, having as yet received only one letter from you, dated Feb 1542. God is my witness what joy it caused me. I only received it two months ago, later than is usual for letters to reach India, because the vessel which brought it had passed the winter in Mozambique.
What he did:
He was an over-zealous person. He wanted to do more within a short-time – Restlessly he was moving up and down: Within a span of 10 years of his stay in Indies he journeyed six times between Goa on the west-coast to Tuticorin on the east-cost. His method was simple: He committed the prayers to heart (till he could learn the language, for example Tamil and Japanese) and made the people repeat and then enjoined religious practices. He was very humane and tactful. In order to help simple people, he preached Catholic doctrines through rhyme set in popular tunes and these songs were sung everywhere – at home, in the streets and at workplaces.
Then he made use of the children as his loyal catechists. He understood that children could do much and he caught them young – He selected them and assembled them twice a day and taught them the Christian doctrine. When they, in the space of a month, learnt everything by heart, they went on teaching in their turn whatever they had learnt to their parents, family members, and neighbours. He found them with ardent love and extraordinary zeal in learning the religion and enthusiasm to impart it to others. He even missioned them to teach the rudiments of Christian doctrine to the ignorant in private houses, in the streets, and the crossways. Whenever he could not make it, he would send round children whom he could trust in his place. They went to the sick persons, assembled their families and neighbours, and restored health both of body and soul of the people they visited by their faith and piety. He did the same with young men especially who were diligent enough to be bilingual.
After instruction often mass-baptism would take place. In his own words:
All immediately, holding their arms in the form of the Cross, declare with one voice that they believe all entirely. Then at last I baptize them in due form, and I give to each his name written on a ticket. After their baptism the new Christians go back to their houses and bring me their wives and families for baptism (Letter from Cochin, Jan 27th 1545).
He was so much engaged in preaching and baptizing, at times he was hardly able to use his hand from fatigue of baptizing. Often, as he writes in his letters, he would baptize whole villages in a single day and sometimes he lost his voice and strength altogether because of repeating the prayers again and again. He worked all along tirelessly and believed that if you have the intelligence and talent you have to give an account to God how you made use of them in your life.
Whenever he had to be absent from an area for a longer period of time he would appoint catechists to teach and preach – They were given remuneration as well. But when he comes back he would test how much the people remember the prayers – If there is slackening then the remuneration of the catechist would be cut considerably. His letter of November 10th 1545, written from Malacca, contains a series of instructions for the catechists.
In order to create an intellectual atmosphere he founded the first educational institution in Indian soil as Paul’s College in Goa in 1542 with more than a hundred students (and with the hope of, within six years, to have more than three hundred students, including those of different languages, countries, and races). The purpose was, as St Francis Xavier writes to St Ignatius (Letter from Goa, September 20th 1542), to instruct the natives from different tribes and nations in faith so that they could be sent to their native lands to gain fruit. Here the students were educated and formed and slowly, on the impulse given by St Ignatius, it came to be realized that this college could serve as the nursery for vocations to the Jesuit Order.
Lessons to learn:
We could learn a few lessons from St Francis Xavier. He was a man of conscience, compassion, conviction, commitment, and creativity. His conscience, filled with fire kindled with compassion for the salvation for others, led him to frontiers others would not dare to step in. The inner dynamism inherited from the first companions, namely ‘care of the soul’, was the driving force that made him move around restlessly seeking people in need of salvation – Resonating with Paul he was adopting methods and means in order to become all for all in order to save them. Every day was unique for him and he lived as though every new day was the first day of his life; as though it was the last day of his life; and as though it was the only day of his life.
He was a man of frontiers – Whether going to a place is suicidal or whether his entry was banned nothing would keep him back from reaching out the people of God. His heroic life is remembered for what he was and for what he did. He was not only a pioneer but also a leader with the conviction of the mission. He was propelled by the spirit of the Spirit of Exercises he made under the direction of St Ignatius of Loyola in Paris:
- He was aware of his strengths and limitations (SpEx 4) – But he was ever ready to change for the better in order to serve others effectively.
- He was man of ingenuity (SpEx 23) – He sought his salvation in the salvation of others. He was convinced that he came not to be served but to serve.
- He was filled with love and passion for the mission he was entrusted with (SpEx 230ff) – He could see the finger of God wherever he was called by the need of the people. For him seeing God in everything and seeing everything and everybody in God was not a deep and inner contemplation but it is an action-life.
- He was a man of magis (SpEx 98, 155, and 167) – He was ever moving forward to do ever better. Whenever he heard of new frontiers he was getting ready to go – He was even ready to change the mode of presenting himself especially to the Japanese rulers. For him service of the needy and the historically lowly was of upmost importance since it was in and through this service he could identify himself with Jesus who took the form of a slave though he was equal to God and washed the feet of his disciples saying he came to serve and not to be served.
He became all in order to save many. St Ignatius of Loyola indicated that the Jesuits should be ready to go even to the unknown remote area and St Francis Xavier came to the Indies which was at that time little known. St Ignatius indicated that a Jesuit should consider ‘road’ to be a home where one should be constantly on the move and St Francis Xavier was on the move always but he was very much focused on the ‘care of the soul’. Today he continues to inspire us as a man of commitment to the cause. From his birth in the Xavier Castle till his death, abandoned in a little hut on the far off island of Sancian, he was a cheerful giver. He gave all he had for the good of others. Making new followers for Jesus across the frontiers was the dynamic spirit that led him on. He never gave up but kept trying till he could succeed. May his spirit of dynamic spirit for the good of the needy inspire us always.
Ref.
M.J. Costelloe SJ, The Letters and Instructions of Francis Xavier, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand, 21993.
Cf 125th Jubilee Souvenir, St Francis Xavier Hr Sec School, Tuticorin, Mar 2010, pp. 1-5.
Francis P Xavier SJ
Email: francisx@vsnl.com
Loyola College, Chennai
(1130271009)