The Amazing Travels of Xavier

Week 14 - April 1-7

In the resurgence of contemplative spirituality currently making its way through North American Christianity, the name of Ignatius of Loyola is a common one. Other than his ‘Spiritual Exercises' he is best known for founding the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits.

But Ignatius did not found the Society on his own, he was one of a group of monks. I'd like to tell you about another of the co-founders of the Jesuits.

Born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa, Francis Xavier proved to be a man of great promise. He went to Paris, where he entered the collège de Sainte-Barbe. Here he met Savoyard, Pierre Favre, Ignatius Loyola, and four others, Lainez, Salmerón, Rodríguez, and Bobadilla; together the seven made the famous vow of Montmartre, Aug. 15, 1534 which led to the founding of the Jesuits.

The original intention of the seven was to carry the gospel to Islam. It didn't happen. However, the Pope did employ the Jesuits throughout Europe in a variety of positions. Whatever their mission, they labored in prisons, among the needy, and with the sick.

It was at this time that King John III of Portugal asked the Pope for missionaries to evangelize his Far Eastern possessions. Xavier was chosen. Immediately he departed for Portugal. There he met the king, who begged Francis to visit all his territories, report on the state of Christianity in them, and to do all he could to bring Christianity to the lost.

For three weeks, opposing winds kept Xavier from sailing. When the wind finally turned, the monks set up a pulpit and Francis preached to the people gathered at the docks to say farewell to loved ones. As he finished his sermon, he was told about a young man who had been mortally wounded in a duel. Francis went immediately to the young man's side and pleaded with him to forgive the man who had wounded him, but to no avail - he refused. "Would you pardon him if God granted you life?" Francis is reported to have asked him. "Yes," was the reply. "Then you will recover," said Xavier. The young man did, and Xavier sailed for India.

He landed at Goa, May 6, 1542 and spent five months preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals. About October, 1542, he started for the pearl fisheries of the extreme southern coast of the peninsula, where he hoped to restore Christianity which, although introduced years before, had almost disappeared on account of the lack of priests. He devoted almost three years to the work of preaching to the people of Western India, converting many, and reaching in his journeys even the Island of Ceylon.

In the spring of 1545 Xavier started for Malacca. He laboured there for the last months of that year reaping a great spiritual harvest. About January, 1546, Xavier left Malacca and went to Molucca Islands, where the Portuguese had some settlements, and for a year and a half he preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of Amboyna, Ternate, Baranura, and other lesser islands which it has been difficult to identify. It is claimed by some that during this expedition he landed on the island of Mindanao, and for this reason Francis Xavier has been called the first Apostle of the Philippines. But so far it has not been proven absolutely that Xavier ever landed in the Philippines.

By July, 1547, he was again in Malacca. Here he met a Japanese called Anger (Han-Sir), from whom he obtained much information about Japan. His zeal was at once aroused by the idea of introducing Christianity into Japan, but for the time being the affairs of the Society demanded his presence at Goa. He finally left for Japan towards the end of June, 1549. Anger, who had been baptized at Goa and given the name of Pablo de Santa Fe, accompanied Him.

They landed at the city of Kagoshima in Japan, Aug. 15, 1549. The entire first year was devoted to learning the Japanese language and translating into Japanese, with the help of Pablo de Santa Fe, the principal articles of faith and short treatises which were to be employed in preaching and catechizing. Leaving Kagoshima about August, 1550, he continued his mission eventually traveling all over Japan preaching the Gospel and establishing missions.

After working about two and a half years in Japan he left this mission in charge of Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernández, and returned to Goa, arriving there at the beginning of 1552. Next he turned his thoughts to China, and in April, 1552, he left Goa and in the autumn he arrived at the small island of Sancian near the coast of China. While planning the best means for reaching the mainland, he was taken ill, and as the movement of the vessel seemed to aggravate his condition, he was removed to the land, where a crude hut had been built to shelter him. In these wretched surroundings he breathed his last. A statue, remembering Xavier , stands in Kameyama Park, Yamaguchi, Japan (photo).

In the short space of ten years (May, 1542 - December, 1552), he traveled 9,000 miles, an incredible feat the transportation in those days. He brought the gospel to more than 50 nations, and baptized over one million converts. In the history of missions work his accomplishments have no equal. To many, Francis Xavier is considered the greatest missionary since the time of the Apostles. He was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622, although due to the death of Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year.

St. Francis Xavier, the Apostle to the Indies, set sail from Goa for India on his 35th birthday, April 7, 1541 — 466 years ago this week.


Other events that happened this week - April 1-7

April 1, 1548 - British Parliament orders the publication of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) designed to ensure that any Christian in Britain could walk into any church in the land and be familiar with the order of worship. The final form of the BCP was established by Thomas Cranmer and he is rightly credited with its creation, but it should be noted he worked with a committee of scholars to assemble the prayers and other components before editing the final liturgy.

April 2, 1877 - Birth of Mordecai Ham in Allen County, Kentucky. A fundamentalist Baptist evangelist by the end of his ministry, he laid claim to over one million converts—including Billy Graham, who responded to the call at a 1934 Ham meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

April 3, 1528 - Adolf Clarenbach, German teacher and principle, is arrested, for promoting the teachings of the Reformation. After being imprisoned and tortured for over a year, on September 28, 1529, Clarenbach and another reformation preacher, Peter Fliesteden, would become the first martyrs of the Reformation when they are burned at the stake in Cologne.

April 4, 397 - Ambrose of Milan, the most universally loved and respected bishop of the early church, dies. Biblical scholar, political theorist, musician, and teacher, Ambrose was, to use a modern expression, a force to be reckoned with during the fourth century. He once brought Roman Emperor Theodosius I to his knees in repentance after the emperor had ordered a massacare of his citizens. He is most often mentioned in history books as the teacher of his most famous pupil, Augustine of Hippo.

April 5, 1811 - Robert Raikes, founder of English Sunday schools in 1780, dies. Raikes built his Sunday schools not for respectable and well-mannered children of believers, but for (according to one woman's description) "multitudes of wretches who, released on that day from employment, spend their day in noise and riot." In 4 years, 250,000 students were attending the schools; by Raikes's death, 500,000; and by 1831, 1.25 million.

April 6, 1528 - Albrecht Durer, German painter, engraver, and designer of woodcuts, dies. Famous for his religious scenes, he may have been so influenced by Luther (whom he called "the great Christian man who has helped me out of great anxieties") that he converted to Protestantism. His most popular work is "Praying Hands ".

The Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan

In the late 16th century, General Toyotomi Hideyoshi, better known as Taikosama, rose from humble origins to become the absolute ruler of a united Japan. As is often the case, the more he accomplished, the more he wanted. But it turns out he had his limits. When he attacked Korea to in an effort to gain a foothold on the mainland, China entered the war, and Hideyoshi's troops were beaten. This defeat, in addition to an earthquake that ruined his lovely new palace, left Hideyoshi in something of a financial bind.

Enter the Franciscans. -- You see, the Portuguese had a lock on Japan's trade with China; their large wooden ships were contracted to carry cargo between the islands and the mainland. When Franciscan friars came from the Philippines, Hideyoshi hoped that the Spanish in the Philippines would be able to offer the Portuguese some competition. If he allowed the Franciscans to stay, even though Christianity was illegal, they would facilitate Spanish trade. With competition, prices would fall.

One day, the San Felice, a Spanish galleon leaving Manila with a cargo valued at more than a million and a half silver pesos, was driven off course by a typhoon. It was shipwrecked off the coast of Japan and a local samurai took possession of the cargo. The Franciscans, thinking Hideyoshi was favourable to them, appealed to the general on behalf of the owners. However, Hideyoshi wanted the treasure for himself, but had no desire to hassle with the Spaniards. Since he was not only a general, but a consummate politician, he did what many politicians do in such situations – he smiled, made promises, and waited.

This is where things get a little blurry, as they often do in international politics. While Hideyoshi procrastinated, the Portuguese, who resented the Spanish incursion into their lucrative trade monopoly, accused the pilot of the San Felice of having boasted of Spain's many conquests and also accused the local Christians of supporting them. In the ensuing arguments, Hideyoshi’s attitude towards the Franciscans changed. Although, to be fair, it was already strained as they had been gaining a great number of conversions among the Japanese. This angered the general because the Jesuits had promised to keep a low profile on the spiritual front.

Whatever his reason, Hideyoshi ordered the execution of all Christians, including the Jesuits. After he thought it over, however, his love of wealth influenced him again and deciding the Jesuits were too useful for trade to be killed, he spared most of them.

However, an example had to be made, and thirty days of torments began for twenty-five Christians: seven Franciscans - mostly from Spanish and Mexican origins, and eighteen locals. They spent the thirty days marching to the place of their execution, Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, where Terazawa Hazaburo, brother of the governor, was to perform the executions. During the march they were beaten, whipped, and had their left ears cut off, all in an attempt to get them to renounce their faith and tell their converts it was all a lie. They refused to do so.

You may have noticed that the previous paragraph only mentions twenty-five men and the title of this article calls for one more. His name was Matthias. He was actually a Japanese convert who took a biblical name (it was the custom among Jesuit converts). Other than this we know nothing about him. He was among a crowd of people following the procession as it made its way to Nishizaka Hill. The soldiers who were escorting the condemned grew tired of the crowds calling for the release of their prisoners. They chose to make an example of one of the them and arrested and condemned Matthias on the spot. Besides, there was supposed to be a man named Matthias among the condemned but the soldiers had been unable to find him – this one would do.

When they arrived at the hill, twenty-six crosses were waiting for them. Once they were all securely tied, the crosses were lifted into place simultaneously. Some sang hymns, others prayed, none wept or cried out, not even 12-year-old Louis Ibaraki, the youngest of the group, who witnesses testified called out encouragement to his older brethren throughout the ordeal.

From his cross, Paul Miki, a Japanese convert, preached: "I have committed no crime, and the only reason why I am put to death is that I have been teaching the doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy to die for such a cause, and see my death as a great blessing from the Lord. At this critical time, when, you can rest assured that I will not try to deceive you, I want to stress and make it unmistakably clear that man can find no way to salvation other than the Christian way."

The execution of these men started a 40 year persecution of Christians in Japan that would see tens of thousands martyred for their beliefs. It should be noted the twenty-six did not die from the crucifixions. Moved by some small compassion and impressed with the courage of the Christians, Terazawa ordered the soldiers to kill them quickly by spears to the throat. A memorial to the martyrs (pictured) has been erected in Nagasaki.

It was February 5, 1597 — 410 years ago this week.

Other events that took place this week - Feb. 3 to Feb. 10

February 4, 1906: Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is born in Breslau, Germany. Author of The Cost of Discipleship (1948) and Letters from Prison (1953), he was one of the leaders of Germany's Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazis. Believing that Hitler was like a madman "driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders," he had joined a plot to kill him, but the plot was discovered and Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually hanged--just days before Allied troops liberated the concentration camp where he was held.

February 6, 891: Photius, patriarch of Constantinople from 858-867, dies after a series of excommunications and restorations. His 867 encyclical, which denounced the presence of Latin missionaries in Bulgaria as an intrusion and objected to the clause in the creed that read "the Holy Ghost ... who proceeds from the Father and the Son", was significant in the East-West conflict that eventually led to the Great Schism.

February 7, 1938: After years of being closely watched by Nazi secret police, Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller is put on trial. He was subsequently confined in a concentration camp, but he survived and went on to hold a leadership role in the World Council of Churches from 1948-1968.

February 8, 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded. Attempting to restore Catholicism to England, she began persecuting Protestants. But, largely thanks to the work of John Knox, her attempts failed.

February 9, 249: (traditional date): According to Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, on this date, Roman officials "seized that marvellous aged virgin Apolloinia, broke out all her teeth with blows on her jaws, and piling up a bonfire before the city, threatened to burn her alive if she refused to recite with them their blasphemous sayings. But she asked for a brief delay and without flinching leapt into the fire and was consumed."

February 10, 1751: John Wesley suffers a fall on the ice-covered London Bridge and is carried to the home of Mary Vazeille, a sailor's widow who lived nearby. Within a week, the two were married—with disastrous results. The unhappy couple spent so little time together that, in 1771, Wesley recorded this in his journal: "I came to London and was informed that my wife died on Monday. This evening she was buried, though I was not informed of it."