even to sun-rising, and that regularly. From thence it came almost to a
proverb amongst the seamen, "That nothing was to be feared in the night,
because Father Francis watched the vessel; and the tempests durst not
trouble them, while he held conversation with God."
A man of Manapar, at whose house he lodged, and who observed him at
divers hours of the night, found him always on his knees before a
crucifix, and frequently beheld the chamber enlightened by the rays which
darted from his countenance.
While he was sojourning among Christians, the small repose he gave to
nature was commonly in the church; to the end he might be near the
blessed sacrament, before which he prayed all the remainder of the night.
But in countries where yet there were no churches built, he passed the
night in the open air; and nothing so much elevated his soul to God as
the view of heaven, spangled over, and sowed, as it were, with stars; and
this we have from his own relation.
The Pope had permitted him, in consideration of his employments and
apostolical labours, to say a breviary which was shorter than the Roman,
and had but three lessons: it was called the "Office of the Cross," and
was easily granted in those times to such who were overburdened with much
business. But Xavier never made use of this permission, what affairs
soever he was pressed withal, for the service of Almighty God: on the
contrary, before the beginning of every canonical hour, he always said
the hymn of _Veni, Creator Spiritus_; and it was observed, that while he
said it, his countenance was enlightened, as if the Holy Ghost, whom
he invoked, was visibly descended on him.
He daily celebrated the sacrifice of the mass with the same reverence and
the same devotion with which he had said it the first time, and most
ordinarily performed it at break of day. Those heavenly sweets which
overflowed his soul at the altar, spread their mild inundations even over
the assistants; and Antonio Andrada reported of himself, that, being then
a young soldier, he found such an inward satisfaction when he served the
Father, in serving at mass, that, in that consideration, he sought the
occasions of performing the clerk's office.
In the midst of his conversations with secular men, the saint was often
called aside of God, by certain sudden illuminations which obliged him to
retire; and when afterwards they sought him, he was found before the holy
sacrament, in some lonely place, engulphed in deep meditations, and
frequently suspended in the air, with beams of glory round his
countenance. Many ocular witnesses have deposed this matter of fact; but
some have affirmed, that at first they have found him on his knees
immovable; that they have afterwards observed, how by degrees he was
mounted from the earth; and that then, being seized with a sacred horror,
they could not stedfastly behold him, so bright and radiant was his
countenance. Others have protested, that while he was speaking to them of
the things of God, they could perceive him shooting upward, and
distancing himself from them on the sudden, and his body raising itself
on high of its own motion.
These extraordinary ravishments, which bore some manner of proportion to
the glory of the blest above, happened to him from time to time during
the sacrifice of the mass, when he came to pronounce the words of
consecration; and he was beheld elevated in that manner, particularly at
Meliapore and at Malacca. The same was frequently observed at Goa, while
be was communicating the people; and what was remarkable, as it was then
the custom to give the sacrament in kneeling, he appeared to be lifted
from the earth in that humble posture.
For common extasies, he had them almost every day, especially at the
altar, and after the sacrifice of the mass: insomuch, that many times
they could not bring him to himself, with pulling him by the robe, and
violently shaking him.
The delights which he enjoyed at such a time, are only to be comprehended
by such souls, which have received from heaven the like favours.
Nevertheless, it is evident, that if it be possible for man to enjoy on
earth the felicities of heaven, it is then, when the soul, transported
out of itself, is plunged, and as it were lost, in the abyss of God.
But it was not only in these extatic transports, that Xavier was
intimately united to our Lord: In the midst of his labours, he had his
soul recollected in God, without any dissipation caused by the multitude
or intricacy of affairs; insomuch, that he remained entire in all he did,
and at the same time whole in Him, for whose honour he was then employed.
This so close and so continual an union, could only proceed from a tender
chanty: the divine love burning him up in such a manner, that his face
was commonly on fire; and both for his interior and outward ardour, they
were often forced to throw cold water into his bosom.
Frequently in preaching and in walking, he felt in himself such inward
scorching, that, not being able to endure it, he was constrained to give
himself air, by opening his cassock before his breast; and this he has
been seen to do on many occasions, in the public places at Malacca and at
Goa, in the garden of St Paul's college, and in the sandy walks of the
sea-shore.
Almost every hour, words of life and fire burst and sallied as it were
from out his mouth, which were indeed the holy sparkles of a burning
heart. As for example, "O most Holy Trinity! O my Creator! O my Jesus! O
Jesus, the desire of my soul!" He spoke these words in Latin, that he
might not be understood by the common people: and being on the coast of
Fishery, at the kingdom of Travancore, and at the Moluccas, he was heard
to speak so many times every day these words, _O Sanctissima Trinitas!_
that the most idolatrous barbarians, when they found themselves in
extreme dangers, or that they would express their amazement at any thing,
pronounced those very words, without understanding any thing more of them
than that they were holy and mysterious.
Even sleep itself had not the power to interrupt those tender
aspirations; and all the night long he was heard to say, "O my Jesus, my
soul's delight!" or other expressions as full of tenderness, which shewed
the inclination of his heart. Being out of his senses by the violence of
a burning fever, both at Mozambique and at Sancian, he spoke of God, and
to God, with more fervency than ever; insomuch, that his delirium seemed
only to be a redoubling of his love. He was so sensible of the interests
of the Divine Majesty, that, being touched to the quick with the enormity
of those crimes that were committed in the new world, he wrote to a
friend of his, in these very terms:--"I have sometimes an abhorrence of
my life, and would rather chuse to die than to behold so many outrages
done to Jesus Christ, without being able either to hinder or to repair
them."
For the rest, that he might always keep alive the fire of divine love, he
had incessantly before his eyes the sufferings of our Lord. At the sight
of the wounds and of the blood of a crucified God, he fell into sighs and
tears, and languishments, and extasies of love. He was consumed with the
zeal of returning his Saviour life for life; for martyrdom was his
predominant passion, and his sentiments are a continual proof of it. "It
sometimes happens, through a singular favour of the Divine Goodness,"
says he in one of his letters, "that for the service of God we run
ourselves into the hazard of death. But we ought to bear in mind, that we
are born mortal; and that a Christian is bound to desire nothing more
than to lay down his life for Jesus Christ."
From thence proceeded that abundant joy which he conceived, when the
faithful poured out their blood for faith; and he wrote to the Fathers at
Rome, on occasion of the massacre of the baptized Manarois;--"We are
obliged to rejoice in Jesus Christ, that martyrs are not wanting, not
even in our decaying times; and to give Him thanks, that, seeing so few
persons make the right use of His grace for their salvation, He permits
that the number of the happy shall be completed through the cruelty of
men." "Admirable news," says he elsewhere, "is lately come from the
Moluccas; they who labour there in the Lord's vineyard suffer
exceedingly, and are in continual hazard of their lives I imagine that
the Isles del Moro will give many martyrs to our Society, and they will
soon be called the Isles of Martyrdom. Let our brethren then, who desire
to shed their blood for Jesus Christ, be of good courage, and anticipate
their future joy. For, behold at length a seminary of martyrdom is ready
for them, and they will have wherewithal to satisfy their longings."
The same love which inspired him with the desire of dying for our
Saviour, made him breathe after the sight and the possession of God. He
spoke not but of paradise, and concluded almost all his letters with
wishing there to meet his brethren.
But his charity was not confined to words and thoughts,--it shone out in
his works and actions, and extended itself to the service of his
neighbour. Xavier seemed to be only born for the relief of the
distressed; he loved the sick with tenderness, and to attend them was
what he called his pleasure: he sought out not only wherewithal to feed
them but to feast them; and for that purpose begged from the Portuguese
the most exquisite regalios, which were sent them out of Europe. He was
not ashamed of going round the town with, a wallet on his back, begging
linen for the wounded soldiers; he dressed their hurts, and did it with
so much the more affection, when they were the most putrified and
loathsome to the smell. If he happened to meet with any beggar who was
sinking under sickness, he took him in his arms, bore him to the
hospital, prepared his remedies, and dressed his meat with his own hands.
Though all the miserable were dear to him, yet he assisted the prisoners
after a more particular manner, with the charities which he gathered for
them; and in Goa, which was the common tribunal of the Indies, he
employed one day in the week in doing good to such who were overwhelmed
with debts. If he had not wherewithal to pay off their creditors
entirely, he mollified them at least with his civilities, and obliged
them sometimes to release one moiety of what was owing to them.
The poor, with one common voice, called him their Father, and he also
regarded them as his children. Nothing was given him, but what passed
through his hands into theirs, who were members of Jesus Christ; even so
far as to deprive himself of necessaries. He heaped up, as I may call it,
a treasury of alms, not only for the subsistence of the meaner sort, who
are content with little, but for the maintenance of honourable families,
which one or two shipwrecks had ruined all at once; and for the
entertainment of many virgins of good parentage, whom poverty might
necessitate to an infamous course of living.
The greatest part of the miracles, which on so many occasions were
wrought by him, was only for the remedy of public calamities, or for the
cure of particular persons; and it was in the same spirit, that, being
one day greatly busied in hearing the confessions of the faithful at Goa,
he departed, abruptly in appearance, out of the confessional, and
from thence out of the church also, transported with some inward motion,
which he could not possibly resist: after he had made many turns about
the town, without knowing whither he went, he happened upon a stranger,
and having tenderly embraced him, conducted him to the college of the
Society. There that miserable creature, whom his despair was driving to
lay violent hands upon himself, having more seriously reflected on his
wicked resolution, pulled out the halter, which he had secretly about
him, and with which he was going to have hanged himself, and gave it into
the Father's hands. The saint, to whom it was revealed, that extreme
misery had reduced the unhappy wretch to this dismal melancholy, gave him
comfort, retained him in the college for some time, and at length
dismissed him with a round sum of money, sufficient for the entertainment
of his family. He recommended, without ceasing, his friends and
benefactors to our Lord; he prayed both day and night for the prosperity
of King John III. of Portugal, whom he called the true protector of all
the Society: But the persecutors of the saint had a greater share in his
devotions than any others; and at the same time when he was treated so
unworthily by the governor of Malacca, he daily offered for him the
sacrifice of the mass. He was used to say, that to render good for evil,
was in some sort a divine revenge; and he revenged himself in that very
sort on the governor of Comorine, which, in one of his letters is thus
attested: "My dear brother in Jesus Christ, (thus he wrote to Father
Mansilla,) I hear uncomfortable news, that the governor's ship is
destroyed by fire; that his houses also are burnt down; that he is
retired into an island, and has nothing left him, even for the necessary
provisions of life. I desire you, out of Christian charity, to go with
the soonest to his relief, with your Christians of Punical: get what
barks you can together, and load them with all manner of provisions; I
have written earnestly to the chief of the people, that they furnish you
with all things necessary, and especially with fresh water, which, as you
know, is very scarce in those desart islands. I would go in person to the
assistance of the governor, if I thought my presence might be acceptable
to him; but of late he hates me, and has written that he could not say,
without giving scandal, all the evils I have done him. God and man can
bear me witness, if ever I have done him the least prejudice."
His charity towards his neighbour has principally appeared in what he did
for the conversion of souls. It is difficult to enumerate all his travels
by land, and his voyages by sea; and if any one would take that pains, it
might be thought he had scarce the leisure to do any thing but travel.
Without mentioning his journey's from France to Italy, and from Italy to
Portugal, he went from Lisbon to Mozambique, and from Mozambique to
Melinda, to Socotoro, and in fine to Goa. From Goa he passed to Cape
Comorine, and to the Fishing-coast, from thence to Cochin, and returning
to Goa, came back to the coast of Fishery, entered far into the islands,
and returned to the Fishery, from whence he travelled to the kingdom of
Travancore, which is seated to the west.
After he had run over all these coasts, he was a second time at Cochin
and at Goa; from Goa he took the way of Cambaya, and having crossed that
whole region, which lies extended from the mouth of the river Indus, as
far as Cochin, he made the tour of Cape Cori, and went to the islands of
Ceylon, of Manar, and of Las Vaccas. There he took shipping for
Negapatan, and from thence undertook the voyage of Meliapor, along the
coasts of Coromandel. From Meliapor he set sail for Malacca, from Malacca
he descended towards the equinoctial, which having passed, he entered
into the southern hemisphere, as far as the Isle of Banda, and those of
Amboyna, Nuliager, Ulate, Baranura, Rosalao, and others without name,
unknown even to seamen and geographers.
In sequel of these voyages, he turned towards the Moluccas, was at
Ternata, and passed from thence to the Isles del Moro. Went again to
Ternata and Amboyna, repassed the equator, and returned to Malacca; from
thence, by sea, he regained the port of Cochin; but immediately after his
arrival departed for the coast of Fishery and Ceylon. After this he
returned to Goa, and drew downward on the same coast for Bazain; from
Bazain he returned once more to Goa and Cochin. He passed a-new from Goa
to Cochin, and from Cochin to Goa; from thence following the coast as far
as Cape Comorine, he set sail towards Malacca. Having there made some
little stay, he continued his course northward, and coasting certain
isles in sight of China, came at length to Japan. After he had made some
courses there, during the space of two years, from Cangoxima to Firando,
from. Firando to Amanguchi, from Amanguchi to Meaco, from Meaco back to
Amanguchi, and from thence to Bungo, he put once more to sea, touched at
the isle of Sancian, and was driven by tempest on the Isle of Mindanao,
one of the Phillippinas. Once again he went to Malacca, and to Goa; from
Goa, he repassed the fifth time to Malacca, and from thence arrived at
Sancian, where death concluded all his travels.
Behold the sequel of the voyages of the Indian apostle Francis Xavier! I
have omitted a vast number of islands and regions, where we are satisfied
he carried the light of the gospel; I say I have not mentioned them,
because the time is not precisely known, when he made these voyages. For
what remains, I undertake not to reckon up the leagues which he has
travelled, (the supputation would be difficult to make,) and content
myself to say in general, that, according to the rules of our
geographers, who have exactly measured the terrestrial globe, if all his
courses were to be computed, they would be found to be many times
exceeding the circumference of this world.
In the mean time, the least of his business, in all his travels, was to
travel: And they who were best acquainted with him, report of him, what
St Chrysostom said of the apostle St Paul, "That he ran through the world
with an incredible swiftness, and as it were on the wing," yet not
without labour, nor that labour without fruit, but preaching, baptizing,
confessing, disputing with the Gentiles, rooting out Idolaters, reforming
manners, and throughout establishing the Christian piety. His apostolical
labours were attended with all the incommodities of life; and if those
people were to be credited, who the most narrowly observed him, it was a
continual miracle that he lived; or rather the greatest miracle of Xavier
was not to have revived so many dead, but not to die himself of labour,
during the incessant sweat of ten years toiling.
His zeal alone sustained him; but how painful soever were the functions
of his ministry, he acquitted himself of them with so much promptitude
and joy, that, by the relation of Father Melchior Nugnez, he seemed to do
naturally all he did. These are the very words of Nugnez: "The Father,
Master Francis, in labouring for the salvation of the Saracens and
Idolaters, seemed to act not by any infused or acquired virtue, but by a
natural motion: for he could neither live, nor take the least pleasure,
but in evangelical employments; in them he found even his repose; and to
him it was no labour to conduct others to the love and knowledge of his
God."
Thus also, whensoever there was the least probability that the faith
might be planted in any new country of the Gentiles, he flew thither in
despite of all threatening difficulties. The certain number is not known
of those whom he converted, but the received opinion amounts it to seven
hundred thousand souls. Which notwithstanding, it ought not to be
believed that he instructed them but lightly; for before he christened
them, he gave them a thorough insight into all the principles of faith.
According to their different conditions, his instructions were also
different. He had some which were proper to youth, others for wives, for
widows, for servants, and for masters. He never changed places till he
had left behind him a solid establishment of faith, and capable of
preserving itself on its own basis. And in effect, of all the countries
which he made Christian, there is none to be found which relapsed into
idolatry, excepting only the town of Tolo; and not that neither for any
long continuance. But it is well known, that the people, who, during
the space of fifteen or sixteen years, had not seen the face of any
priest, or even of any Christian stranger, have been found instructed in
religion, and as fervent in the practice of good works, as if they had
but newly received baptism. It is known, that many of those converts were
not less firm in their belief, than the prince of the isle of Rosalao,
whom Pedro Martinez protests to have heard say, "That though all the
world should arm against him, they should never be able to tear out of
his heart that persuasion which Father Francis had inspired into him."
We know farther, that some of them having been made captives by the
Pagans, have preserved their faith entire in the midst of Heathenism; and
have chosen rather to lose their lives in torments, than renounce their
Saviour Jesus Christ. The saint was accustomed to desire earnestly of
God, the conversion of the Gentiles, in the sacrifice of the altar; and
for that very end, said a most devout prayer, which he composed in Latin;
and is thus rendered in our language.
"O eternal God, creator of all things, mercifully remember, that the
souls of Infidels are the work of thy hands, and that they are created to
thy resemblance. Behold, O Lord, how hell is filled with them, to the
dishonour of thy name. Remember that Jesus Christ thy son, for their
salvation, suffered a most cruel death; permit not, I beseech thee, that
he should be despised by those Idolaters. Vouchsafe to be propitiated by
the prayers of the church, thy most holy spouse, and call to mind thy own
compassion. Forget, O Lord, their infidelity, and work in such manner,
that at length they may acknowledge for their God, our Saviour Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent into the world, and who is our salvation, our
life, our resurrection, by whom we have been redeemed from hell, and to
whom be all glory now and evermore. Amen."
The industry which the saint employed in converting the nations of the
East, or in strengthening their conversion, was of various sorts. In
those places where he preached the gospel, he erected crosses on the
seashore, on hills, and in public passages, to the end, that the view of
that sign of our salvation might give the Gentiles the curiosity to know
the meaning of it, or to inspire them with religious thoughts, if they
had already heard speak of Jesus Christ.
As it was impossible for him to preach always, or in all places, he writ
many instructions relating to faith and to good manners, some more ample,
and others more brief, but all in the languages of the converted nations;
and it was by these instructions, in writing, that the children learned
to read. The saint also composed devout hymns, and set the Lord's Prayer
in musical numbers, to be sung, together with the Angelical Salutation,
and the Apostles' Creed. By these means he banished those ribald songs
and ballads, which the new Christians were accustomed to sing before they
had received baptism; for those of Xavier were so pleasing, to men,
women, and children, that they sung them day and night, both in their
houses, and in the open fields.
But amongst all the means which the Father used for the conversion of
Infidels, the most efficacious was this: So soon as he entered into a
country of Idolaters, he endeavoured to gain to God those persons who
were the most considerable, either for their dignity, or by their birth,
and especially the sovereign; not only because the honour of Jesus Christ
requires, that crowned-heads should be subject to him, but also, that, by
the conversion of princes, the people are converted. So much authority
there resides in the example of a monarch, over his subjects, in every
nation of the world.
He was of easy conversation to all sorts of persons, but more familiar
with the greatest sinners, not seeming to understand that they were
keepers of mistresses, blasphemers, or sacrilegious persons. He was
particularly free in his converse with soldiers, who are greater
libertines, and more debauched, in the Indies than elsewhere; for, that
they might the less suspect him, he kept them company; and because
sometimes, when they saw him coming, they hid their cards and dice, he
told them, "They were not of the clergy, neither could they continue
praying all the day; that cheating, quarrelling, and swearing, were
forbid to gamesters, but that play was not forbidden to a soldier."
Sometimes he played at chess himself, out of compliance, when they whom
he studied to withdraw from vice were lovers of that game; and a
Portuguese gentleman, whose name was Don Diego Norogna, had once a very
ill opinion of him for it. This cavalier, who had heard a report of
Xavier, that he was a saint-like man, and desired much to have a sight of
him, happened to be aboard of the same galley. Not knowing his person, he
enquired which was he, but was much surprised to find him playing at
chess with a private soldier; for he had formed in his imagination, the
idea of a man who was recollected and austere, one who never appeared in
public, but to discourse of eternity, or to work miracles: "What, in the
name of God," said Norogna, "is this your saint! For my part, I believe
not one syllable of his sanctity, and am much deceived if he be not as
arrant a priest as any of his fellows." Don Pedro de Castro, his comrade,
and cousin, took pains, to little purpose, to persuade Norogna of the
wonderful things which had been wrought by Xavier: Norogna still adhered
to his opinion, because he always found the Father cheerful, and in good
humour. The whole company going ashore on the coast of Malabar, he
perceived Xavier taking a walk by himself into a wood, and sent after him
one of his servants to observe his actions: The servant found the man of
God raised from the ground into the air; his eyes fixed on heaven, and
rays about his countenance. He ran to give notice of his discovery to his
master; who, upon the report, came thither, and was himself a witness of
it. Then Norogna was satisfied that Xavier was truly a saint, and that
his holiness was not incompatible with the gaiety of his conversation. By
these methods the apostle of the Indies attracted the hearts of the
soldiery to himself, before he gained them to our Lord.
He took almost the same measures with the merchants; for he seemed to be
concerned for nothing more than for their interests: He gave his
benediction to the vessels which they were sending out for traffic, and
made many enquiries concerning the success of their affairs, as if he had
been co-partner with them. But while he was discoursing with them of
ports, of winds, and of merchandizes, he dexterously turned the
conversation on the eternal gains of heaven: "How bent are our desires,"
said he, "on heaping up the frail and perishable treasures of this world,
as if there were no other life besides this earthly being, nor other
riches besides the gold of Japan, the silks of China, and the spices of
the Moluccas! Ah, what profits it a man to gain the universe, and lose
his soul?" These very words, which Father Ignatius had formerly used to
Xavier, in order to loosen him from the world, were gotten familiar to
him, and he had them frequently in his mouth. In respect of the new
Christians, his conduct was altogether fatherly. He suffered their rough
and barbarous behaviour; and required no more from them in the beginning,
than what might be expected then from people of base extraction, and
grown inveterate in vice As they were generally poor, he took a
particular care of their families; and obtained from the king of
Portugal, that the Paravas should be discharged from certain excessive
yearly tributes. He protected them more than once from the fury of their
neighbouring nations, who made war against them out of hatred to the
faith, and induced the governor of the Indies to send a royal army to
their relief; he saved them even from the violence of the officers, who
despoiled them of their goods through avarice, and set bounds to the
unjust exactions of those griping ministers, by threatening to complain
of them both to King John the Third, and to the Cardinal Infante, who was
grand inquisitor.
As the sin of impurity was the reigning vice in India amongst the
Portuguese, he applied himself, in a particular manner, to withdraw them
from their voluptuous living. The first rule of his proceeding was to
insinuate himself into the favour, not only of the concubinarians, but of
their mistresses; and he compassed this by the mildness of his aspect, by
the obligingness of his words, and sometimes by good offices. Yet we
cannot think that the conversions of sinners cost him only these
addresses. Before he treated with them concerning the important business
of their souls, he treated with God at the holy altars; but to render his
prayers more efficacious, he joined them with all manner of austerities.
Having notice that three Portuguese soldiers, belonging to the garrison
of Amboyna, had lived for five years past in great debauchery, he
got their good wills by his engaging carriage, and wrought so well, that
these libertines, as wicked as they were, lodged him in their quarters
during a whole Lent, so much they were charmed with his good humour. But
while he appeared thus gay amongst them in his outward behaviour, for
fear of giving them any disgust of his company, he underwent most
rigorous penances to obtain the grace of their conversion, and used his
body so unmercifully, that he was languishing for a month of those
severities. When Xavier had reduced his penitents to that point at which
he aimed, that is, when he had brought them to confession, they cost him
not less pains than formerly. He always begged of God their perseverance
with his tears; and frequently, when he had enjoined them some light
penance, paid for them the remainder of their debts with bloody
disciplining of his own body. But when he lighted on intractable and
stubborn souls, he left them not off for their contumacy, but rather
sought their good opinion; and, on occasion, shewed them a better
countenance than usual, that thence they might be given to understand how
ready he was for their reception.
When he went from Ternata to Amboyna, he left but two persons who were
visibly engaged in vice: The first opportunity which the vessels had of
repassing to Ternata, he writ expressly to one of his friends, that he
should salute those two scandalous sinners with all tenderness from him,
and let them know, that, upon the least sign which they should make him,
he would return to hear their confessions.
But these condescensions, and this goodness of the apostle, had nothing
in them of meanness, or of weakness; and he knew well enough to make use
of severity when there was occasion for it. Thus, a lady who had accused
herself in confession, to have looked upon a man with too alluring an
eye, was thus answered by him: "You are unworthy that God should look on
you; since, by those encouraging regards which you have given to a man,
you have run the hazard of losing God." The lady was so pierced with
these few words, that, during the rest of her life, she durst never look
any man in the face.
By all these methods, Xavier made so many converts. But whatever he
performed, he looked on it as no more than an essay; and he wrote, in the
year 1549, that if God would be pleased to bestow on him yet ten years
more of life, he despaired not but these small beginnings would be
attended with more happy consequences. This ardent desire of extending
farther the dominion of Jesus Christ, caused him to write those pressing
letters to the king of Portugal, and Father Ignatius, that he might be
furnished with a larger supply of missioners: he promised, in his
letters, to sweeten the labour of the mission, by serving all his
fellows, and loving them better than himself. The year he died, he writ,
that when once he had subdued the empire of China, and that of Tartary,
to the sceptre of Jesus Christ, he purposed to return into Europe by the
north, that he might labour in the reduction of heretics, and restoration
of discipline in manners; that after this he designed to go over into
Africa, or to return into Asia, in quest of new kingdoms, where he might
preach the gospel.
For what remains, though he was ever forming new designs, as if he were
to live beyond an age, yet he laboured as if he had not a day to live,
and so tugged at the work which he had in hand, that two or three days
and nights passed over his head without once thinking to take the least
manner of nourishment. In saying his office, it often happened to him to
leave, for five or six times successively, the same canonical hour, for
the good of souls, and he quitted it with the same promptitude that
afterwards he resumed it: he broke off his very prayers when the most
inconsiderable person had the least occasion for him; and ordered, when
he was in the deepest of his retirements, that if any poor man, or
even but a child, should desire to be instructed, he might be called from
his devotions.
No man perhaps was ever known to have run more dangers, both by land and
sea, without reckoning into the account the tempests which he suffered
in ten years of almost continual navigation. It is known, that being at
the Moluccas, and passing from isle to isle, he was thrice shipwrecked,
though we are not certain of the time or places; and once he was for
three days and nights together on a plank, at the mercy of the winds and
waves. The barbarians have often shot their arrows at him, and more than
once he fell into the hands of an enraged multitude. One day the Saracens
pursued him, and endeavoured to have stoned him; and the Brachmans
frequently sought after him to have murdered him, even to that point of
merciless barbarity, as to get fire to all the houses where they imagined
he might lie concealed. But none of all these dangers were able to
affright him; and the apprehension of dying could never hinder him from
performing his ordinary functions. It seemed that even dangers served to
the redoubling of his courage, and that, by being too intrepid, he
sometimes entered into the extreme of rashness. Being at Japan, he
reprehended the king of Amanguchi so severely for the infamy and scandal
of his vices, that Father John Fernandez, (who served him for
interpreter, as being more conversant than the saint in the language of
the court) was amazed and trembled in pronouncing what the Father put
into his mouth; as we are given to understand in a letter written by the
same Fernandez. Xavier, one day perceiving the fear of his companion,
forbade him absolutely either to change or soften any of his words: "I
obeyed him," says Fernandez, "but expected every moment when the
barbarian should strike me with his scymiter, and confess my
apprehensions of death were as much too great, as the concernment of
Father Francis was too little."
In effect, he was so far from fearing death, that he looked on it as a
most pleasing object. "If we die for so good a cause," said Xavier on
another occasion, "we ought to place it amongst the greatest benefits we
receive from God; and shall be very much obliged to those, who, freeing
us from a continual death, such as is this mortal life, shall put us in
possession of an eternal happiness: So that we are resolved to preach the
truth amongst them, in despite of all their threatenings, and, encouraged
by the hopes of divine assistance, obey the precept of our Saviour, who
commands us to prefer the salvation of others above our lives."
In the most hazardous undertakings, he hoped all things from God, and
from thence drew his assurance of daring all things. Behold what he says
himself concerning his voyage of Japan: "We set out full of confidence in
God, and hope, that, having him for our conductor, we shall triumph over
all his enemies.
"As to what remains, we fear not to enter into the lists with the doctors
of Japan; for what available knowledge can they have, who are ignorant of
the only true God, and of his only Son our Lord Jesus? And besides, what
can we justly apprehend, who have no other aim than the glory of God and
Jesus Christ, the preaching of the gospel, and the salvation of souls?
supposing that we were not only in a kingdom of barbarians, but in the
very dominion of devils, and that naked and disarmed, neither the most
cruel barbarity, nor the rage of hell, could hurt us without God's
permission. We are afraid of nothing but offending God Almighty; and
provided that we offend not him, we promise ourselves, through his
assistance, an assured victory over all our enemies. Since he affords
sufficient strength to every man for his service, and for avoiding sin,
we hope his mercy will not be wanting to us. But as the sum of all
consists in the good or evil use of his benefits, we also hope he will
give us grace to employ ourselves for his glory, by the prayers of his
spouse, and our holy mother the Church, and particularly by the
intercession of our Society, and those who are well affected to it. Our
greatest, comfort proceeds from this, that God beholds the scope of this
our voyage, that our only aim is to make known the Creator of the
universe to souls which are made after his own image; to bring those
souls to give him the worship due to him, and to spread the Christian
religion through all regions.
"With these encouragements, we doubt not but the issue of our voyage will
be prosperous; and two things especially seem to assure us, that we shall
vanquish all the opposition of hell; the one is the greatness of our holy
enterprize, the other is the care of Divine Providence, whose dominion is
of no less extent over devils than over men. I acknowledge, that in this
voyage, I foresee not only great labours, but also dangers of almost
inevitable death; and this imagination is frequently presented to my
thoughts, that if those of our Society, who are endued with the greatest
stock of knowledge, should come into the Indies, they would certainly
accuse us of too much rashness, and would be apt to think, that, in
exposing ourselves to these manifest dangers, we tempted God.
Nevertheless, upon a more serious reflection, I cease to fear; and hope
that the spirit of our Lord, which animates our Society, will regulate
their judgments concerning it. For my own particular, I think continually
on what I have heard our good Father Ignatius often say, that those of
our Society ought to exert their utmost force in vanquishing themselves,
and banish from them all those fears which usually hinder us from placing
our whole confidence in God. For, though divine hope is purely and simply
the grace of God, and that he dispenses it, according to his pleasure,
nevertheless, they who endeavour to overcome themselves, receive it more
frequently than others. As there is a manifest difference betwixt those,
who, abounding with all things, trust in God, and those, who, being
sufficiently provided with all necessaries, yet bereave themselves of
them, in imitation of Jesus Christ; so is there also, in those who trust
in God's providence, when they are out of danger, and those who, with the
assistance of his grace, dare voluntarily expose themselves to the
greatest hazards, which are in their proper choice and power to shun."
It was in the spirit of this holy confidence, that the saint, writing to
Simon Rodriguez, speaks in this manner to him:--
"Our God holds in his hand the tempests which infest the seas of China
and Japan; the rocks, the gulphs, and banks of sands, which are
formidably known by so many shipwrecks, are all of them under his
dominion. He is Sovereign over all those pirates which cruize the seas,
and exercise their cruelties on the Portuguese: and for this reason I
cannot fear them; I only fear lest God should punish me for being too
pusillanimous in his service; and so little capable, through my own
frailty, of extending the kingdom of his Son amongst those nations who
know him not."
He speaks in the same spirit to the Fathers of Goa, in giving them an
account of his arrival at Japan: "We are infinitely obliged to God, for
permitting us to enter into those barbarous countries, where we are to be
regardless, and in a manner forgetful of ourselves; for the enemies of
the true religion, being masters every where, on whom can we rely, but on
God alone? and to whom can we have recourse besides him? In our
countries, where the Christian faith is flourishing, it happens, I know
not how, that every thing hinders us from reposing ourselves on God; the
love of our relations, the bonds of friendship, the conveniences of life,
and the remedies which we use in sickness; but here, being distant from
the place of our nativity, and living amongst barbarians, where all human
succours are wanting to us, it is of absolute necessity that our
confidence in God alone should be our aid."
But the saint perhaps never discoursed better on this subject, than in a
letter written at his return from the Moluccas, after a dangerous
navigation. His words are these: "It has pleased God, that we should not
perish; it has also pleased him, to instruct us even by our dangers, and
to make us know, by our own experience, how weak we are, when we rely
only on ourselves, or on human succours. For when we come to understand
the deceitfulness of our hopes, and are entirely diffident of human
helps, we rely on God, who alone can deliver us out of those dangers,
into which we have engaged ourselves on his account: we shall soon
experience that he governs all things; and that the heavenly pleasures,
which he confers on his servants on such occasions, ought to make us
despise the greatest hazards; even death itself has nothing in it which
is dreadful to them, who have a taste of those divine delights; and
though, when we have escaped those perils of which we speak, we want
words to express the horror of them, there remains in our heart a
pleasing memory of the favours which God has done us; and that
remembrance excites us, day and night, to labour in the service of so
good a Master: we are also enlivened by it to honour him during the rest
of our lives, hoping, that, out of his abundant mercy, he will bestow on
us a new strength, and fresh vigour, to serve him faithfully and
generously, even to our death."
"May it please the Divine Goodness," he says elsewhere, "that good men,
whom the devil endeavours to affright in the service of God, might fear
no other thing besides displeasing him, in leaving off what they have
undertaken for his sake. If they would do this, how happy a life would
they then lead! how much would they advance in virtue, knowing, by their
own experience, that they can do nothing of themselves, but that they can
do all things by the assistance of his grace!"
He said, "that our most stedfast hold in dangers and temptations, was to
have a noble courage against the foe of our salvation, in a distrust of
our own strength, but a firm reliance on our Lord, so that we should not
only fear nothing under the conduct of such a general, but also should
not doubt of victory." He said also further, "that, in those dangerous
occasions, the want of confidence in God was more to be feared, than any
assault of the enemy; and that we should run much greater hazard in the
least distrust of the divine assistance, in the greatest dangers, than in
exposing ourselves to those very dangers." He added, lastly, "that this
danger was so much the more formidable, the more it was hidden, and the
less that we perceived it."
These thoughts produced in the soul of this holy man an entire diffidence
of himself, together with a perfect humility. He was the only discourse
of the new world; Infidels and Christians gave him almost equal honour;
and his power over nature was so great, that it was said to be a kind of
miracle, when he performed no miracle But all this served only to raise
confusion in him; because he found nothing in himself but his own
nothingness; and being nothing in his own conceit, he could not
comprehend, how it was possible for him to be esteemed. Writing to the
doctor of Navarre, before his voyage to the Indies, he told him, "That it
was a singular grace of heaven to know ourselves; and that, through the
mercy of God, he knew himself to be good for nothing."
"Humbly beseech our Lord," he wrote from the Indies to Father Simon
Rodriguez, "that I may have power to open the door of China to others;
where I am, I have done but little." In many other passages of his
letters, he calls himself an exceeding evil man; a great sinner; and
conjures his brethren to employ their intercessions to God in his behalf.
"Bring to pass, by your prayers," says he to one of them, "that though my
sins have rendered me unworthy of the ministerial vocation, yet God may
vouchsafe, out of his infinite goodness, to make use of me."
"I beseech you," says he to another, "to implore the heavenly assistance
for us; and to the end you may do it with the greater fervency, I beseech
our Lord, that he would give you to understand, how much I stand in need
of your intercession."
"It is of extreme importance to my consolation," he writes to the fathers
of Goa, "that you understand the wonderful perplexity in which I am.
As God knows the multitude and heinousness of my sins, I have a thought
which much torments me; it is, that God perhaps may not prosper our
undertakings, if we do not amend our lives, and change our manners: it is
necessary, on this account, to employ the prayers of all the religious of
our Society, and of all our friends, in hope that, by their means, the
Catholic church, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus, will communicate
her innumerable merits to us; and that the Author of all good will
accumulate his graces on us, notwithstanding our offences."
He attributed all the fruits of his labours to an evident miracle of the
Divine Power, which made use of so vile and weak an instrument as
himself, to the end it might appear to be the work of God. He said, "that
they who had great talents, ought to labour with great courage for the
safety of souls; since he, who was wanting in all the qualities which are
requisite to so high a calling, was not altogether unprofitable in his
ministry."
As he had a mean opinion of himself, and that his own understanding was
suspected by him, he frequently, by his letters, requested his brethren
of Italy, and Portugal, to instruct him in the best method of preaching
the gospel profitably. "I am going," said he, "to publish Jesus Christ,
to people who are part Idolaters, and part Saracens; I conjure you, by
Jesus Christ himself, to send me word, after what manner, and by what
means, I may instruct them. For I am verily persuaded, that God will
suggest those ways to you, which are most proper for the easy reduction
of those people into his fold; and if I wander from the right path, while
I am in expectation of your letters, I hope I shall return into it, when
I shall have received them."
All that succeeded well to his endeavours in the service of our Lord, he
attributed to the intercession of his brethren. "Your prayers," he writ
to the Fathers at Rome, "have assuredly obtained for me the knowledge of
my infinite offences; and withal the grace of unwearied labouring, in the
conversion of Idolaters, notwithstanding the multitude of my sins."
But if the designs which he was always forming, for the advancement of
religion, happened to be thwarted, he acknowledged no other reason of
those crosses than his own sins, and complained only of himself.
As for those miracles which he continually wrought, they passed, in his
opinion, as the effects of innocence in children, or for the fruits of
faith in sick persons. And when, at the sight of a miraculous
performance, the people were at any time about to give him particular
honours, he ran to hide himself in the thickest of a forest; or when he
could not steal away, he entered so far into the knowledge of himself,
that he stood secure from the least temptation of vain glory. It even
seemed, that the low opinion which he had of his own worth, in some
sort blinded him, in relation to the wonders which he wrought, so that he
perceived not they were miracles.
It was the common talk at Goa, that he had raised the dead on the coast
of Fishery. After his return to Goa, James Borba and Cozmo Annez, his
two intimate friends, requested him to inform them, for God's further
glory, how those matters went; and particularly they enquired concerning
the child who was drowned in the well. The holy man, at this request,
hung down his head, and blushed exceedingly: when he was somewhat
recovered of his bashfulness, "Jesus," said he, "what, I to raise the
dead! can you believe these things of such a wretch as I am?" After
which, modestly smiling, he went on, "Alas, poor sinner that I am! they
set before me a child, whom they reported to be dead, and who perhaps was
not; I commanded him, in the name of God, to arise; he arose indeed, and
there was the miracle."
Ordognez Cevalio, who travelled almost round the world, tells us, in the
relations of his voyages, that, in India, he happened to meet a Japonese,
who informed him, in a discourse which they had together of these
particulars: "Know," said he, "that being in Japan, a Bonza by
profession, I was once at an assembly of our Bonzas, who, upon the
report of so many miracles as were wrought by Father Francis Xavier,
resolved to place him in the number of their gods; in order to which,
they sent to him a kind of embassy; but the Father was seized with horror
at the proposition of their deputies. Having spoken of God to them, after
a most magnificent and elevated manner, he spake of himself in terms so
humble, and with so much self-contempt, that all of us were much edified
by his procedure; and the greatest part of us seriously reflecting,
rather on his carriage than his words, from priests of idols, which we
were, became the worshippers of Jesus Christ."
He shunned the offices of the Society, and believed himself unworthy of
them. "I cannot tell you," wrote he from Cochin to Father Ignatius, "how
much I stand obliged to the Japonese; in favour of whom, God has given me
clearly to understand the infinite number of my sins; for till that time,
I was so little recollected, and so far wandered out of myself, that I
had not discovered, in the bottom of my heart, an abyss of imperfections
and failings. It was not till my labours and sufferings in Japan, that I
began at length to open my eyes, and to understand, with God's
assistance, and by my own experience, that it is necessary for me to have
one, who may watch over me, and govern me. May your holy charity be
pleased, for this reason, to consider what it is you do, in ranging under
my command so many saint-like souls of the fathers and brethren of our
Society. I am so little endued with the qualities which are requisite for
such a charge, and am so sensible that this is true, through God's mercy,
that I may reasonably hope, that, instead of reposing on me the care
of others, you will repose on others the care of me." He infinitely
esteemed those missioners who were his seconds; and accounted his own
pains for nothing, in comparison of theirs. After having related, what
had been performed by Father Francis Perez in Malacca; "I confess, my
brethren," said he to Paul de Camerino and Antonio Gomez, "that, seeing
these things, I am ashamed of myself; and my own lazy cowardice makes me
blush, in looking on a missioner, who, infirm and languishing as he is,
yet labours without intermission in the salvation of souls." Xavier more
than once repeats the same thing in his letter, with profound sentiments
of esteem for Perez, and strange contempt of his own performances.
He recommends not any thing so much to the gospel-labourers as the
knowledge of themselves, and shunning of pride; and we need only to open
any of his letters, to behold his opinions on that subject,
"Cultivate humility with care, in all those things which depraved nature
has in horror; and make sure, by the assistance of divine grace, to gain
a thorough knowledge of yourselves; for that understanding of ourselves
is the mother of Christian humility. Beware especially, lest the good
opinion, which men have conceived of you, do not give you too much
pleasure: for those vain delights are apt to make us negligent; and that
negligence, as it were by a kind of enchantment, destroys the humility of
our hearts, and introduces pride instead of it.
"Be distrustful of your proper strength, and build nothing upon human
wisdom, nor on the esteem of men, By these means you will be in condition
to bear whatsoever troubles shall happen to you; for God strengthens the
humble, and gives him courage; he is proof against the greatest labours,
and nothing can ever separate him from the charity of Jesus Christ; not
the devil with his evil angels, nor the ocean with its tempests, nor the
most brutal nations with all their barbarity. And if God sometimes
permits that the devil put impediments in his way, or that the elements
make war against him, he is persuaded, that it is only for the expiation
of his sins, for the augmentation of his merits, and for the rendering
him more humble.
"They who fervently desire to advance God's glory, ought to humble
themselves, and be nothing in their own opinion; being diffident, even in
the smallest matters, of their own abilities; to the end, that in great
occasions, becoming much more diffident of themselves, through a
principle of Christian humility, they may entirely confide in God; and
this confidence may give them resolution; for he who knows that he is
assisted from above, can never degenerate into weakness.
"Whatever you undertake will be acceptable in the sight of God, if there
appear in your conduct a profound humility, and that you commit the care
of your reputation into his hands; for he himself will not be wanting to
give you both authority and reputation with men, when they are needful
for you; and when he does it not, it is from his knowledge that you will
not ascribe to him that which only can proceed from him. I comfort myself
with thinking, that the sins of which you find yourselves guilty, and
with which you daily upbraid your own consciences, produce in you an
extreme horror of windy arrogance, and a great love of perfection; so
that human praises will become your crosses, and be useful to admonish
you of your failings.
"Take heed of yourselves, my dearest brethren; many ministers of the
gospel, who have opened the way of heaven to other men, are tormented in
hell for want of true humility, and for being carried away with a vain
opinion of themselves; on the contrary, there is not to be found in hell
one single soul which was sincerely humble."
These are the instructions which the saint gave in general to his
brethren on the subject of humility; and, next, behold some particular
admonitions which were addressed to some amongst them:--
"I conjure you to be humble and patient towards all the world," says he
to Father Cyprian, who preached the gospel at Meliapore; "for, believe
me, nothing is to be done by haughtiness and choler, when it cannot be
accomplished by modesty and mildness." He continues; "We deceive
ourselves, in exacting submission and respect from men, without any other
title to it than being members of our Society, and without cultivating
that virtue which has acquired us so great an authority in the world; as
if we rather chose to recommend ourselves by that credit and reputation,
than by the practice of humility and patience, and those other virtues by
which our Society has maintained its dignity and honour with mankind."
"Be mindful," writes he to Father Barzaesus, who was rector of' the
college of Goa, "to read frequently the instructions which I have left
with you, particularly those which concern humility; and take an especial
care in considering what God has done by you, and by all the labourers of
the Society, that you do not forget yourself: for my own particular, I
should be glad, that all of you would seriously think how many things God
leaves undone, because you are wanting to him in your fidelity; and
I would rather that consideration should employ your thoughts, than those
great works which it has pleased our Lord to accomplish by your ministry;
for the first reflection will cover you with confusion, and make you
mindful of your weakness; but, instead of that, the second will puff you
up with vanity, and expose you to the danger of having thoughts of
arrogance."
This well-grounded humility in Xavier, was the principle of a perfect
submission to the will of God. He never undertook any thing without
consulting him before-hand; and the divine decrees were his only rule. "I
have made continual prayers," says he, speaking of his voyage to
Macassar, "to know what heaven requires of me; for I was firmly resolved
not to be wanting on my part to fulfil the will of God, whensoever it
should be made known to me. May it please our Lord," said he on the same
subject, "that out of his goodness we might understand what he designs by
us, to the end we might entirely conform ourselves to his holy will so
soon as it shall be discovered to us; for he commands us to be always in
a readiness to obey him at the first signal; and it becomes us to be as
strangers in this world, always prepared to follow the voice of our
conductor."
"I wish," said he, in another place, "that God would declare to us his
most holy will, concerning the ministries and countries where I may best
employ my labours for his glory. I am ready, by his grace, to execute
those things which he makes me understand to be most pleasing to him, of
whatsoever nature they may be; and, undoubtedly, he has admirable means
of signifying his good pleasure to us; such as are our inward sentiments
and heavenly illuminations, which leave no remaining scruple concerning
the place to which he has designed us, nor what we are to undertake for
his service. For we are like travellers, not fixed to any country through
which we pass. It is our duty to be prepared to fly from one region to
another, or rather into opposite regions, where the voice of heaven shall
please to call us. East and west, north and south, are all indifferent to
me, provided I may have an opportunity of advancing the glory of our
Lord."
He says elsewhere, "I could wish, that you had ever in your mind this
meditation, that a ready and obedient will, which is entirely devoted to
God's service, is a more pleasing sacrifice to the Divine Majesty, than
all the pomp and glitter of our noisy actions, without the interior
disposition."
Being thoroughly convinced that the perfection of the creature consists
in willing nothing but the will of the Creator, he spoke incessantly of
God's good pleasure, and concluded almost all his letters with his
desires of knowing and fulfilling it. He sacrificed all to that
principle; even his ardent wishes to die for Jesus by the hands of the
barbarians: for though he breathed after martyrdom, he well understood
that the tender of our life is not acceptable to God, when he requires it
not; and he was more fearful of displeasing him, than desirous of being a
martyr for him. So that he died satisfied, when he expired in a poor
cabin of a natural death, though he was at that very time on the point of
carrying the faith into the kingdom of China: And it may be therefore
said, that he sacrificed not only his own glory, but even that of Jesus
Christ, to the good pleasure of God Almighty.
A man so submissive to the orders of heaven, could not possibly want
submission in regard of his superior, who was to him in the place of God.
He had for Father Ignatius, general of the Society of Jesus, a veneration
and reverence, mixed with tenderness, which surpass imagination. He
himself has expressed some part of his thoughts on that subject, and we
cannot read them without being edified. In one of his letters, which
begins in this manner, "My only dear Father, in the bowels of Jesus
Christ;" he says at the conclusion, "Father of my soul, for whom I have a
most profound respect, I write this to you upon my knees, as if you
were present, and that I beheld you with my eyes." It was his custom to
write to him in that posture; so high was the place which Ignatius held
within his heart.
"God is my witness, my dearest Father," says he in another letter, "how
much I wish to behold you in this life, that I might communicate to you
many matters, which cannot be remedied without your aid; for there is no
distance of places which can hinder me from obeying you. I conjure you,
my best Father, to have some little consideration of us who are in the
Indies, and who are your children. I conjure you, I say, to send hither
some holy man, whose fervour may excite our lazy faintness. I hope, for
the rest, that as you know the bottom of our souls, by an illumination
from heaven, you will not be wanting to supply us with the means of
awakening our languishing and drowsy virtue, and of inspiring us with the
love of true perfection." In another of his letters, which is thus
superscribed, "To Ignatius, my holy Father in Jesus Christ," he sends him
word, that the letter which he received from his holy charity, at his
return from Japan, had replenished him with joy; and that particularly he
was most tenderly affected with the last words of it: "I am all yours,
yours even to that degree, that it is impossible for me to forget you,
Ignatius." "When I had read those words," said he, "the tears came
flowing into my eyes, and gushing out of them; which makes me, that I
cannot forbear writing them, and recalling to my memory that sincere and
holy friendship which you always had, and still have, for me; nothing
doubting, but that if God has delivered me from so many dangers, it has
principally proceeded from your fatherly intercessions for me." He calls
himself his son in all his letters, and thus subscribes himself in one:
"The least of your children, and most distant from you, Francis Xavier."
But the high ideas which Francis had of Ignatius, caused him frequently
to ask his advice in relation to his own conduct. "You will do a
charitable work," said he, "in writing to me a letter, full of spiritual
instructions, as a legacy bequeathed to one who is the least of all your
children, at the farthest distance from you, and who is as it were
banished from your presence, by which I may partake some part of those
abundant treasures which heaven has heaped upon you. I beseech you not to
be too niggardly in the accomplishment of my desires." "I conjure you,"
says he elsewhere, "by the tender love of Jesus Christ, to give me the
method which I ought to keep, in admitting those who are to be members of
our Society; and write to me at large, considering the smallness of my
talent, which is well known to you; for if you give me not your
assistance, the poor ability which I have in these matters, will be the
occasion of my losing many opportunities for the augmentation of God's
glory."
In prescribing any thing that was difficult to his inferiors, he
frequently intermixed the name of Ignatius: "I pray you by our Lord, and
by Ignatius, the Father of our Society. I conjure you by the obedience,
and by the love which you owe to our Father Ignatius." "Remember," said
he farther, "to what degree, both great and small, respect our Father
Ignatius."
With these sentiments, both of affection and esteem, he depended
absolutely on his superior. "If I believed," says he, writing from the
Indies to Father Simon Rodriguez, "that the strength of your body were
equal to the vigour of your mind, I should invite you to pass the seas,
and desire your company in this new world; I mean, if our Father Ignatius
should approve and counsel such a voyage: For he is our parent, it
behoves us to obey him; and it is not permitted us to make one step
without his order."
In this manner, Xavier had recourse to Ignatius on all occasions, as much
as the distance of places would permit; and the orders which he received,
were to him inviolable laws. "You shall not suffer any one," so he writ
to Gaspar Barzæus, rector of the college of Goa, "to receive the orders
of priesthood, who is not sufficiently learned; and who has not given,
for the space of many years, sufficient examples of his good life in our
Society; because our Father Ignatius has expressly forbidden it." For
the same reason he exactly observed the constitutions of the Society.
"Make not haste," writes he in the same letter to Barzæus, "to receive
children which are too young; and totally reject such sorts of people,
whom Father Ignatius would have for ever excluded from our order." But
nothing, perhaps, can more clearly discover how perfect the submission of
Xavier was, than what his superior himself thought of it. At the time
when Xavier died, Ignatius had thoughts of recalling him from the Indies;
not doubting, but at the first notice of his orders, this zealous
missioner would leave all things out of his obedience. And on this
occasion he wrote to him a letter, bearing date the 28th of June, in the
year 1553. Behold the passage which concerns the business of which we are
speaking: "I add," says Ignatius in his letter, "that having in prospect
the salvation of souls, and the greater service of our Lord, I have
resolved to command you, in virtue of holy obedience, to return into
Portugal with the first opportunity; and I command you this in the name
of Christ. But that you may more easily satisfy those, who are desirous
of retaining you in the Indies, for the good of those countries, I will
present you with my reasons: You know, in the first place, of what weight
are the orders of the king of Portugal, for the confirmation of religion
in the East, for the propagation of it in, Guinea and Brasil; and you can
rightly judge, that a prince so religious as he, will do all things
necessary for the advancement of God's honour, and the conversion of
people, if one of your ability and experience shall personally instruct
him; And besides, it is of great importance, that the holy apostolical
see should be informed of the present state of India, by some authentic
witness; to the end, that Popes may issue out spiritual supplies, as well
to the new as to the ancient Christianity of Asia; without which, neither
the one nor the other can subsist, or cannot subsist without much
trouble; and nobody is more proper than yourself for this, both in
respect of your knowledge in the affairs of the new world, and of your
reputation in these parts.
"You know, moreover, of what consequence it is, that the missioners, who
are sent to the Indies, should be proper for the end proposed; and it is
convenient, on that account, that you come to Portugal and Rome: for not
only many more will be desirous of going on those missions, but you will
make a better choice of missioners, and will see more clearly to what
parts such and such are proper to be sent. You judge yourself of what
consideration it is, not to be mistaken in these affairs; and whatsoever
relation you can send us, your letters are not sufficient to give us a
true notion of what labourers are fitting for the Indies. It is necessary
that you, or some one as intelligent as you, should know and practise
those who are designed for those countries. Besides what it will be in
your power to do for the common benefit of the East, you will warm the
zeal of the king of Portugal, in relation to Ethiopia, which has been
under consideration for so many years, but nothing yet performed. You
will also be of no little use to the affairs of Congo and Brasil, on
which you can have no influence in India, for want of commerce betwixt
them and you. But if you think your presence may be necessary, for the
government of those of the Society who are in the Indies, you may govern
them more easily from Portugal, than you can from China or Japan. For
what remains, I remit you to the Father, Master Polanque, and recommend
myself most cordially to your good prayers, beseeching the Divine
Goodness to multiply his favours on you; to the end, that we may
understand his most holy will, and that we may perfectly perform it."
Father Polanque, who was secretary to Father Ignatius, and confident to
all his purposes, has given testimony, that the intention of the holy
founder was to make Xavier general of the Society. The letter of Ignatius
found Xavier dead. But we may judge of what he would have done, by what
he writ before his death to Ignatius himself, who had testified so
earnest a desire to see him: "Your holy charity," says he in his letter,
"tells me, that you have an earnest desire to see me once again in this
present life: God, who looks into the bottom of my heart, can tell how
sensibly that mark of your tenderness has touched me. Truly, whenever
that expression of yours returns to my remembrance, and it frequently
returns, the tears come dropping from my eyes, and I cannot restrain
them; while I revolve that happy thought, that once, yet once again it
may be given me to embrace you. I confess, it appears difficult to
compass my desires, but all things are possible to holy obedience."
Undoubtedly, if the letter of Ignatius had found Xavier alive, he had
soon been seen in Europe; for having offered, of his own free motion, to
leave the Indies, Japan, and China, and all the business which he had
upon his hands, and having said, that the least beckoning of his superior
should be sufficient for it, what would he not have done, when he had
received a positive command to abandon all, and repass the seas?
His maxims of obedience shew clearly what his own submission was.
"There is nothing more certain, nor less subject to mistake, than always
to be willing to obey. On the contrary, it is dangerous to live in
complaisance to our own wills, and without following the motion of our
superiors; for though we chance to perform any good action, yet if we
never so little deviate from that which is commanded us, we may rest
assured, that our action is rather vicious than good.
"The devil, by his malicious suggestions, tempts the greatest part of
those who have devoted themselves to God's service: 'What make you
there?' he secretly whispers; 'See you not that you do but lose your
labour?' Resist that thought with all your strength; for it is capable
not only of hindering you in the way to perfection, but also of seducing
you from it: and let every one of you persuade himself, that he cannot
better serve our Lord, than in that place where he is set by his
superior. Be also satisfied, that when the time of God is come, he will
inspire your superiors with thoughts of sending you to such places, where
your labours shall abundantly succeed. In the mean time, you shall
possess your souls in peace. By this means, you will well employ your
precious time, though too many do not understand its value, and make
great proficiencies in virtue. It is far otherwise with those restless
souls, who do no good in those places where they wish to be, because they
are not there; and are unprofitable both to themselves and others where
they are, because they desire to be otherwhere.
"Perform, with great affection, what your superiors order you, in
relation to domestic discipline, and suffer not yourself to be surprised
with the suggestions of the evil spirit, who endeavours to persuade you,
that some other employment would be fitter for you; his design is, that
you should execute that office ill in which you are employed: I entreat
you, therefore, by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to consider
seriously, how you may overcome those temptations, which give you a
distaste of your employment; and to meditate, more on that, than how to
engage yourself in such laborious affairs, as are not commanded you. Let
no man flatter himself; it is impossible to excel in great matters,
before we arrive to excel in less: and it is a gross error, under the
pretence of saving souls, to shake off the yoke of obedience, which is
light and easy, and to take up a cross, which, without comparison, is
more hard and heavy.
"It becomes you to submit your will and judgement to your governors; and
to believe that God, will inspire them, in reference to you, with that,
which will be most profitable to you. For the rest, beware of asking any
thing with importunity, as some have done, who press their superiors
with such earnestness, that they even tear from them that which they
desire, though the thing which they demand be in itself pernicious; or if
it be refused them, complain in public, that their life is odious to
them: they perceive not, that their unhappiness proceeds from their
neglect of their vow, and their endeavour to appropriate that will to
themselves, which they have already consecrated to our Lord. In effect,
the more such people live according to their own capricious fancy, the
more uneasy and melancholy is their life."
The holy man was so thoroughly persuaded, that the perfection of the
Society of Jesus consisted in obedience, that he frequently commanded his
brethren, in virtue of their holy obedience, thereby to increase their
merit.
"I pray you," said he to two missioners of Comorine, "to go to the Isles
del Moro; and to the end you may the better have occasion of meriting by
your obedience, I positively command you."
But it is impossible to relate, with what tenderness he loved the
Society, or how much he concerned himself in all their interests, though
of the smallest moment. Being in Portugal, before his voyage to the
Indies, he wrote not any letters to Rome, wherein he did not testisfy his
great desire to know what progress it made in Italy. Writing to the
Fathers, Le Gay, and Laynez, he says thus: "Since our rule is confirmed,
I earnestly desire to learn the names of those who are already received
into our order, and of such as are upon the point of being admitted. He
exhorts them, to thank the king of Portugal, for the design which his
majesty had to build a college, or a house for the Society: and we ought
to make this acknowlegment to the king," said he, "to engage him thereby
to begin the building."
The news which he received from Father Ignatius, and the other Fathers
who were at Rome, gave him infinite consolation. "I have received your
letters, which I expected with much impatience; and have received them
with that joy, which children ought to have in receiving some pleasing
news from their mother. In effect, I learn from them the prosperous
condition of all the Society, and the holy employments wherein you engage
yourselves without intermission." He could scarcely moderate his joy,
whensoever he thought on the establishment of the Society. Thus he wrote
from the Indies to Rome: "Amongst all the favours which I have received
from God in this present life, and which I receive daily, the most
signal, and most sensible, is to have heard that the institute of our
Society has been approved and confirmed by the authority of the Holy See
I give immortal thanks to Jesus Christ, that he has been pleased his
vicar should publicly establish the form of life, which he himself has
prescribed in private to his servant, our Father Ignatius."
But Xavier also wished nothing more, than to see the Society increased;
and he felt a redoubling of his joy, by the same proportion, when he had
notice of their gaining new houses in the East, or when he heard, from
Europe, of the foundation of new colleges.
To conclude, he had not less affection for the particular persons, who
were members of the Society, than for the body of it. His brethren were
ever present in his thoughts; and he thought it not enough to love them
barely, without a continual remembrance of them. "I carry about with me
(thus he writes to the Fathers at Rome) all your names, of your own
handwriting, in your letters; and I carry them together with the solemn
form of my profession." By which he signifies, not only how dear the sons
of the Society were to him, but also how much he esteemed the honour of
being one of their number.
The love which he bore to gospel-poverty, caused him to subsist on alms,
and to beg his bread from door to door, when he might have had a better
provision made for him. Being even in the college of Goa, which was well
endowed, he sought his livelihood without the walls, the more to conform
himself to the poverty of his blessed Saviour. He was always very meanly
clothed, and most commonly had so many patches on his cassock, that
the children of the idolaters derided him. He pieced up his tatters with
his own hand, and never changed his habit till it was worn to rags; at
least, if the honour of God, and the interest of religion, did not
otherwise oblige him. At his return from Japan to Malacca, where he was
received with so much honour, he wore on his back a torn cassock, and a
rusty old hat on his head.
The Portuguese, beholding him always so ill apparelled, often desired him
to give them leave to present him with a new habit; but seeing he would
not be persuaded, they once devised a way of stealing his cassock while
he was asleep. The trick succeeded, and Xavier, whose soul was wholly
intent on God, put on a new habit, which they had laid in the place of
his old garment, without discovering how they had served him. He passed
the whole day in the same ignorance of the cheat, and it was not till the
evening that he perceived it; for supping with Francis Payva, and other
Portuguese, who were privy to the matter,--"It is perhaps to do honour to
our table," said one amongst them, "that you are so spruce to-day, in
your new habit." Then, casting his eyes upon his clothes, he was much
surprised to find himself in so strange an equipage. At length, being
made sensible of the prank which they had played him, he told them,
smiling, "That it was no great wonder that this rich cassock, looking for
a master in the dark, could not see its way to somebody who deserved it
better."
As he lived most commonly amongst the poorer sort of Indians, who had
nothing to bestow, and who, for the most part, went naked, he enjoyed his
poverty without molestation. All his moveables were a mat, on which he
lay sometimes, and a little table, whereon were his writings, and some
little books, with a wooden crucifix, made of that which the Indians call
the wood of St Thomas.
He cheerfully underwent the greatest hardships of poverty; and, writing
from Japan to the Fathers of Goa, his words were these:--"Assist me, I
beseech you, my dear brethren, in acknowledging to Almighty God the
signal favour he has done me. I am at length arrived at Japan, where
there is an extreme scarcity of all things, which I place amongst the
greatest benefits of Providence."
Mortification is always the companion of poverty, in apostolical persons.
Xavier bore Constantly along with him the instruments of penance;
haircloth, chains of iron, and disciplines, pointed at the ends, and
exceeding sharp. He treated his flesh with great severity, by the same
motive which obliged St Paul, the apostle, to chastise his body, and to
reduce it into servitude, lest, having preached to other men, he might
himself become a reprobate.
At sea, the ship tackling served him for a bed; on land, a mat, or the
earth itself. He eat so little, that one of his companions assures us,
that, without a miracle, he could not have lived. Another tells us, that
he seldom or never drank wine, unless at the tables of the Portuguese;
for there he avoided singularity, and took what was given him. But,
afterwards, he revenged himself on one of those repasts, by an abstinence
of many days.
When he was at Cape Comorine, the viceroy; Don Alphonso de Sosa, sent him
two barrels of excellent wine. He did not once taste of it, though he
was then brought very low, through the labours of his ministry, but
distributed the whole amongst the poor.
His ordinary nourishment, in the Indies, was rice boiled in water, or
some little piece of salt fish; but during the two years and a half of
his residence in Japan, he totally abstained from fish, for the better
edification of that people; and wrote to the Fathers at Rome, "that he
would rather choose to die of hunger, than to give any man the least
occasion of scandal." He also says, "I count it for a signal favour, that
God has brought me into a country destitute of all the comforts of life,
and where, if I were so ill disposed, it would be impossible for me to
pamper up my body with delicious fare." He perpetually travelled, by
land, on foot, even in Japan, where the ways are asperous, and almost
impassible; and often walked, with naked feet, in the greatest severity
of winter.
"The hardships of so long a navigation," says he, "so long a sojourning
amongst the Gentiles, in a country parched up with excessive heats, all
these incommodities being suffered, as they ought to be, for the sake of
Christ, are truly an abundant source of consolations: for myself, I am
verily persuaded, that they, who love the cross of Jesus Christ, live
happy in the midst of sufferings; and that it is a death, when they have
no opportunities to suffer. For, can there be a more cruel death, than to
live without Jesus Christ, after once we have tasted of him? Is any thing
more hard, than to abandon him, that we may satisfy our own inclinations?
Believe me, there is no other cross which is to be compared to that. How
happy is it, on the other side, to live, in dying daily, and in
conquering our passions, to search after, not our proper interests, but
the interests of Jesus Christ?"
His interior mortification was the principle of these thoughts, in this
holy man; from the first years of his conversion, his study was to gain
an absolute conquest on himself; and he continued always to exhort others
not to suffer themselves to be hurried away by the fury of their natural
desires. He writes thus to the fathers and brethren of Coimbra, from
Malacca:--"I have always present, in my thoughts, what I have heard from
our holy Father Ignatius, that the true children of the Society of Jesus
ought to labour exceedingly in overcoming of themselves.
"If you search our Lord in the spirit of truth," says he to the Jesuits
of Goa, "and generously walk in those ways, which conduct you to him, the
spiritual delights, which you taste in his service, will sweeten all
those bitter agonies, which the conquest of yourselves will cost you. O
my God, how grossly stupid is mankind not to comprehend, that, by a faint
and cowardly resistance of the assaults of the devil, they deprive
themselves of the most pure and sincere delights which life can give
them."
By the daily practice of these maxims, Xavier came to be so absolute a
master of his passions, that he knew not what it was to have the least
motion of choler and impatience; and from thence proceeded partly, that
tranquillity of soul, that equality of countenance, that perpetual
cheerfulness, which rendered him so easy and so acceptable in all
companies.
It is natural for a man, who is extremely mortified, to be chaste; and so
was Xavier, to such a degree of perfection, that we have it certified
from his ghostly fathers, and, amongst others, from the vicar of
Meliapore, that he lived and died a virgin. From his youth upward he had
an extreme horror for impurity; notwithstanding, that he was of a
sanguine complexion, and naturally loved pleasure. While he was a student
at Paris, and dwelt in the college of Sainte Barbe, his tutor in
philosophy, who was a man lost in debauches, and who died of a dishonest
disease, carried his scholars by night to brothel-houses. The abominable
man did all he could towards the debauching of Francis Xavier, who was
handsome, and well shaped, but he could never accomplish his wicked
purpose; so much was the youth estranged from the uncleanness of all
fleshly pleasures.
For what remains, nothing can more clearly make out his love to purity,
than what happened to him once at Rome. Simon Rodriguez being fallen
sick, Father Ignatius commanded Xavier to take care of him during his
distemper. One night, the sick man awaking, saw Xavier, who was asleep at
his bed's feet, thrusting out his arms in a dream, with the action of one
who violently repels an enemy; he observed him even casting out blood in
great abundance, through his nostrils, and at his mouth. Xavier himself
awaking, with the labour of that struggling, Rodriguez enquired of him
the cause of that extreme agitation, and the gushing of his blood. Xavier
would not satisfy him at that time, and gave him no account of it, till
he was just upon his departure to the Indies; for then being urged anew
by Rodriguez, after he had obliged him to secrecy, "Know," said he, "my
brother, master Simon, that God, out of his wonderful mercy, has done me
the favour, to preserve me, even till this hour, in entire purity; and
that very night I dreamed, that, lodging at an inn, an impudent woman
would needs approach me: The motion of my arms was to thrust her from me,
and to get rid of her; and the blood, which I threw out, proceeded from
my agony."
But whatsoever detestation Xavier had, even for the shadow of a sin, he
was always diffident of himself; and withdrew from all conversation of
women, if charity obliged him not to take care of their conversion; and
even on such occasions, he kept all imaginable measures, never
entertaining them with discourse, unless in public places, and in sight
of all the world; nor speaking with them of ought, but what was
necessary, and then also sparing of his words, and with a grave, modest,
and serious countenance. He would say, "That, in general conversation, we
could not be too circumspect in our behaviour towards them; and that,
however pious the intentions of their confessors were, there still
remained more cause of fear to the directors in those entertainments,
than of hope, that any good should result from them to the
women-penitents."
Besides all this, he kept his senses curbed and recollected, examined his
conscience often every day, and daily confessed himself when he had the
convenience of a priest. By these means, he acquired such a purity of
soul and body, that they who were of his intimate acquaintance, have
declared, that they could never observe in him ought that was not within
the rules of the exactest decency.
In like manner, he never forgave himself the least miscarriage; and it is
incredible how far the tenderness of his conscience went on all
occasions. In that vessel which carried him from Lisbon to the Indies, a
child, who was of years which are capable of instruction, one day
happened to die suddenly: Xavier immediately inquired if the child had
been usually present at catechism, together with the ship's company? It
was answered in the negative; and at the same moment the man of God,
whose countenance commonly was cheerful, appeared extremely sad. The
viceroy, Alphonso de Sosa, soon observed it; and knowing the cause of his
affliction, asked the Father if he had any former knowledge that the
child came not to catechism? "If I had known it," replied Xavier, "I had
not failed to have brought him thither:" "But, why then," said the
viceroy, "are you thus disquieted for a thing you know not, and of which
you are no ways guilty?" "It is," replied the saint, "because I ought to
upbraid myself with it as a fault, that I was ignorant that any person,
who was embarked with me, wanted to be taught the Christian faith."
A body so chaste, and a mind so pure, could not have been but of one who
was faithfully devoted to the Holy Virgin. The saint honoured and loved
her all his life, with thoughts full of respect and tenderness. It was in
the church of Mont Martre, dedicated to the mother of God, and on the day
of her assumption, that he made his first vows. It was in that of Loretto
that he had his first inspiration, and conceived his first desires of
going to the Indies. He petitioned for nothing of our Lord, but by the
intercession of his mother; and in the exposition which he made of the
Christian doctrine, after addressing himself to Jesus to obtain the grace
of a lively and constant faith, he failed not of addressing himself to
Mary. He concluded all his instructions with the _Salve Regina_; he never
undertook any thing but under her protection; and in all dangers, he had
always recourse to the blessed Virgin as his patroness. For the rest, to
shew that he depended on her, and made his glory of that dependence, he
commonly wore a chaplet about his neck, to the end that Christians might
take delight in seeing the chaplet; and made frequent use of it in the
operation of his miracles.
When he passed whole nights at his devotions in churches, it was almost
always before the image of the Virgin, and especially he offered his vows
to her for the conversion of notorious sinners, and also for the
remission of his own offences; as himself testifies in a letter of his,
which shews not less his humility than his confidence in the intercession
of the blessed Virgin: "I have taken the Queen of Heaven for my
patroness, that, by her prayers I may obtain the pardon of my innumerable
sins." He was particularly devoted to her immaculate conception, and made
a vow to defend it to the utmost of his power.
In conversation he frequently spoke of the greatness of the blessed Mary,
and attracted all men to her service. In fine, being just upon the point
of drawing his last breath, he invoked her name with tender words, and
besought her to shew herself his mother.
These are the principal virtues which were collected, to be presented to
the Holy See. The archbishop of Goa, and all the bishops of India,
seconded the designs of the king of Portugal, by acting on their side
with the Pope, for the canonization of Xavier; but no one, in process of
time, solicited with more splendour than the king of Bungo.
This prince, who was upon the point of being converted when Xavier left
Japan, had no sooner lost the holy man, but he was regained by the
Bonzas, and fell into all the disorders of which a Pagan can be capable.
He confessed the Christian law to be the better; but said it was too
rigorous, and that a young prince, as he was, born in the midst of
pleasures, could not brook it. His luxury hindered him not from the love
of arms, nor from being very brave; and he was so fortunate in war, that
he reduced four or five kingdoms under his obedience. In the course of
all his victories, the last words which Father Francis had said to him,
concerning the vanity of the world, and the necessity of baptism, came
into his remembrance: he made serious reflections on them, and was so
deeply moved by them, that one day he appeared in public, with a chaplet
about his neck, as it were to make an open profession of Christianity.
The effects were correspondent to the appearances: he had two idols in
his palace of great value, which he worshipped every day, prostrating
himself before them with his forehead touching the ground; these images
he commanded to be thrown into the sea. After this, applying himself to
the exercises of piety and penitence, he totally renounced his sensual
pleasures, and was finally baptized by Father Cabira, of the Society of
Jesus. At his baptism he took the name of Francis, in memory of the holy
apostle Francis Xavier, whom he acknowledged for the Father of his soul,
and whom he called by that title during the remainder of his life.
The king of Bungo had hitherto been so fortunate, that his prosperity
passed into a proverb; but God was pleased to try him. Two months after
his baptism, the most considerable of his subjects entering into a solemn
league and covenant against him out of hatred to Christianity, and
joining with his neighbouring princes, defeated him in a pitched battle,
and despoiled him of all his estates. He endured his ill fortune with
great constancy; and when he was upbraided by the Gentiles, that the
change of his religion had been the cause of his ruin, he made a vow at
the foot of the altar to live and die a Christian; adding, by a holy
transport of zeal, that if all Japan, and all Europe, if the Father's
of the Society, and the Pope himself, should renounce our Saviour Jesus
Christ; yet, for his own particular, he would confess him to the last
gasp; and be always ready, with God's assistance, to shed his blood, in
testimony of his faith.
As the piety of this prince diminished nothing of his valour nor of his
conduct, having gathered up the remainder of his troops, he restored
himself by degrees, partly by force of arms, and partly by amicable ways
of treaty. His principal care, after his re-establishment, was to banish
idolatry out of his estates, and to restore the Catholic religion. His
devotion led him to send a solemn embassy to Pope Gregory XIII. who at
that time governed the church. Don Mancio, his ambassador, being arrived
at Rome, with those of the king of Arima, and the prince of Omura, was
not satisfied with bringing the obedience of the king, his master, to the
vicar of Jesus Christ, by presenting him the letters of Don Francis, full
of submission and respect to the Holy See; but he also petitioned him, in
the name of his sovereign, to place the apostle of Japan amongst those
saints whom the faithful honour; and declared to his Holiness, "That he
could not do a greater favour to the king of Bungo."
In the mean time, the memory of Xavier was venerated more than ever
through all Asia. An ambassador from the great Mogul being come to Goa,
to desire some Fathers of the Society might be sent to explain the
mysteries of Christianity to that emperor, asked permission to see the
body of Father Francis; but he durst not approach it till first himself
and all his train had taken off their shoes; after which ceremony, all of
them having many times bowed themselves to the very ground, paid their
respects to the saint with as much devotion as if they had not been
Mahometans. The ships which passed in sight of Sancian saluted the place
of his death with all their cannon: sometimes they landed on the island,
only to view the spot of earth where he had been buried for two months
and a half, and to bear away a turf of that holy ground; insomuch, that
the Chinese entering into a belief, that there was some hidden treasure
in the place, set guards of soldiers round about it to hinder it from
being taken thence. One of the new Indian converts, and of the most
devoted to the man of God, not content with seeing the place of his
death, had also the curiosity to view that of his nativity; insomuch,
that travelling through a vast extent of land, and passing through
immense oceans, he arrived at the castle of Xavier: entering into the
chamber where the saint was born, he fell upon his knees, and with great
devotion kissed the floor, which he watered also with his tears. After
this, without farther thought, or desire of seeing any thing besides in
Europe, he took his way backwards to the Indies; and counted for a mighty
treasure a little piece of stone, which he had loosened from the walls of
the chamber, and carried away with him in the nature of a relick.
For what remains, a series of miracles was blazed abroad in all places.
Five or six passengers, who had set sail from Malacca towards China, in
the ship of Benedict Coeglio, fell sick, even to the point of death. So
soon as they were set on shore at Sancian, they caused themselves to be
carried to the meadow, where Xavier had been first interred; and there
having covered their heads with that earth which once had touched his
holy body, they were perfectly cured upon the spot.
Xavier appeared to divers people on the coast of Travancore, and that of
Fishery; sometimes to heal them, or to comfort them in the agonies of
death; at other times to deliver the prisoners, and to reduce sinners
into the ways of heaven.
His name was propitious on the seas, in the most evident dangers. The
ship of Emanuel de Sylva, going from Cochin, and having taken the way of
Bengal, in the midst of the gulph there arose so furious a tempest, that
they were constrained to cut the mast, and throw all the merchandizes
overboard; when nothing less than shipwreck was expected, they all
implored the aid of the apostle of the Indies, Francis Xavier. At the
same instant, a wave, which was rolling on, and ready to break over the
ship, like some vast mountain, went backward on the sudden, and
dissipated into foam. The seamen and passengers, at the sight of so
manifest a miracle, invoked the saint with loud voices, still as the
tempest grew upon them; and the billows failed not of retiring always at
the name of Xavier; but whenever they ceased from calling on him, the
waves outrageously swelled, and beat the ship on every side.
It may almost be said, that the saint in person wrought these miracles;
but it is inconceivable, how many were performed by the subscriptions of
his letters, by the beads of his chaplet, by the pieces of his garments,
and, finally, by every thing which had once been any way appertaining to
him.
The crosses which he had erected with his own hand on sundry coasts, to
be seen from far by mariners and travellers, were loaded with the vows
and gifts, which Christians, Saracens, and Idolaters, had fastened to
them daily, in acknowledgment of favours which they had received, through
the intercession of the holy man. But the most celebrated of those
crosses, was that at Cotata, whereon an image of Xavier was placed. A
blind man received sight, by embracing of that cross; two sick men were
cured on the instant, one of which, who was aged, had a settled palsy,
and the other was dying of a bloody flux. Copies were made of that
miraculous image at Cotata; and Gasper Gonçalez brought one of them to
Cochin. It was eleven of the clock at night when he entered into the
port: an hour afterwards, the house of Christopher Miranda, adjoining to
that of Gonçalez, happened to be on fire. The north-wind then blowing,
and the building being almost all of wood, the burning began with mighty
rage, and immediately a maid belonging to the house was burned. The
neighbours, awakened with the cries of fire, cast their goods out at the
windows in confusion; there being no probability of preserving the
houses, because that of Miranda was the highest, and the burning coals
which flew out on every side, together with the flames, which were driven
by the wind, fell on the tops of the houses, that were only covered with
bows of palm-trees, dry, and easy to take fire. In this extremity of
danger, Gonçalez bethought himself of the holy image which he had
brought; falling on his knees, accompanied by all his domestic servants,
he held it upwards to the flames, and invoked Father Francis to his
assistance. At the same instant the fire was extinguished of itself;
and the town in this manner preserved from desolation, when it was ready
to be burned to ashes.
A medal, which had on one side the image of the saint, and on the other
that of the Holy Virgin holding the little Jesus, wrought yet more
admirable effects. It was in the possession of a virtuous widow of
Cochin, born at Tamuzay in China, and named Lucy de Vellanzan, who had
formerly been instructed at Malacca in the mysteries of faith by Xavier
himself; and who was aged an hundred and twenty years, when she was
juridically interrogated, concerning the miracles which had been wrought
by her medal. All infirm persons, who came to Lucy, received their cure
so soon as she had made the sign of the cross with her medal over them;
or when she had sprinkled them with water, wherein the medal had been
dipt; in saying only these words, "In the name of Jesus, and of Father
Francis, be your health restored."
"I have seen many," says an eye-witness, "who have been cured on the
instant, by being only touched with that medal: Some, who being only
putrified, ejected through the nose corrupted flesh, and matter of a most
offensive scent; others, who were reduced to the meagerness of skeletons,
by consumptions of many years; but the most celebrated cures, were those
of Gonsalvo Rodriguez, Mary Dias, and Emanuel Fernandez Figheredo."
Rodriguez had a great imposthume on the left side, very near the heart,
which had been breeding many months. The chirurgeons, for fear of
exasperating the malady, by making an incision in so dangerous a part,
endeavoured to dry up the humour, by applying other remedies; but the
imposthume degenerated into a cancer, which gave the patient intolerable
pains, and made him heart and stomach sick. Rodriguez having notice given
him, what wonders were wrought by the Chinese Christian, by means of the
medal of Father Xavier, went immediately to her, and kneeled before her.
The Chinese only touched him thrice, and made the sign of the cross over
him, according to her custom, and at the same moment the cancer vanished;
the flesh returned to its natural colour, on the part where the ulcer had
been formerly, and Rodriguez found himself as well as if nothing had ever
ailed him.
Mary Dias was not only blind, but taken with the palsy over half her
body, on the right side of it; so that her arm hung dead from her
shoulder, and she had only the use of one leg: despairing of all natural
remedies, she caused herself to be conveyed to Lucy's lodgings. The
hospitable widow kept her in her house for the space of seven days; and
washed her every of those days with the water wherein the medal had been
dipt. On the seventh day, she made the sign of the cross over the eyes of
the patient with the medal itself, and then Dias recovered her sight; her
palsy, in like manner, left her, so that she was able to walk alone to
the church of the Society, where she left her crutches.
As for Emanuel Gonçalez Figheredo, both his legs, for a long time, had
been covered with ulcers, and were become so rotten, that worms were
continually crawling out of them. The physicians, to divert the humours,
put in practice all the secrets of their art, but without effect; on the
contrary, the sinews were so shrunk up on one side, that one leg was
shorter than the other. And for the last addition of misfortunes,
Figheredo was seized with so terrible a lask, that, in a man of
threescore years old, as he was, it was judged mortal. In effect, it had
been so, but that he had immediate recourse to the medal of Xavier; he
drank of the water wherein it had been dipped, after which he was
entirely cured both of his ulcers and his disentery.
But that which was daily seen at Goa, blotted out the memory of the
greatest prodigies which were done elsewhere. The body of the saint
perpetually entire, the flesh tender, and of a lively colour, was a
continued miracle. They who beheld the sacred corpse, could scarcely
believe that the soul was separated from it; and Dias Carvaglio, who had
known Xavier particularly in his life, seeing his body many years after
he had been dead, found the features of his face so lively, and every
part of him so fresh, that he could not forbear to cry out, and repeat it
often, "Ah, he is alive!"
The vicar-general of Goa, Ambrosia Ribera, would himself examine, if the
inwards were corresponding to the outward appearances. Having thrust his
finger into the hurt which they gave the saint, when they interred him at
Malacca, he saw blood and water issue out of it. The same experiment
happened at another time to a brother of the Society.
The saint was one day publicly exposed, with his feet bare, at the
importunity of the people, who through devotion petitioned to kiss them.
A woman, who passionately desired to have a relick of Xavier, drawing
near, as if it were to have kissed his foot, fastened her teeth in it,
and bit off a little piece of flesh. The blood immediately ran in great
abundance out of it; and of so pure a crimson, that the most healthful
bodies could not send out a more living colour. The physicians, who
visited the corpse from time to time, and who always deposed, that there
could be nothing of natural in what they saw, judged, that the blood
which came from a body deprived of heat, and issued from a part so
distant from the heart as is the foot, could be no other than the effect
of a celestial virtue; which not only preserved all parts of it from
putrefaction, but also caused the humours to flow, and maintained them in
the motion which only life infuses in them.
So many wonders, which spread through all the East, and were transmitted
into every part of Europe, so moved the heart of Paul V. that he finally
performed what his predecessor had designed. After a juridical examen of
the virtues and miracles above-mentioned, he declared beatified Francis
Xavier, priest of the Society of Jesus, by an express bull, dated the
25th of October, in the year 1619.
Gregory XV., who immediately succeeded Pope Paul V., canonized him
afterwards in all the forms, and with all the procedures, which the
church observes on the like occasions. The ceremony was performed at Rome
on the 12th of March, in the year 1622. But as death prevented him from
making the bull of the canonization, it was his successor Urban VIII. who
finally accomplished it.
This bull bearing date the 6th of August, in the year 1623, is an epitome
and panegyric of the miraculous life of the saint. It is there said,
"That the new apostle of the Indies has spiritually received the blessing
which God vouchsafed to the patriarch Abraham, that he was the father of
many nations; and that he saw his children in Jesus Christ multiplied
beyond the stars of heaven, and the sands of the sea: That, for the rest,
his apostleship has had the signs of a divine vocation, such as are the
gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of miracles, with the
evangelical virtues in all perfection."
The bull reports almost all the miracles which we have seen in his life,
particularly the resurrections of the dead; and, amongst other miraculous
cures, which were wrought after his decease, it observes those of
Gonsalvo Fernandez, Mary Bias, and Emanuel Rodriguez Figheredo. It also
mentions two famous cures, of which we have said nothing. One is of a
blind man, who having prayed to God nine days successively, by the order
of Xavier, who appeared to him, instantly recovered his sight. The other
was of a leper, who being anointed, and rubbed over, with the oil of a
lamp, which burned before the image of Xavier, was entirely cured. The
Pope has added in his bull, "That the lamps which hung before the image,
which was venerated at Cotata, often burned with holy-water, as if they
had been full of oil, to the great astonishment of the heathens." The
other miracles which we have related, and which are omitted in the bull,
are contained in the acts of the process of the canonization.
Since the time that the Holy See has placed the apostle of the Indies in
the number of the saints, it is incredible how much the public devotion
has every where been augmented towards him. Cities have taken him for
their patron and protector; altars have been erected, and incessant vows
have been made to him; men have visited his tomb with more devotion than
ever; and the chamber wherein he was born, has been converted into a
chapel, to which pilgrims have resorted in great crowds, from all the
quarters of the world.
For the rest, it was not in vain that they invoked him; and if I should
take upon me to relate the miracles which have been lately done through
his intercession, they would take up another volume as large as this.
Neither shall I go about to make a recital of what things were wrought in
succeeding years at Potamo, and Naples; but shall content myself to say,
that in those places God was pleased to honour his servant by the
performance of such wonders as might seem incredible, if those which
preceded had not accustomed us to believe all things of St Xavier.
I shall even forbear to speak of the famous Father Mastrilli, who, being
in the agony of death, was cured on the instant by the saint; and who,
going to Japan by the order of the saint himself, to be there martyred,
built him a magnificent sepulchre at Goa. It is enough for us to know,
that never saint has been, perhaps, more honoured, nor more loved, in the
church, than St Francis Xavier; and that even the enemies of the Society
of Jesus have had a veneration and tenderness for him.
But these opinions are not confined to Catholics alone; the very heretics
revere Xavier, and Baldeus speaks of him in these terms, in his History
of the Indies: "If the religion of Xavier agreed with ours, we ought to
esteem and reverence him as another St Paul; yet, notwithstanding the
difference of religion, his zeal, his vigilance, and the sanctity of his
manners, ought to stir up all good men, not to do the work of God
negligently; for the gifts which Xavier had received, to execute the
office of a minister and ambassador of Jesus Christ, were so eminent,
that my soul is not able to express them. If I consider the patience and
sweetness wherewith he presented, both to great and small, the holy and
living waters of the gospel; if I regard the courage wherewith he
suffered injuries and affronts; I am forced to cry out, with the apostle,
Who is capable, like him, of these wonderful things!" Baldeus concludes
the panegyric of the saint, with an apostrophe to the saint himself:
"Might it please Almighty God," says he, "that being what you have been,
you had been, or would have been, one of ours."
Richard Hackluyt, also a Protestant, and, which is more, a minister of
England, commends Xavier without restriction:[1] "Sancian," says he, "is
an island in the confines of China, and near the port of Canton, famous
for the death of Francis Xavier, that worthy preacher of the gospel, and
that divine teacher of the Indians, in what concerns religion; who, after
great labours, after many injuries, and infinite crosses, undergone with
great patience and joy, died in a cabin, on a desart mountain, on the
second of September, in the year 1552, destitute of all worldly
conveniences, but accumulated with all sorts of spiritual blessings;
having first made known Jesus Christ to many thousands of those Eastern
people."[2] The modern histories of the Indies are filled with the
excellent virtues, and miraculous operations, of that holy man.
[Footnote 1: "The principal Navigations, Voyages, Discoveries, &c. of the
English, &c." second part of the second volume.]
[Footnote 2: The reader is referred to the original English for the words
themselves; the translator not having the work by him.]
Monsieur Tavernier, who is endued with all the probity which a man can
have, without the true religion, makes a step farther than these two
historians, and speaks like a Catholic: "St Francis Xavier," says he,
"ended in this place his mission, together with his life, after he had
established the Christian faith, with an admirable progress in all places
through which he passed, not only by his zeal, but also by his example,
and by the holiness of his manners. He had never been in China, but there
is great probability, that the religion which he had established in the
isle of Niphon, extended itself into the neighbouring countries; and
multiplyed by the cares of that holy man, who by a just title may be
called the St Paul and true apostle of the Indies."
As to what remains, if Xavier was endued with all apostolical virtues,
does it not follow, that the religion which he preached, was that of the
apostles? Is there the least appearance, that a man, who was chosen by
God to destroy idolatry and impiety in the new world, should be himself
an idolater and a wicked man, in adoring Jesus Christ upon the altars, in
invoking of the Holy Virgin, in engaging himself to God by vows, in
desiring indulgences from the Pope, in using the sign of the cross and
holy-water for the cure of the sick, in praying and saying masses for the
dead? in fine, is it possible to believe, that this holy man, this new
apostle, this second St Paul, continued all his life in the way of
perdition, and, instead of enjoying at this present time the happiness of
the saints, endures the torments of the damned? Let us then pronounce,
concluding this work as we began it, that the life of St Francis Xavier
is an authentic testimony of the truth of the gospel; and that we cannot
strictly observe what God has wrought by the ministry of his servant,
without a full satisfaction in this point, that the catholic, apostolic,
and Roman church, is the church of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
END OF THE SIXTEENTH VOLUME.
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