Feast for CPPS
Memorial for ASC

Born in 1506 in Navarre (Spain), he came to know Saint Ignatius of Loyola while at the Sorbonne University of Paris. Ordained a priest in 1537 in Venice, he began his ministry in Rome. At the request of the King of Portugal, in 1541 he was sent a missionary to India; he began the journey with a crucifix, a breviary and a few personal belongings. At Goa he began his ministry for the sick, the poor and young people who called him the “big Father.” He managed to face all difficulties believing that “trust in God is a good antidote.” He went to Japan as well, where, with no knowledge of the language and customs, converted a small group of people to whom he referred as the “delight of my soul.” His dream to evangelize China vanished due to his death, in 1552 on the island of Sancian, while he was waiting to embark. In 1622, Pope Gregory XV declared him a saint. Saint Gaspar del Bufalo, preserved from blindness in his infancy through the intercession of Saint Francis, nourished such a devotion toward the great missionary as to make him his life’s model and patron of his missionary congregation. Saint Maria De Mattias also wanted “the glorious Saint Francis Xavier Protector of her Institute”, as she wrote in the Rules of 1838 and 1857. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ continue to nourish a filial devotion and to invoke him as their Patron.

Liturgy of the Hours