The Letters and Instructions of Francis Xavier

by Francisco Javier, M. Joseph Costelloe (Translator)

From the publisher:

"One of Ignatius of Loyola’s first companions and followers, Francis Xavier (1506–52) was also one of the most influential missionaries in the history of the Society of Jesus. “His major achievement was to consolidate and spread the Christian faith in India and…the Indonesian archipelago, and to introduce Christianity to the newly discovered islands of Japan,” M. Joseph Costelloe, S.J., writes in his introduction to this volume. Fr. Costelloe, who translated this work as well as Georg Schurhammer’s definitive, four–volume Francis Xavier: His Life, His Times (Rome: Jesuit Historical Institute, 1973), assembles 138 letters and documents in The Letters and Instructions of Francis Xavier. The letters, which detail his journey and work throughout Asia, were widely circulated in Europe, where they were celebrated for their scholarship on other cultures and for what poet John Dryden called their 'glowing with the love of God.'"

488 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Francis Xavier, S.J. was a Navarrese Catholic missionary who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus.

Born in Javier (Xavier in Navarro-Aragonese or Xabier in Basque), Kingdom of Navarre (in present day Spain), he was a companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris, in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India. The Goa Inquisition was proposed by St. Francis Xavier. He also was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his missionary preaching to China when he died on Shangchuan Island.

He was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. In 1624 he was made co-patron of Navarre. Known as the "Apostle of the Indies" and "Apostle of Japan", he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since Saint Paul. In 1927, Pope Pius XI published the decree "Apostolicorum in Missionibus" naming Saint Francis Xavier, along with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, co-patron of all foreign missions. He is now co-patron saint of Navarre with San Fermin. The Day of Navarre in Navarre, Spain, marks nowadays the anniversary of Saint Francis Xavier's death, on 3 December 1552.