ST. FRANCIS XAVIER: Apostle of the East.

London 1931, Sheed. Red cloth, very good, 325p., b.w. map, bibliography, clean & solid copy, 13 x 19 cm. FIRST EDITION *** *** *** . . . EXCELLENT BIOGRAPHY OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER . . . THE FIRST JESUIT MISSIONARY TO JAPAN . . *** The biography of the first Jesuit missionary to go to Japan in the 16th century. The adventurous life of the Apostle, who visited Japan, India, Malacca, and the Indies. The story of his amazing achievement and apparent failures. . *** Vivid descriptions of his university life, early days of the Society of Jesus, the Portuguese at Goa, of Japanese institutions & manners. His work at Hirado, Kyoto, Yamaguchi & first visit to Kagoshima. An excellent study and insight to the extraordinary man of strength. . *** St. Francis Xavier [April 7, 1506 -December 2, 1552] was a pioneering Roman Catholic Christian missionary and the celebrated co-founder of the Society of Jesus [Jesuit Order]. The Roman Catholic Church considers him to have converted more people to Christianity than anyone else since St. Paul. . *** His legacy: St. Francis Xavier is noteworthy for his missionary work, both as organizer and as pioneer. By his compromises in India with the Christians of St. Thomas, he developed the Jesuit missionary methods along lines that subsequently became a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India and by being one of the first Jesuit missionary to East India, his work is of fundamental significance with regard to the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan. . *** His Death: On November 21, he fainted after celebrating Mass. He died on the island on December 3, 1552, at age 46, without having reached mainland China. . *** He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan island. His intact body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on March 22, 1553. An open grave in the church now marks the place of Xavier's burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house. . *** On December 11, 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body, having resisted extensive decay, is now in the Basilica of Bom Jésus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637. Today, the silver casket has been removed, exposing the glass and leaving the body visible, though it is raised up on a high mausoleum. The glass container is lowered for public viewing only during the public exposition which occurs for a duration of 6 weeks every 10 years, the most recent of which took place in 2004. There is a debate as to how the body could have remained incorrupt for so long. . *** Parts of the above were cited from Wikipedia. * .