Junior Report 3 min read
The big question · ROME, October 10, 1549 AD
Letter chases St. Francis Xavier across Asia for two years
Saint Ignatius of Loyola put St. Francis Xavier in charge in India, but his friend had just sailed for Japan.
About this picture
AI-generated image, in the manner of the Portuguese painters of c. 1620, based on The stormy voyage of St. Francis Xavier after leaving Japan (André Reinoso and collaborator, c. 1619, Museu de São Roque, Lisbon) View source artwork.
ROME, October 10, 1549 AD — Saint Ignatius of Loyola signed an order about India in Rome on October 10, 1549 AD. He was the head of the Jesuits. His order made India a Jesuit province. It put his old friend, Saint Francis Xavier, in charge as the Provincial.
Every Jesuit in India and in the lands east of it now belonged to the new province.
But St. Francis Xavier wasn’t in India. He was forty-three, and two months earlier he’d landed at Kagoshima, in the south of Japan.
One ship a year
In 1549 AD a letter couldn’t travel faster than the ship carrying it. The big Portuguese ships to India sailed together from Lisbon once a year.
St. Francis Xavier knew how long that voyage took, because he’d made it. In 1540 AD he travelled from Rome to Lisbon in about three months. Then he waited nine months there for the ships.
He sailed on April 7, 1541 AD. His ship reached Mozambique, an island off the coast of Africa, too late in the year to cross to India. It stayed there for the winter. On May 6, 1542 AD, St. Francis Xavier finally landed at Goa in India. That was thirteen months after he left Lisbon.
Letters from India to Europe went by ship too. St. Francis Xavier wrote to St. Ignatius every year, usually in January, from the port of Cochin. In January 1545 AD St. Francis Xavier wrote to St. Ignatius: “It is four years since we sailed from Portugal, and during this interval I have received from you one letter and no more.” St. Francis Xavier was sure St. Ignatius wrote to him every year too. He was afraid the letters were getting lost both ways.
An address in Malacca
Japan lay even farther east, past Malacca, a Portuguese port. In April 1549 AD St. Francis Xavier sailed from Goa. He reached Malacca at the end of May. No Portuguese ship there was ready to go to Japan. He left on June 24 on a Chinese merchant’s ship instead, and landed at Kagoshima on August 15.
From Japan, St. Francis Xavier made sure his mail could find him. On November 5, 1549 AD, he wrote from Kagoshima to the Jesuits at Goa. He told them what to do if no more Jesuit priests sailed to Japan that year. Letters for him from Portugal or Rome should be sent to Malacca, to Father Francisco Pérez, the Jesuit there.
On November 20, 1551 AD, St. Francis Xavier left Japan and sailed for India. On the way he stopped at Malacca. A letter from St. Ignatius was waiting for him there. The order of October 10, 1549 AD came with it. It had taken more than two years to find him.
St. Ignatius had ended the letter with the words “Yours entirely, so that no length of time will ever be able to make me forget you, Ignatius.” St. Francis Xavier cried when he read them.
He reached Cochin on January 24, 1552 AD, just in time for the ships to Portugal. Five days later he wrote back to St. Ignatius. He told St. Ignatius that he cried again as he wrote those words out. About being put in charge, St. Francis Xavier wrote: “I ought rather to have hoped to be placed under the care and authority of my brothers, than to be charged with directing them.”
In April 1552 AD St. Francis Xavier sailed from Goa again, this time for China. On June 28, 1553 AD, St. Ignatius wrote to him again. He ordered St. Francis Xavier to come back to Portugal “with the first opportunity”. St. Ignatius wanted him to talk to the king of Portugal in person about the work in the East. He also wanted him to tell the Pope how things stood in India.
By then St. Francis Xavier had been dead for nearly seven months. He died on December 2, 1552 AD. He was on the island of Sancian, off the coast of China.
About this story
Catholic Saints News tells the lives of the saints as news from their own time and place. This story was written with AI from the historical record, and we read and approved it before it ran.
The Saints' words. This newspaper will never make a saint say something the historical record does not preserve.
Junior Report. Written for readers ten to twelve, from the same sources and under the same rules as the rest of the paper. The words are shorter, hard terms are explained, and the question at the end is for the reader to think over.
Read more
- · Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, vol. 2 (Internet Archive)
- · Dominique Bouhours, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, trans. John Dryden (Project Gutenberg)
Image. AI-generated image, in the manner of the Portuguese painters of c. 1620, based on The stormy voyage of St. Francis Xavier after leaving Japan (André Reinoso and collaborator, c. 1619, Museu de São Roque, Lisbon) — see the original.
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Sources for this story
Listed by paragraph.
- Paragraph 1
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER IV., p. 102 ¶59
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK VI. ¶7
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909)
- Paragraph 2
- Paragraph 3
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), 3. A cien legoas de Mallaca, camino de la China, tomamos, p. 90 ¶38
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), SOCIIS IN EUROPA DEGENTIBUS, p. 100 ¶6
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 54 ¶25
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶14
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER III., p. 102 ¶92
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, CÓMO EL P. MAESTRO FRANCISCO FUÉ A JAPÓN Y DE LO QUE, p. 91 ¶26
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK IV. ¶208
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK I. ¶5
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶9
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 1 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER I., p. 7 ¶37
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST, FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 30 ¶2
- documented Pope Urban VIII, completing the canonization proclaimed by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622, Bulla canonizationis beati Francisci Xaverii (Rationi congruit), 6 August 1623 — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, monument 50, AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM, p. 50 ¶9
- documented Ecclesiastical inquiry of the diocese of Pamplona; witnesses as named; ed. Monumenta Historica S.I., Processus Pampilonensis — the canonization inquiry at Pamplona (Navarre), 1614–15, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, ARTÍCULOS DEL RÓTULO, p. 652 ¶1
- Paragraph 4
- Paragraph 5
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST, FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 36 ¶32
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶10
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, VIDA DEL BIENAUENTURADO PADRE, p. 832 ¶71
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, PRIMERA PARTE, p. 3 ¶21
- Paragraph 6
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, DE CÓMO EL P. MAESTRO FRANCISCO FUÉ Á LA INDIA Y DE LO QUE, p. 14 ¶2
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, VIDA DEL BIENAUENTURADO PADRE, p. 836 ¶87
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST, FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 39 ¶38
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶11
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 1 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER III., p. 101 ¶290
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK I. ¶136
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, VIDA DEL BIENAUENTURADO PADRE, p. 838 ¶90
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, VIDA DEL BIENAUENTURADO PADRE, p. 838 ¶92
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST, FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 39 ¶40
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), 6. De Maganbique á Goa pusimos más de dos messes: pasa-, p. 256 ¶48
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 840 ¶4
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, I, p. 19 ¶7
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 1 (one work in two parts), I IO, p. 112 ¶29
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK II. ¶36
- documented Ecclesiastical inquiry at Goa under the governor's letters patent; witnesses as named; ed. Monumenta Historica S.I., Processus Goanus — the canonization inquiry at Goa, 1556–57 (Portuguese original and contemporary Latin version), Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, monuments 24–25, PROCESSUS GOANUS, p. 178 ¶104
- Paragraph 7
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts)
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 47, Cochin, 27 January 1545, ¶3
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 1 (one work in two parts)
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 47 ¶3
- Paragraph 8
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), REGIMENTO QUE O B. P. FRANCISCO, p. 859 ¶8
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), 21. A conversao dos infles daréis todo o tempo que poder-, p. 881 ¶33
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 874 ¶150
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, CÓMO EL P. MAESTRO FRANCISCO FUÉ A JAPÓN Y DE LO QUE, p. 88 ¶9
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER IV., p. 94 ¶180
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK IV. ¶185
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), PP. IGNATIO DE LOYOLA, SIMONI RODRIGUES, p. 537 ¶14
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), 9. Quando chegarmos a Japáo vamos determinados de hir, p. 537 ¶20
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), I. Quoniam Regiis isthinc missis literis iussisti me, Domi-, p. 570 ¶7
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER V., p. 94 ¶13
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), SOCIIS GOAE DEGENTIBUS, p. 90 ¶5
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), LEMBRANQA QUE O B. P. FRANCISCO XAVIER, HINDO PERA JAPÁO,, p. 886 ¶14
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 877 ¶170
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK IV. ¶205
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), 3. A cien legoas de Mallaca, camino de la China, tomamos, p. 90 ¶38
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), SOCIIS IN EUROPA DEGENTIBUS, p. 100 ¶6
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 54 ¶25
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶14
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER III., p. 102 ¶92
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, CÓMO EL P. MAESTRO FRANCISCO FUÉ A JAPÓN Y DE LO QUE, p. 91 ¶26
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK IV. ¶208
- Paragraph 9
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only)
- Paragraph 10
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK V. ¶163
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 65 ¶63
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER III., p. 102 ¶86
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 879 ¶184
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, PARA TORNAR Á GOA, p. 140 ¶12
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 99 ¶1
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER IV., p. 102 ¶59
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK VI. ¶7
- Paragraph 11
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 99, Cochin, 29 January 1552, ¶1–2
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts)
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 99 ¶1
- Paragraph 12
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), MONUMENTA XAVERIANA, p. 672 ¶12
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), P. SIMONI RODRIGUES, IN LUSITANIAM, p. 48 ¶6
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK V. ¶186
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FEANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 68 ¶4
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), CHAPTER III., p. 102 ¶149
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 99 ¶1
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), Epist. 99, Cochin, 29 January 1552, ¶1–2
- Paragraph 13
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK VI. ¶24
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, C., p. 71 ¶1
- documented Francis Xavier; ed. Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (Madrid: A. Avrial), Sancti Francisci Xaverii epistolae aliaque scripta — the letters of St. Francis Xavier in the original, Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1 (letters section only), P. GASPARI BARZAEO, GOAM, p. 114 ¶8
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 886 ¶216
- attested Alessandro Valignano SJ, Historia del principio y progresso de la Compañía de Jesús en las Indias Orientales, Book I (the life of Xavier), as printed at the head of Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 1, CÓMO EL P. MAESTRO FRANCISCO FUÉ DE GOA Á MALACA,, p. 144 ¶13
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶15
- attested Dominique Bouhours SJ; trans. John Dryden; ed. Walter Scott, The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of the Indies, and of Japan — Bouhours trans. Dryden (Works of John Dryden, ed. Scott, vol. 16), BOOK VI. ¶209
- Paragraph 14
- documented Pope Urban VIII, completing the canonization proclaimed by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622, Bulla canonizationis beati Francisci Xaverii (Rationi congruit), 6 August 1623 — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, monument 50, AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM, p. 50 ¶45
- attested Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. 12 (December) — St. Francis Xavier, 3 December, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, C,, p. 78 ¶2
- attested Antonio Astrain SJ, St. Francis Xavier — The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1909), ¶9
- attested Henry James Coleridge SJ, The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, volume 2 (one work in two parts), Letter to Diego Perelra. 563, p. 433 ¶42
- attested Manuel Teixeira SJ, Vida del bienauenturado Padre Francisco Xauier religioso de la Compañía de Jesvs — Monumenta Xaveriana vol. 2, SEGUNDA PARTE, p. 896 ¶260
- documented Catholic Church, The Roman Martyrology (English, from the 1914 typical edition) — entries for 2 and 3 December, ¶7
