Francis Xavier was born on 7 April 1506, and after meeting Ignatius Loyola and Pierre Favre in Paris, he became one of the seven men who took vows at Montmartre in 1534 - an event which led to the founding of the Society of Jesus.

After working among the poor in Italy, he sailed for the Far East in 1541.  For the next fourteen years, Francis brought the Gospel to India, Japan and other parts of Asia, and is recognised as the greatest Christian missionary since St Paul.

He died on the island of Sancian near China on 2 December 1556.

 The amazing mission of an amazing saint

 more about the life of St Francis Xavier from sjweb.info

 Jesuit missions today