Mass to celebrate 500th anniversary of birth of St. Francis Xavier

By Mary Ann Wyand

Asian Indian Catholics will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary and the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, during a Mass on Dec. 2 at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, 1347 N. Meridian St., in Indianapolis.

The public is invited to join the Asian Indian Catholics for the 6:30 p.m. liturgy, which will feature traditional songs, customs and clothing from India.

Capuchin Franciscan Father Bernard Varghese, who is in residence at St. Louis Parish in Batesville, will be the celebrant.

A reception with Asian Indian cuisine will follow the Mass.

St. Francis Xavier was born in Javier, Spain, in 1506 and as a Jesuit priest helped evangelize part of Asia, including what is now India. Tradition has it that St. Thomas the Apostle brought the Catholic faith to India during the first century and St. Francis Xavier brought about a second wave of evangelization there in the 16th century.

St. Monica parishioner Philomena “Jessie” Dias of Indianapolis, who is a native of India and a member of the archdiocesan Multicultural Ministry Commission, said she learned about the saint’s anniversary from Father Kenneth Taylor, director of Multicultural Ministry for the archdiocese and pastor of Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis.

“Father Taylor brought the St. Francis Xavier jubilee … to my attention after he attended the first Asian Pacific Bishops’ Conference in Arlington, Va., this past summer,” Dias said. “We hold this liturgy first in gratitude to the second wave of evangelism by St. Francis Xavier, and secondly to invite all Catholics in the Indianapolis Archdiocese to imitate St. Francis Xavier and heed the [U.S. bishops’] call to ‘Go and make disciples.’ ”

Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general, said he thinks St. Francis Xavier was named patron of the archdiocese by the Church “as a result of the French settlers who first came to the Vincennes area and the Jesuit missionaries they brought with them.”

He said the Holy See established the Diocese of Quebec, Canada, in 1674 and the diocese included Indiana at the time. The first settlers and missionaries were predominately French.

“Records seem to indicate that the first Catholic Mass was celebrated along the lower Wabash River in 1702,” Msgr. Schaedel explained. “By 1732, the property was purchased for what is now the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Vincennes. In 1749, the parish began when sacramental and financial records began to be kept there.”

He said the early Jesuits who ministered in this region no doubt had a devotion to their “own” St. Francis Xavier.

“I think it was through that influence that the first church in the area came to be named under his patronage, hence [he later became] the patron of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Msgr. Schaedel said. “St. Francis Xavier is also the patron of the Dioceses of Joliet, Ill.; Alexandria, La.; and Green Bay, Wis. Each [diocese] had early French settlers accompanied by Jesuit missionaries.”

St. Francis Xavier preached in India and died in China, Msgr. Schaedel said. “Now we have several priests and sisters from India serving in the archdiocese.” †