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what are you looking at don't tell me

you've never seen a crab before okay

you're not looking at me you're looking

at my back so what's wrong with it huh

oh this well let me tell you something

my friend this is no tattoo

this happens to be a sacred sign you see

I belong to that very special species of

crab found in the islands of the

Moluccas that's in Indonesia in case you

don't know they pay a lot to hook

somebody like me 500 new business this

cross was a gift from a gentleman who

came here centuries and centuries ago he

travelled around this area for only a

couple of years but he changed the lives

of so many

hey you really want to hear how I got

this cross on my back I know people say

it's an old wives tale or more like that

Fisher wives tale but I happen to

believe it's true see once upon a time

there was this priest and then hey I'm

getting ahead of my story why don't I

tell you everything from the very

beginning about 500 years ago there was

this little boy who grew up in a castle

in northern Spain his name was Francis

Xavier in those days in Europe you had

to be rich to have your own castle to

run around it and Francis family

certainly was but he was very young his

father and brother left to go to war

against an enemy Kingdom little Francis

was left with his prayer and study books

but his father was killed in battle and

as a result the family went through bad

times the experience affected Frances

deeply and he swore never to become a

warrior a knight like his father instead

he wanted to make something else of

himself so that he could restore his

family's lost honor that meant studying

in a big university when he was 19

Francis left Spain and traveled to Paris

it was to be the first of his many

journeys

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happy visa levy Mon chéri in France

saviors time Paris was and still is one

of the greatest centers of learning and

culture in limbo and West Town young

people from all over the world met here

to exchange ideas and to take their

first brain steps into the new world

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Francis enrolled at the University of

Paris he spent some of his time studying

and the rest enjoying the city nightlife

there also played the role of an

aristocrat Francis had his own servant

although he never had enough money in

Paris

Francis found himself sharing a room

with two special people

Peter father a very holy man and later a

fellow Spaniard by the name of Ignatius

Loyola Francis and Ignatius Loyola

didn't get along very well

their families were enemies in the war

where Francis's father was killed

Ignatius found Francis's lifestyle to

fancy Francis on the other hand found

Ignatius to pious but in spite of their

differences

Francis admired Ignatians for his

generosity

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little by little their friendship grew

stronger Ignatius taught his friend how

to pray to be disciplined and to make

sacrifices Ignatius became a teacher to

Francis Ignatius helped Francis nurture

a deeper relationship with God

it wasn't easy Ignatius referred to his

student as the lumpy Estonia's worked

with once during a retreat Francis got

so bored with a silence that he had to

tie himself up with ropes finally four

years after they met Savior Ignatius

Peter Farah and four others gathered

together in a little chapel across a

hill to take their vows they promised to

live holy lives serve God and the people

they call themselves the Companions of

Jesus Ignatius and the other companions

wanted to work in Jerusalem in the Holy

Land but a war was going on there at the

time instead they went to Rome to visit

the Pope and to ask for his advice

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mr. boat it's mr. boat most people go to

Rome to see the Pope because they want

to ask for prayers and favors or they

join the package tour because they want

that picture taken with His Holiness

looking at all the nice statues in

churches isn't so bad either isn't that

a bit Colangelo

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the Pope at that time for the third told

them to stay in Italy where there was a

lot of work to do

with that advice Ignatius and his fellow

priests decided to form a new religious

order the Jesuits Francis and Ignatius

also swore that they would accept any

mission that the Pope would give them

even if that meant leaving the

cosmopolitan cities of Europe for

distant and strange lands shortly after

the King of Portugal asked Ignatius to

send two Jesuits to their new colony in

India the King wanted to convert the

rest of the world Christianity at the

last minute one of the priests fell ill

and Francis had to take his place as he

said goodbye to Ignatius and his fellow

brothers Francis thought of the dangers

that awaited him

he knew half of all travelers on sea

voyages never made it and if he did

survive he would probably never see

Europe or his friends again he begged

Ignatius to send him long letters so

that it would take him a long time to

read them it was only through his

letters he told his friend that they

would ever see each other again in his

lifetime there was no such thing as jet

speed travel in those days people spent

months and even years to get to their

destination from Rome Francis wrote a

horse to get to Lisbon in Portugal when

he finally got on a ship to take him to

Asia

he became seasick and was even stranded

for several months off the coast of

Africa finally after more than a year he

reached Goa in southern India

ah India one of the most exotic

mysterious places in the Orient land of

snake charmers and brightly colored

sarees it also was in France this time

as it remains today one of the poorest

places in the world Frances first task

was to convert the parabolas the

parabolas belonged to the lowest class

in Indian society they were called The

Untouchables their fellow Indians did

not want to have anything to do with

them

Frances would walk through their

villages ringing a bell to signal to

them that he had arrived and classes

were about to begin he won the local

folk over with his open spirit and his

music he would set the prayers and the

catechism lessons into song so that they

would be easier to remember pretty soon

even the fisherman to be heard seeing

Christian songs children in particular

were among his most loyal disciples he

taught them the Apostles Creed and told

them to recite it inside people's homes

this way he said people learned about

Christ inside their huts and on the

streets but Savior was often at odds

with his fellow Europeans in India he

did not like the way the Portuguese

officials treated the natives they were

not concerned about the Indians welfare

the Portuguese as a sculpture from that

time shows preferred to put the Indians

down to keep them in their place it was

only Francis who dreamed of lifting them

up and helping them improve their lives

Francis was so angry with the Portuguese

in India that he decided to leave and to

travel to Malacca which today geography

lesson kids is part of Malaysia

at the waterfront he was welcomed by

both the Portuguese and the native

Malays who had heard about the great

things he had done in India in melaka

francis was often invited to dinners and

other celebrations he was the life of

the party because of his sunny

personality people called him Alegre the

cheerful one he always made it a point

to praise his hosts on the meal and to

ask who cooked it this way everyone

easily felt at home with it he also

became friends with the lower classes of

colonial society like the seamen who

spent their time drinking and gambling

sometimes he would even join in he tell

them your semen no reason why you should

live like monks to have a good time

without offending God is better than

fighting despite his being treated as a

VIP that's very important priest to you

Francis lived the same simple life that

he had in India inside his hop was just

a table crucifix and prayer book he

didn't like sleeping on his bed

preferring instead to sleep on the floor

with a rock as his pillow

in melaka francis was successful and

happy he had many friends but he also

knew there were other more remote places

waiting for him shortly afterwards he

left for the malukas the Spice Islands

my hometown and now we get to the really

interesting part of the story because

you'll find out how I got the Spice

Islands were a great source of wealth

for the Portuguese all kinds of spices

from clothes nutmeg cinnamon pepper

we're planted there you can still get

them in the local market today you can

also find the type of crab found only in

the islands the st. Francis crowd ask

any fisherman

any villager and he'll tell you why we

crabs have this cross on our shelves

one day when st. Francis was travelling

to one of the islands of the malukas

called Ambon a great storm broke out

Francis prayed and prayed but because of

the violent waves his cross fell into

the water later after the storm died

down and Francis reached land he went to

the beach feeling bad because he had

brought only one cross and he had lost

it lo and behold he saw a crab carrying

a cross his cross from that time on

fishermen would find some crabs with

mysterious crosses on their backs

the resemblance is startling isn't it

actually that wasn't really me

that was my great-great-great

grandfather but then let's move on with

our story in the malukas each Island

that Francis visited was more distant

and more dangerous than the one before

one particular Island was said to be

inhabited by a savage tribe Francis's

friends worried for his safety and told

him not to go but once again he put his

trust in God and left for the island he

lived with the tribesmen for several

months and became very good friends with

him in fact when the time came for him

to leave

Francis decided to go secretly at night

to avoid any sad goodbyes but his

friends still managed to see him off by

this time Francis had been traveling

around Asia for several years with each

place he visited he made a new set of

friends only to leave them for another

group in another village in another

island his life was a series of welcomes

and goodbyes but the more he gave the

more he received in return still he

missed Ignatius and his fellow brothers

in Europe he would read their letters

all the time then he would cut out their

signatures and put them in his necklace

together with his vows that way he said

he would always remember them

his next mission would be one of the

most difficult in his life after leaving

the Moluccas Frances returned briefly to

go on and then left again for Japan he

arrived in a town called Kagoshima on

the southern island of Kyushu with him

were ya Jiro a Japanese he met in

Malacca and a Spanish Jesuit named Juan

Fernandez there is even a monument to

their arrival in Japan showing Francis

being carried on the back of your Giro

so in Japan Francis had a harder time

winning over converts than in his

earlier trips he was terrible with a

language it took him 40 days just to

recite the 10 commandments in Japanese

still with the help of yaichiro and

brother Fernandez who spoke better

Japanese Francis began preaching to the

citizens of Kagoshima one of his

converts was a young man by the name of

Bernardo he later became Francis's

constant companion and one of the first

Japanese Jesuits Francis also developed

a close friendship with a Zen Buddhist

monk they often met to discuss their

views on religion Francis wanted to go

north to Miyako he thought the Emperor

lived there he wanted to ask for his

permission to preach together with

Bernardo and brother Fernandez Francis

set out on the long journey for days and

days they walked through mountains and

valleys covered with snow they hardly

had any protection against the severe

cold Francis's feet became so bruised

and swollen that at one point he had to

remove his shoes and continue the

journey barefoot Francis never stopped

even when his feet began to bleed

sadly the Emperor of Japan they were

about to meet in Miyako turned out to be

a powerless warlord they couldn't even

see him because they were too poor to

pay the fee he demanded they tried their

luck again by paying their respects to

the ruler of the province of Yamaguchi

this time to their great joy the

official gave them his permission

soon after Francis was able to baptize a

nobleman and five hundred other citizens

of Yamaguchi he was also able to convert

a half blind street musician who he

later named Lorenzo after he left Japan

the authorities began their persecution

of Christians in Nagasaki Christians

were hung on crosses and executed

the situation was similar in nearby

China the Emperor of China forbade all

contact with foreigners anyone caught

breaking that law was imprisoned and put

to death but Francis wanted to enter no

matter what it took

he believed that if he converted China

to Christianity the rest of Asia would

follow together with a Chinese merchant

from Malacca named Antonia he arrived in

sanchow an island off the southern coast

of China there he met a man from the

city of Guangdong the man agreed to

smuggle Francis into the city to meet

with a governor francis paid him a small

fortune and the man promised to return

as soon as he could

Francis waited and waited but the man

never came back

Francis developed a high fever and

became bedridden as the days passed his

health got worse but he never gave up

his dream of entering China soon after

with only Antonia by his side he died

without realizing his dream

I know what you guys are thinking you

didn't have to enter China he didn't

live to see his friends he died a poor

heartbroken man worse all alone in a

faraway place where he couldn't even

speak the language where's the glory and

all that but when you really think about

it here was a man who traveled great

distances moving from one place to the

next meeting strangers simply because he

wanted to help others find God the only

things he could share were prayers jokes

gestures of kindness he lived a very

ordinary life but people he met thought

he was very special and whatever

goodness he did was never forgotten

years and years and years after he died

Francis Xavier was made a saint on March

12 16 20 to 70 years after his death

along with his friend Ignatius of Loyola

and so his dream became a reality only

after his death

in Goa in India where most people are

Hindi almost everyone knows about st.

Francis Xavier because he supported the

Indians against the colonizers even

non-christians love him they regard him

as some kind of national hero his body

is preserved inside the Basilica in Goa

and on his feast day the town streets

are filled with admirers

on the other side of the world in a

Jesuit Church in Rome the city where

Francis and Ignatius Loyola founded the

order of the Jesuits you can still see

his right arm it is the same right arm

that travel across continents blessing

and baptizing people today when you look

at it it feels like it is still blessing

you in Japan where the Christian Church

suffered very deeply what Savior planet

continues to grow strong with the

Japanese Christians and every year in

that castle in Spain where he was born

mostly young people gather for what they

call the Xavier era it is the pilgrimage

to remember the journey of st. Francis

life Francis the pilgrims bring very

little with them and share whatever they

have with others

so you see this isn't so bad after all

in fact it's pretty cool every time I

look at it I remember a great man and

his great dream of helping people find

God but you know what you don't need

this thing on your back to be like Saint

Francis as long as you dream of helping

others find God and you work at it

then you can be like him so it's your

turn to do what st. Francis Xavier did

in your own small way and while you're

at it why don't you throw in a little

smile pretty soon you will have a cross

to wear to me no not on your back but in

your heart

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