Feast of St Francis Xavier

Every year, on the third of December, the feast of St Francis Xavier is celebrated which marks the death anniversary of the Saint. This annual festival, known as the Feast of St Francis Xavier or Goinchea Saibache Fest, (Lord of Goa Festival), is the biggest of all the Christian festivals in Goa. He was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV and named the patron saint of all foreign missions by Pope Pius X. He died of a fever on a Chinese island in 1552, at just 46 years old, and was brought back to Goa a few years later. In 1614, by the order of Superior General of the Society of Jesus Claudio Acquaviva, his right arm was severed at the elbow and taken to Rome, where an altar was made to display it in the Church of the Gesu. He lends his name to many schools, parishes and Jesuit communities worldwide, including Xavier High School in New York City and Xavier University in Cincinnati. In 1637 his body was laid to rest in a silver casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths. The casket was placed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus where it remains to this day. Once every ten years there is a public exposition of his body, the next being due in 2024.