finding in your Soul some of his Vertues he may love you the more and loving you recommend you to our Lord and obtain for you the Favours you ask of him To which end you shall finish your Ten Fridays with this following Colloquy The COLLOQUY To St. Francis Xaverius To obtain Grace to Imitate his Vertues IF I love you O most Holy Apostle I have just reason for it finding in you a Thousand Motives to wit your many perfections that render you worthy of all love But if you love me as I am sure you do it is purely your Goodness and only upon the account of my being a Sinner I am ashamed O Holy Xaverius that I have nothing that can win your Love but the deformity of my Soul nor any other Title that may any way seem to challenge your Affection then what in reality deserves your hatred wherefore I most earnestly beseech you to obtain for me the grace to Imitate your Vertues and those chiefly that did particularly render you so dear and pleasing to the Divine Goodness That being so adorned I may both please you and be acceptable in this life to the most pure Eyes of the all-seeing God and have an assurence of enjoying him with you in the next for an Eternity Amen THE LITANIES OF St. Francis Xaverius Compos'd by the most Illustrious Francis Gaspar de Villarouel Lord Bishop of St. James 's in the Kingdom of Chile in Honour of this Saint by whose Assistance after having been buried in the Ruins of an Earthquake he was miraculously deliver'd and in Performance of a Vow he had made said them upon set Days and imparted them to the publick to awaken and stir up the Piety of the Devout And have been approv'd and publish'd by the Order of several Prelates in the Low Countries and lower Germany LOrd have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us Christ hear us Christ graciously hear us God the Father of Heaven Have mercy on us God the Son Redeemer of the World Have mercy on us God the Holy Ghost Have mercy on us Holy Trinity One God Have mercy on us Holy Mary Pray for us Holy Father Ignatius Pray for us St. Francis Xaverius most worthy Son of St. Ignatius Pray for us St. Francis Xaverius Apostle of the Indies Pray for us St. Francis Xaverius evangelizing Peace Pray for us St. Francis Xaverius evangelizing all Good Pray for us Vessel of Election carrying the Name of Jesus before Gentiles Pray for us Vessel full of Divine Grace Pray for us Firmament of the Oriental Church Pray for us Defender of the Faith Pray for us Enemy of Infidelity Pray for us Preacher of Evangelical Truth Pray for us Destroyer of Idols Pray for us Chosen Instrument of the Eternal Father for the Propagation of Divine Glory Pray for us Faithful Follower and Companion of Jesus Christ Pray for us Trumpet of the Holy Ghost Pray for us Pillar of the Church of God Pray for us Light of Infidels Pray for us Master of the Faithful Pray for us Mirror of true Piety Pray for us Guide in the Way of Virtue and Perfection Pray for us Pattern of Apostolical Spirit and Sanctity Pray for us Light of the Blind Pray for us Curer of the Lame Pray for us Helper of those who suffer Shipwrack Pray for us Health of the Sick Pray for us Protector in time of Plague Famine and War Pray for us From whom the Devils fly Pray for us Life of the Dead Pray for us Whose Power the Sea and Tempests obey Pray for us Whose Command the Sea and all Elements reverence Pray for us Wonderful Worker of Miracles Pray for us Refuge of the Miserable Pray for us Comfort of the Afflicted Pray for us Splendor of the East Pray for us Tabernacle of Incorruption Pray for us Treasury of Divine Love Pray for us Glory of the Society of Jesus Pray for us Xaverius most poor Pray for us Xaverius most chast Pray for us Xaverius most obedient Pray for us Xaverius most humble Pray for us Xaverius most desirous of the Cross and Labours of Christ Pray for us Xaverius most vigilant in the Safety of your Neighbour Pray for us Xaverius most zealous of God's Glory and the Good of Souls Pray for us Angel in Life and Manners Pray for us Patriarch in Affections and Care of God's People Pray for us Prophet in Gift and Spirit Pray for us Apostle in Dignity and Merit Pray for us Doctor of Gentiles in all sorts of Languages Pray for us Martyr in desiring to dye for Christ Pray for us Confessor in Vertue and Profession of Life Pray for us Virgin in Body and Mind Pray for us In whom alone we reverence thro' the Divine Goodness the Merits of all the Saints Pray for us Lamb of God who takest away the Sins of the World Spare us O Lord. Lamb of God who takest away the Sins of the World Hear us graciously O Lord. Lamb of God who takest away the Sins of the World Have mercy on us Christ hear us Christ graciously hear us Lord have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us Our Father c. Vers Pray for us St. Francis Xaverius Resp That we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ Let us pray LOrd God who hast vouchsafed by the Preaching and Miracles of St. Francis Xaverius to join unto thy Church the Countries of the Indies grant propitiously we beseech thee that reverencing his Glorious Merits we may also imitate his Examples Through Christ our Lord. Amen A PSALM IN TRIBULATION This Psalm was said by the Saint in time of Trouble WHen I was in Tribulation I cried to our Lord and he heard me O Lord deliver my Soul from unjust Lips and from a deceitful Tongue What may be given thee or what may be added to thee to a deceitful Tongue The sharp Arrows of the Mighty with Coals of Desolation Wo is to me that my sojourning is prolonged I have dwelt with the Inhabitants of Cedar My Soul hath been long a sojourner With them that hated Peace I was Peaceable when I spoke to them they impugned me without Cause FINIS
shall lift up his Heart to God and profoundly humbling himself in Spirit and offering up all his Prayers Thoughts and Words to his Glory in Honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary St. Francis Xaverius and to all the Angels and Saints of Heaven he shall make the Sign of the Cross and say the following Prayer O Lord Jesus Christ true God and Man my Creator and Redeemer for thy sake alone and because I love thee above all things I am sorry from the Bottom of my Heart for having offended thee and I do firmly purpose never to fall into Sin again to shun all Occasions of offending thee to Confess my Sins and perform the Penance that shall be enjoyn'd me and to make Restitution and Satisfaction wherever it shall be due from me For the Love of thee I forgive all my Enemies to thee I offer up my Life Actions and Sufferings in Satisfaction for my Sins and since I humbly beg it of thee I trust in thy Goodness and infinite Mercy that thou wilt forgive me them through the Merits of thy precious Blood and Passion and wilt give me Grace to amend my Life and to persever in thy Service unto my Death Amen MOst Glorious St. Francis Xaverius Apostle of the Indies if it be for the Glory of God and to thy Honour that I obtain what I desire and beg by performing this Novena do thou obtain me this Grace of our Lord if not do thou guide my Petition and beg of our Lord for me that which is most proper for his Glory and the benefit of my Soul O God and Lord of the Angels whom thou dost intrust with the Guardianship of Men I make thee an Offering of all the Merits of these Heavenly Spirits and of those of thy Servant St. Francis Xaverius who was call'd an Angel for his Purity and because he preserved Men from many Spiritual and Corporal Dangers I beseech thee grant me that Purity of Soul and Body which thou didst confer on this thy holy Apostle and that particular Grace which I beg in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen Here say three Pater Nosters and three Ave Maries and then the following Prayer to St. Francis Xaverius MOst Holy Father Francis Xaverius who receivedst thy Praises from the Mouth of innocent Children I most humbly implore thy bountiful Charity for the Sake of the most precious Blood of Jesus and of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Lady Mother of God to the end thou may'st obtain of God's infinite Goodness that at the Approach of my last Hour my Heart may be separated and withdrawn from all wordly Thoughts and Distractions and be fixed in the most ardent Love of him and a vehement Desire of an happy Eternity so that laying aside the multiplicity of earthly things which hitherto have perplexed me I may most diligently seek and perfectly find that one thing which is necessary which is to Die and rest in Peace under the Protection of the most Holy Virgin Mary in the Wounds of Jesus her most Blessed Son in the sweet Embraces of my God and in thy Presence Holy Saint through whose Intercession I hope to obtain this Mercy But yet whilst it shall please the Divine Providence to preserve my Life I beseech thee my most loving Protector and most affectionate Father to obtain for me of his Divine Majesty that I may Live â—s one that is to Die and as I would wish to have lived at the Hour of my Death ever imitating thy Virtues and fulfilling the most Holy Will of God that so my temporal Death may be to me a Passage into Life Everlasting I also beseech thee to obtain for me that which I ask in this Novena if it be for the Glory of God and Good of my Soul Amen In the next Place you are to ask of St. Francis Xaverius the particular Favour you desire to obtain heightning as much as in you is your Confidence in him with such Words as your affectionate Thoughts shall suggest or with such Aspirations as your Devotions shall dictate Then the more to please this Holy Apostle in Imitation of him say that Prayer which he himself composed and used to say every Day for the Conversion of Infidels which is as follows ETernal God Creator of all things remember that thou alone didst create the Souls of Infidels framing them to thy own Image and Likeness Behold O Lord how to thy Dishonour Hell daily is replenished with them Remember O Lord thy only Son Jesus Christ who suffered for them most bountifully shedding his precious Blood Suffer not O Lord thy Son and our Lord to be any longer despised by the Infidels but rather being appeased by the Intreaties and Prayers of thy Elect the Saints and of the Church the most Blessed Spouse of thy Son vouchsafe to be mindful of thy Mercy and forgeting their Idolatry and Infidelity cause them also to know him thou didst send Jesus Christ thy Son and our Lord who is our Health Life and Resurrection through whom we are made free and saved to whom be all Glory forever â—â—en Then conclude with the Prayer proper to this Saint Antiph Well fare thee good and faithful Servant because thou hast been faithful over a few things I will place the over many things Enter into the Joy of thy Lord. Vers Our Lord hath guided the just Man by right Ways Resp And hath shewed him the Kingdom of God The Prayer O God who wert pleased to reduce to the Bosom of thy Church the Nations of the Indies thro' the Preaching and Miracles of S. Francis Xaverius mercifully grant us that we may imitate his Vertues whose glorious Merits we hold in Veneration Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Commemoration of St. Ignatius de Loyola Antiph This man despising the World and triumphing over Earthly things heaped up Riches in Heaven by Word and Work Vers Our Lord hath guided the just Man by right Ways Resp And hath shewn him the Kingdom of God The Prayer O God who for the Propagation of the greater Glory of thy Name hast by Blessed Ignatius strengthen'd the Church Militant with new Auxiliaries graciously vouchsafe that we by his Assistance and Imitation solicitously combating upon Earth may obtain with him an everlasting Crown in Heaven A Commemoration of St. Gregory the Great Apostle of England Antiph O most excellent Doctor Light of the Holy Church Blessed Gregory Lover of God's Law supplicate the Son of God for us Vers Our Lord hath as above The Prayer O God who hast bestowed the Rewards of Eternal Blessedness on the Soul of thy Servant Gregory Grant mercifully that we who are deprest with the Weight of our Sins may by his Prayers be delivered Through our Lord. The Second Day Lord Jesus Christ true God and Man c. as before on the First Day Most Glorious St. Francis Xaverius c. as the First Day and so on all the following Days A Prayer for this
Day LOrd God of the Archangels whom thou dost intrust in the most weighty Concerns of thy Glory and the Benefit of Men I offer up to thee the Merits of these most diligent Spirits and those of thy great Servant St. Francis Xaverius whom thou madest the Minister of thy Glory and to whom thou recommendedst the Spiritual Welfare of innumerable Souls I beseech thee grant that I may perform those Duties which thy most Holy and Divine Will has imposed upon me and also that I may obtain that particular Grace which I beg of thee in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Third Day LOrd God of the Principalities who according to the Disposition of the Divine Will by means of Angels and Archangels takes care of the Welfare of Mankind enlightning instructing and governing them I offer up to thee the Merits of these most zealous Spirits and those of thy Servant St. Francis Xaverius who enlightned and converted many Kingdoms and Provinces and in them innumerable Souls not only by himself but by his Disciples and Followers Instructing Teaching and Commanding I beseech thee grant me the zeal of this Holy Apostle and the particular Petition I tender in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Fourth Day LOrd God of the Powers who have a special Prerogative to curb the Infernal Spirits I offer up to thee the Merits of these most potent Spirits and those of thy Servant St. Francis Xaverius to whom thou gavest singular Power of expelling Devils from Bodies and Souls I beseech thee grant me the Grace to overcome all the Temptations of the Devil and that which I beg of thee in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Fifth Day LOrd God of the Virtues by whose means thou workest Miracles and Prodigies peculiar to thy Sovereign Power I offer up to thee the Merits of these most Stupendious Spirits and those of thy Servant St. Francis Xaverius whom thou madest a new Thaumaturgus or Worker of new and prodigious Miracles renewing in him the Signs and Wonders of thy Blessed Apostles that he might discover the Gospel to new Nations I beseech thee grant me that profound Humility wherewith St. Francis Xaverius amidst so many Miracles sought thy Glory and not his own Honour as also that which I beg in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Sixth Day LOrd God of the Dominations which preside over all inferior Spirits as Ministers of thy Providence and submit themselves to thy Will being ever ready to fulfil it I offer up to thee the Merits of these excellent Spirits and those of St. Francis Xaverius who tho' Superior to many yet humbly submitted himself to all Superiors in them acknowledging thy Majesty and readily fulfilling their Commands I beseech thee grant me a ready and perfect Obedience to all my Superiors and that special Petition which I make in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Seventh Day LOrd God of the Thrones on whom thou reposest as on the Seat of thy Glory and Chair of thy Majesty I offer up to thee the Merits of these supream Spirits and those of St. Francis Xaverius that Throne of thy Glory that Vessel of Election to convey thy Name to new Nations who denyed himself to himself and to all worldly things casting them out of his Heart that thou alone mightest possess it I beseech thee grant that I may despise all worldly things and rest in thee alone grant me also the Petition I make in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Eighth Day LOrd God of the Cherubins who are adorned with most perfect Wisdom I offer up to thee the Merits of these most knowing Spirits and those of thy Servant St. Francis Xaverius whom thou didst grace with supereminent Wisdom and to whom thou didst reveal most profound Secrets that he might teach thy Law to many People and Nations I beseech thee grant that I may learn to fear and please thee which is true Wisdom and that by Word and Example I may teach others to keep thy Commandments and that thou wilt also grant me the Favour I beg in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Ninth Day LOrd God of the Seraphins who are inflam'd with most ardent Love of thee I offer up to thee the Merits of these most fervent Spirits and those or thy Servant St Francis Xaverius who like a Seraphin was enflamed with thy Love conquering innumerable Hardships and Dangers of his Life to please thee and to make those know and love thee who before offended thee and knew thee not I beseech thee grant that I may love thee my only God and my Lord and endeavour to bring all Men to the Knowledge and Love of thee and also that thou wilt grant me that which I ask in this Novena to thy greater Honour and Glory Amen The Rapture of an affectionate Soul before a Crucifix Compos'd in Latin by St. Francis Xaverius O God I love thee not that thou Shouldst love me for 't nor love I do ' Cause Hell for those that love thee not Will be their Everlasting Lot Thou thou my Jesus didst embrace Me wholly on thy Cross of Grace Thou bor'st for me in thy last Trance The Thorns the Nails the Gall the Lance Pains Anguishes and bloody Sweats Much Ignominy and more evil Treats And Death and all for sake of me For me a Sinner O Love's Prodigy Why then most loving Jesus why Should I not love thee till I die Not to avoid the Pains of Hell Nor yet in Heaven for e'er to dwell But meerly ' cause thou lovedst me Not for Reward will I love thee Will I love thee with all my Heart Because my God my Lord thou art Amen This Prayer may be said at the End of both Devotions MOst Glorious St. Francis Xaverius Apostle of the Indies and mighty in thy Works for the great Compassion thou showest to all Men and for that most ardent Zeal with which during the Term of ten Years thou didst labour in the East for the Salvation of Souls I beseech thee that thou wilt efficaciously interceed with God for the Conversion of Infidels and of all Sinners that thou wilt pray for the afflicted Souls in Purgatory and for the true Peace and Prosperity of Christians especially of those that are devoted to thee and that thou wilt obtain for me of our Lord this Grace and Favour which I N. beg of thee with the most sincere Affection I am able Holy Saint as thou art favourable and loving to all Persons be so also to me tho' an unworthy Sinner Grant me this Request to the Glory of God and to thy own Honour Amen FINIS AN INSTRUCTION TO Perform with Fruit THE DEVOTION OF Ten FRIDAYS In Honour of St. Francis Xaverius APOSTLE of the INDIES Much practised in Rome and augmented particularly of late by some Authentick Miracles wrought by the
elevated a Cubit from the Ground with his Face surrounded with Rays and his Eyes sparkling like Stars Many Eye-witnesses attested that at Mass and Communion in Malaca and Meliapor he was several times seen quite alienated from his Senses and elevated in the Air. These are some Tokens of those Divine Consolations this Angel of Heaven enjoyed here upon Earth in Reward of the Sufferings he undertook for the Love of God What have we now to say for our selves miserable and tender Creatures that so much shun all occasions of suffering even when our state of life and condition require it How ignorant are we of the true good It is no wonder divine consolations are so scarce with us since we fly all Trouble and Difficulties that might else in some manner deserve and draw down those Favours upon us The COLLOQUY To St Francis Xaverius To obtain a desire of Penance and Mortification O Most Mortified Apostle Behold at your Feet the greatest Sinner of the World and yet the most delicate the most deserving of Penance and yet the greatest shunner of it who Implores your Help that he may begin to love that once which he ought always to perform and thereby satisfy God for his Sins You O Dear Saint Most Innocent and yet so generous an Embracer of Austerity obtain for me of my suffering Saviour your Spirit that I may set my Affection more thereon and thereby diminishing the pains of Purgatory due to my Sins I may the sooner come to enjoy with you the Beatifical Vision Amen The CONSIDERATION For the Fourth FRIDAY Upon the Patience of St. Francis Xaverius PAtience is a Vertue that Strengthens our Mind against all Difficulties that might otherwise deter us from our Duty This Holy Apostle was so abundantly Endowed with this Vertue that he might justly say with St. Paul * 2 Cor. 6.4 Let us exhibit our selves as the Ministers of God in much Patience Truly it was very necessary in those his long and most Troublesome Sicknesses as when Destitute of all Human Comfort he was obliged in Vicenza to lye in the same Bed with a most filthy and loathsome Sick man and in his Journey from Amangucci to Meaco to live only upon Water and Burnt Rice and in the Island of Sanciano to dye totally abandoned by all Yet these inconveniences were nothing to those he suffered in changing so often to so contrary Climats from one excess to another accommodating himself to the Barbarous Incivilities of People so different from the Europeans in Life and Manners In the Excessive Heats of the Torrid Zone in the Incommodities of Sea Voyages in Tempests and Dangers of Shipwrack What shall I say of Persecutions from Men and Devils He was often in the Publick Market-places laught at by the People sought for to Death by the Gentiles and Bonzi their Priests as a Destroyer of their Idols and Gods most Shamefully and Unhumanly reviled by Governours of Towns and Countries Captains of Ships Soldiers and Seamen and even by Christians amongst whom some bad are always to be found utterly hated as a reformer of their manners and wicked Lives finally left and betray'd most ungratefully by those he had been most Beneficial unto The Devils also set upon him divers times and once beat him most unmercifully in Meliapor as he prayed all Night at the Tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle and they always Persecuted him as their Sworn and most Bitter Enemy Yet what did St. Francis do What would you a most Delicate Nice and Cowardly Creature have done Quitted what you had undertaken fainted and yeilded at the first seeming Difficulty and fled back No no quite contrary he like an undaunted Soldier not the least struck with these Oppositions stood his Ground and Faithfully Discharged himself of his Apostolical Duty and Commission witness his Journeys in his Ten Years amounting to an hundred Thousand Miles equivalent to almost five times the whole Circumference of the Earth wherein he abolish'd innumerable Superstitions Rooted out many Abuses Corrected many Wicked and Inveterate Manners threw down Idols Converted Innumerable Souls and Baptized with his own Hand above a Million and Two Hundred Thousand Persons Worthy Fruits indeed of the invincible Patience of St. Xaverius But what do I miserable Creature How do I bear even the least things that happen daily How ought I to be asham'd that have not the Heart to Suffer the least Word Check or Cross Answer from another which makes me so often neglect my Duty to God and fail so frequently in the Employment I am in I am truly Confounded seeing with how little Patience I might so much Promote God's Glory and that failing in the first I am so Notoriously Deficient in the Latter The COLLOQUY To St Francis Xaverius To obtain the Vertue of Patience YOU see most Patient Apostle the baseness of my Heart so streight and narrow as not to dare to open it-self to receive the least Cross or Adversity but presently it yields and Faints Yet my Crosses are not like yours which were so hard and Painful but slight Troubles and small Difficulties and yet I am most impatient in all occurrences O most Patient Xaverius Obtain of the Divine Goodness for me your Spirit of Patience that manfully resisting all Difficulties annexed to my State and Condition I may Faithfully comply with God's Holy Will Amen The CONSIDERATION For the Fifth FRIDAY Upon the Continual Prayer of St. Francis Xaverius PRayer is an act of Religion whereby we have recourse to God begging what is fit we should ask of him St. John Damascen calls it an ascent of our Minds to God whereby we treat and Converse with him St. Francis's Prayer was continual fulfilling that * St. Luc. 18.1 It behoveth always to Pray and never to cease And that of the Apostle * Phil. 3.20 Our Conversation is in Heaven Altho' he was always United to God yet he had some particular times alotted for it spending the Night chiefly in continual Prayer and Contemplation never allowing himself above two or three Hours for natural Rest On Ship-board for Prayer he prefixed from Midnight till Morning whereupon the Seamen used to say the Ship Sails securely seeing Father Francis stands Sentinel In Manapar he was at several Hours in the Night observed by his Host and sound always upon his Knees at the Foot of a Crucifix But what sort of Prayer was it Worthy indeed of that Seraphical Heart all Burning and set on Fire and carrying him to his only Center God In so much that many Confessed they could not look him in the Face even in Familiar Conversation amongst them his Countenance so Dazled their Eyes His short tho' most Inflamed Jaculatory Aspirations give us sufficiently to understand what Fire Consumed his most Ardent and loving Soul having been often heard to say even in his Sleep and Raging Sickness and commonly in Latin O Sanctissima Trinitas O mi Jesu O Dulcis Jesu O Jesu cordis mei
by once dying a Martyr Through the excess of these ardent Wishes he was forced to cry out Amplius Domine Amplius More Lord more when in his Sleep he seemed to carry upon his Back a heavy Moor and in him the new World of the Indies Out of the same inflamed Desire he bore a holy Envy to the Fathers of the Society who were in future Ages to convert all the Islands of Moro hoping withal as he said that those Islands would come to change their Names and be called the Islands of Martyrs To one that endeavour'd to dissuade him with the Apprehensions of Death from those his heroick Enterprizes he answered with no less Humility than Generosity that it was what he so much desired but he knew himself unworthy of such a signal Favour What he writ to a Friend of his sheweth most clearly what were the Desires of his Great and Noble Soul I says he sometimes do abhor even Life it self and covet rather to die than to see God so much offended without being able to hinder it as I desire So that the Acts of his Canonization say with reason of this Glorious Apostle Varia infidelium loca peragravit non minus ut pro Christi fide sanguinem profunderet quam ut fidei lucem gentibus inferret That he travalled over so many Countries of the Infidels with no less desire to shed his Blood for the Faith of Christ than to enlighten the Gentils with the Light of the true Faith Reflect weak Soul upon what has been said and be ashamed of your Carriage so little resembling this great Pattern and Example and ask your self this Question Was not Xaverius of Flesh and Blood as I am Was not he a Man a Son and Child of Adam as my self and yet how comes it to pass that he is so much enflamed with the Divine Love and I so little And you 'll find the Origin of his so singular Perfection to have been a total Abnegation of him self and Alienation from all Self love whereby being transformed into God he desired to dye to the World that he might live to him alone Ah! if you could but once resolve to dye to Self Love then assure your self the Holy Love of God would abundantly encrease in your Soul The COLLOQUY To St. Francis Xaverius To beg the Grace to dye to Self-love YOU bad reason to say Holy Xaverius with St. Paul * Gal. 2.20 I live now not I but Christ liveth in me who kindled in your Soul those great Desires of dying once to Flesh and Blood that so by Death you might be united to your Spirit which was Christ But I unhappy Wretch live still to my self I live to my own Flesh to my Body and to Self-love And what wonder if I desire not to dye for Christ thereby to be united to him What Wonder if I love him not as my Life Beg of Almighty God for me Dear Saint that I may dye to Self-love to the end that every day so dying I may become wholly dead thereunto and begin to live to Christ that then I may likewise with truth say with St. Paul and you Glorious Saint I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Amen The CONSIDERATION For the Tenth FRIDAY Upon the perfections of St. Francis Xaverius ST Francis Xaverius was an Apostle sent by Jesus Christ by command of his Vicar Paul the third with the title of Nuncius Apostolicus to Preach the Gospel to the Indians and Convert them to our Holy Faith Whereof he Converted many hundred Thousands amongst whom were several Kings Queens Princes and Great Men. His Sister a Holy Woman Abbess of the Poor Clares at Gandia foretold he should be such an one for desiring her Father to let him Study Divinity she said he should prove a Great Apostle of the Indies He was a Prophet and in such a manner that a most Vertuous and Wise Man sticked not to say that in some the Spirit of Prophecy was by fits but in St. Xaverius it seemed a constant Habit. He was not only Master of Human Philosophy at Paris but of the Divine also in the East where to all sorts of People he Preached the Gospel and Instructed them in what belonged to our Holy Faith He Confuted many Masters of the Idolaters in several Disputes the Brachmans of the Indians and Carizi of the Moors and the Bonzi of the Japonians He was endowed with all manner of Vertues whether you mean Power of Working Miracles as you have seen in the former Considerations or Vertuous Habits that adorn the Soul as Humility Chastity Patience Charity c. He had the Gift of Curing Diseases as we have shewn you by several wonderful examples He had the Gift of Helping the Needy in so much that he never refused his Aid to any if conducing to their Eternal Salvation He governed all with rare Prudence as well Seculars as Religious which Talent made him esteemed by the greatest Princes The King of Portugal Reverenced him as an Oracle receiving and following his Directions as Commands The King of Travancor called the Great King published an Edict commanding every one to obey the Great Father St. Xaverius as the Great King St. Ignatious resolved to make him General of the Society of Jesus Lastly he had the Gift of Tongues In those Countries they speak above a Hundred several Languages Thirty whereof are quite different yet St. Francis when he entered those parts did not only understand the Natives but spoke the very same Languages most Elegantly yet with these two privileges first of being understood tho' Preaching to an Auditory of different Nations by every one in their Mother Tongue secondly of Satisfying with one only answer the demands of several proposed to him at the same time tho' relating to different matters Hereby we see that God by a special Favour seems to have Endowed St. Francis with all those Gifts St. Paul speakes of to have been divided amongst several in the Primitive Church * 1 Cor. 12.28 Some God hath placed in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly Doctors next Miracles then the graces of Curing Diseases Helps Governing kinds of Tongues All these gifts and graces were requisite for that great Enterprise of Converting the New World to the Faith of Christ for which God had Designed his great Servant St. Francis Xaverius These things mentioned in short ought Devout Reader to stir up in you a lively Confidence and Devotion to this great Saint so much beloved by God and for his Extraordinary Sanctity enriched with such singular and rare Graces and Favours by the hand of his so Bountiful Creator Seeing therefore the nature of love is to change him that loves into him that is beloved and to create such a likeness in their Lives and Actions that they seem to live in one another you ought to endeavour to liken your self according to your state and condition in all your Actions to St. Xaverius that