Patron of the St. Xavier's College

St Xavier’s College is named after its patron St. Francis Xavier, whose blessings and prayers are invoked on the students and the staff. The college celebrates the Patron's Day on 3rd December as College Day every year.

Francis was born in 1506 at the family castle of Xavier, in Spain. He was the third son of the president of the council of the king of Navarre. As was often the case with younger sons of the nobility, he was destined for a church-related career. In 1525 he went to the Paris University for his studies.

In 1529, Ignatius of Loyola, a Basque student like Francis, was assigned to share room with Francis. Ignatius, a former soldier, 15 years Francis’s senior, had undergone a profound religious conversion and was then gathering about himself a group of men who shared his ideals. Gradually, Ignatius won over the initially reluctant Francis, to join the band of seven. On August 15, 1534, in a chapel on Montmartre in Paris, they vowed lives of poverty and celibacy in imitation of Christ. They devoted themselves to the spiritual transformation of believers and unbelievers alike. Francis then made the 30 days long Spiritual Exercises, a series of meditations and contemplations. They had been devised by Ignatius in light of his own experience of conversion to guide others toward greater generosity in the service of God and humankind. They helped Francis to follow Jesus radically and to ‘love and serve in all things’

On the request of the king of Portugal, Francis Xavier voyaged to India in 1540. His ten years of missionary activities in India, the Malay World and Japan were prolific. They included proclamation of the gospel, caring for children, the sick and the poor. Educational ministry started when the College of the Holy Faith in Goa was transferred to the Jesuits in 1548. The following year he went to Japan. When he returned to India after three years, he was made the administrative head of the Jesuits in India. Since China was the most prestigious country in the region, Francis wanted to go to China. While waiting for permit to enter China he died of fever at Shangchuan on 3rd December 1552 at the age of 46.

No wonder, as a Jesuit Higher Educational Institution, St Xavier’s College Mahuadanr aims to form men and women for others, with fundamental human and spiritual values.