Sicilian Culture: Roman Catholic Patron Saint Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier

Patron Saint of Maids & Domestic Workers & Lost Keys
Feast Day Celebrated on December 3

Born 1506 - - - Died December 2, 1552

Born in to nobility, Francis Xavier was honored as a young man as professor of philosophy at the University of Paris, where he met Saint Ignatius Loyola. In the year 1540 he began missionary work which took him from the East Indies to Ceylon, India, Malaya and Japan within a 10 year span. During his foreign mission work, there were several reports of miracles, including healings, the gift of tongues, foretelling the future and even raising the dead. Francis' dream however, missionary work in China, was never realized. He died of a fever with Canton in sight.

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