Feast Days for November 30 – December 3

On November 30, we celebrate the feast day of St. Andrew, patron saint of fishermen.  St. Andrew, brother to St. Peter (Simon) and one of the twelve apostles, was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee.  He was one of the first disciples of Jesus.  It is believed he preached the Gospel in what is now Greece and Turkey.  He was martyred by crucifixion in Patras, Greece but requested that his cross be in the shape of an “X” because he thought himself unworthy to die in the same style of cross as Jesus.  

On December 3, we celebrate the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of missionaries and Catholic missions.  St. Francis was born in 1506 in Spain.  While studying at the University of Paris, he met St. Ignatius of Loyola who inspired him to become a priest.  In 1534, St. Francis and six others took vows and formed the Society of Jesus also known as the Jesuits. He is considered one of the greatest evangelizers since St. Paul and the “Apostle of the Far East” because he ministered to the poor and spread Christianity in the Eastern reaches of the Portuguese Empire, India, China, Japan, and many islands.  He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 at the same time as St. Ignatius of Loyola.