Thursday of the 1st week of Advent, or Saint John Damascene, Priest, Doctor

Office of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(Saint John Damascene, priest, Doctor)

Saint Francis Xavier, PriestOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | MassSt Francis Xavier (1506 - 1552)

He was born in the Basque country of Spain in 1506. He met Ignatius Loyola when he was a student in Paris, and he was ordained priest in 1537. In 1541 the Pope sent him as part of a mission to India, and he spent the rest of his life in the East, preaching the Gospel in Goa and Malacca. He made many converts and fought against the exploitation of the native population by the Europeans. He spent two years on a successful mission to Japan, laying the foundations of many Christian communities; and in 1552, after entering China secretly to preach the Gospel there, he died of fever and exhaustion on the Chinese island of Shangchwan.See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Tuesday of the 1st week of AdventOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass