1.

Ignatius however had seen the potential that lay hidden beneath Francis’ worldly
ambitions. It is written that Francis heard a constant refrain from Ignatius: “What shall it
profit a man if he gains the whole world but lose his own soul”(Matt. 16:26).
Francis Xavier was slowly and eventually won over by Ignatius of Loyola and the two would
become life long friends and would found the then new religious order, the Society of Jesus
(The Jesuits).
In Paris, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier and Pierre Favre were joined by four others:
Simon Rodriguez, Jaime Laynez, Alphonso Salmeron and Nicolas Bobadilla. Together these
seven companions were united in wanting to spread the Gospel and devoting their lives to
the service of God.
They decided that they would take vows of chastity and poverty and then make a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. On August 15th 1534 (the feast of the Assumption), in the chapel of
Montmartre near Paris, these seven companions made their vows. This was an important
step in the foundation of the Society of Jesus.
Francis Xavier was later ordained a priest in Venice on June 24th 1537. He was then 31. He
said his first Mass on September 30th of that year and according to those present he did so
with tears in his eyes. He was indeed a very prayerful man. He prayed frequently and was
often found deep in prayer. This was a quality that remained with him throughout his life.

2. In 1525, Xavier went to study at the University of Paris. There, he encountered Ignatius of
Loyola, who had experienced a religious conversion while recovering from a war wound. Loyola
did his utmost to convince Xavier to join him on the same path of devotion.
Though at first hesitant, Xavier was eventually inspired by his friend's example. On August 15,
1534, in the Montmartre section of Paris, Xavier, Loyola and five others pledged themselves to
the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). In addition to vows of celibacy and poverty, they also promised
to visit the Holy Land.
While waiting in Venice, Italy, to depart for the Holy Land, Xavier worked in a hospital, aiding
those in need. He also became a priest, on June 24, 1537. When fighting between Venice and the
Ottoman Empire made a trip to Jerusalem impossible, Xavier instead went to Rome, where he
and others in the society offered their services to the pope.

3. On 15 August 1534, together with Ignatius of Loyola, Alfonso Salmeron, Diego

Laínez, Nicolás Bobadilla from Spain, Peter Faber from Savoy, and Simão Rodrigues
from Portugal met in Montmartre outside Paris, in a crypt beneath the church of Saint
Denis, now Saint Pierre de Montmartre. There they made private vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience to the Pope, and also vowed to go to the Holy Land to convert
infidels.[17][18] Francis began his study of theology in 1534 and was ordained on June 24,
1537.
In 1539, after long discussions, Ignatius drew up a Formula for a new order. [15] Ignatius's
plan of the order's organization was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 by the bull
containing the "Formula of the Institute".

4. With his companions he was ordained to the priesthood three years later in Venice, and shared
in all the labors and vicissitudes of the young organization. It was in 1540 that the King of
Portugal, John III, had his ambassador at the Vatican ask the Pope for Jesuit missionaries to
spread the faith in his new Indian possessions. Loyola promptly appointed Francis to join Simon
Rodriguez, another of the original seven, then in Portugal; together they should undertake this
work. On reaching Lisbon at the end of June, Xavier went immediately to Rodriguez, and the two
priests, while waiting through the fall and winter for plans to mature, were lodged in a hospital
where they helped care for the sick; they also catechized and taught in the hospital and in the city,
and their Sundays and holidays were often spent hearing confessions at court. King John came to
have so high a regard for them that he decided to keep Rodriguez at Lisbon and was for a time
uncertain whether or not to let Xavier go. But at last he delivered to Xavier four briefs from Pope
Paul III, in which he was constituted papal nuncio and recommended to the princes of the East.

5. In 1529, Ignatius Loyola, another Basque student, was assigned to room with Francis.
A former soldier 15 years Xavier’s senior, he 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 recalcitrant Xavier, and Francis was among the
band of seven who, in a chapel on Montmartre in Paris, on Aug. 15, 1534, vowed lives of
poverty and celibacy in imitation of Christ and solemnly promised to undertake a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land and subsequently to devote themselves to the salvation of
believers and unbelievers alike. Xavier then performed the Spiritual Exercises, a series of
meditations lasting about 30 days and devised by Ignatius in light of his own experience
of conversion to guide the individual toward greater generosity in the service of God and
man. They implanted in Francis the motivation that carried him for the rest of his life and
prepared the way for his recurrent mystical experiences.