Visit to Javier, Birthplace of St. Francis Xavier!

Hello one and all

It's been ages since I last wrote on my blog, but in between this and my last post we have had a major shift from one place of the world to the other! We moved back to Pune, India. AMAZING. I have recently joined nursery and making a lot of friends.

I have a BIG bunch of things to write about of our adventures when we were in Spain so the first that I will get to is our visit to Javier (Xavier, pronounced "Havier" in Spanish). This is the birthplace of our beloved St. Francis Xavier.

St. Francis Xavier was born on 7th April 1506 in the then Kingdom of Navarra (now Province of Navarra, Spain). His family were very influential at the time and they had a family castle! Being the youngest son, he was fun loving but smart too in school. His family fell on hard times when he was only 9 years old and to make matters worse his father died too :(. To regain his family honor, he decided to go to a famous college in France where he met with the great St. Ignasius of Loyola. After that, as Dad says, the rest is history!

Back to our visit, below are some photos to enjoy

The first of a two day visit, on the road to Javier the sky is so welcoming! Some rain in the distance... 

This was one of the last of many adventures over the last two years starting 2009 and Dada's car was always in the middle of it! Here is a snap of the car while on the way. (we stopped because Mama wanted to vomit some food out, she was not feeling well with all the turns and roundabouts!)

On reaching Javier, we found a quiet very small town, largely forgotten in the modern development of today except for a few families around the Castle. After checking in, Dad and I decided to visit the Castle for a picture at night. WOOOW, so scary!

But not so much in the morning., what a beautiful view! Here we are, making way to the Castle for a Morning Mass and Castle visit

 Here is morning Mass at a beautiful Chapel among the houses of the Priests and Nuns! On the right is St. Francis Xavier and left is St. Ignacius.... 

... and following Mass we said hello to the Priest. He was very happy to meet us from both Phillipines and India 

After Mass, we started our Castle Visit to have a feel of how Little Xavier and his family lived day to day. Woow, so exciting. Here is a photo of ow the castle would have looked in the old times 

In some displays of important chapters in St. Xavier's life, here is a depiction of St. Francis Xavier speaking to some Brahmin priests in a Trichi temple. It is said one of the temple priests converted and followed the Saint for life since... 

As St. Xavier's family was an aristrocratic family, they all had family badges representing their family line which they would use for tax collection or wartime. This is the badge of the Xavier family. From where to where in the life of the greatest missionary!

Amazing, but true... here is the dining room where St. Francis Xavier with his siblings and parents would eat.... 

... a few of the dining dishes and some old books. 

AND finally, what we came for. St. Francis Xavier's room. A plain room at the basement of the castle with a table chair and a couple of windows. It was here that he quietly studied, growing to finally see the world, and die far far away to be laid to rest in Goa!

Further deep inside the castle, there is a very miraculous Cross of Jesus called the Smiling Jesus. It is said that when news of St. Francis Xavier died arrived tears were seen flowing down the cheeks of Jesus!

Following our visit, we paid our respects, picked up a few souvenirs and headed home. Thank God and St. Francis Xavier for the opportunity to visit your home....