died on this day in 1553, francis xavier was a missionary and general good guy. his body is said to have remined incorrupt. in 1614, for reasons not entirely known, a jesuit priest named claudio acquviva removed xavier's right arm and took it on tour across the world. jesuit membership more than doubled during his tenure.
in 1950, a photograph of the arm was published in life magazine. a doctor's wife wrote to the magazine saying, "that's not a right arm, it's a left arm." the magazine replied, saying that can't be--the saint's left arm is still attached to his body, buried in India.
2 comments:
(sister)francis xavier was one of my teachers in high school. she had two arms, but no ankles (her legs just went straight into her shoes).
as the lord intended, aimee, as the lord intended.
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