ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S TOMB.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 177, 18 August 1876, Page 8

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S TOMB.

It i 9 itatecl that the Archbishop of Goa will open the tomb of St. Francis Xavier in Goa on December 3of this year. In reference to this announcement, we give the following account of the saint's tomb, which we fii,d among some old extracts from the 'Indo European Correspondence :' — Goa, the capital of Portuguese India, is equally well supplied with mementos of a grand past, although its statues and other portable features have been removed to Panjim, or New Goa, six miles from the original city. The principal square of Panjim contains a statue of Albuquerque, black with age, which iv 16C9 stood fronting the chief church of Goa. The figure is of a man below the middle height, with a long beard, elbows stretched out, and the hands resting in front. The ancient capital still retains a statute of Vasco de Gama, erected by his grandson nearly three centuries ago. The principal building is the cathedral dedicated to St. Catherine, on whose day Goa was takon by Albuquerque. It is crowded with epitaphs, one relating to Gasper de Leao, the first Archbishop, who died in 1578. Passing the site of the Inquisition and entering the heart of the city, you reach the spacious church of Bom Jesus, which holds the remains of St. Francis Xavier — originally deposited elsewhere, but removed in 1623 to this church, and transferred in 1655 from oue side of the building to the other. Over the main altar is a statue of St. Ignatius, and, near by, one in silver of Xavier himself. The mausoleum of the saint was presented by a Grand Duke of Tuscany, and consists of three layers besides the silver coffin on the top. The lowest stage i 9 jasper, ornamented with figures of cherubs in Uarrara alabaster. The second is also of jasper, of various colors, each of the four sides con-^ taining a bronze bas-relief, representing a scene in Xavier's life. That on the we;t, at the feet of the corpse, represents the saiutß baptizing savages ; above it is the motto ut vitam haheant. The second bronze represents Xavier preaching, and it is surmounted by 2fox inimica fugat. On the third the saint appears to be fleeing from the savages of the island of Hero, and beneath are the words Nihil horum vereor. The fourth scene, at the head of the coffin, is that of Xavier's death, and over it the motto Major in occasu. Above is the third sfcaga, built of jasper and other stones of Tarious colors. On this rests the ornamented silver coffin witb a cross beneath a rich crimson canopy surmounted by a coronet. The coffin was last opened aud the body exhibited in 1859. The library of Goa is also well worthy of inspection. It contains a large number of volumes taken from the ruined and suppressed convents, mostly in Spanish and Portuguese. Of course, theological and monastic works predominate, but there are many others of a lighter character.