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Christian Medal / Pendant
Mission San Xavier Del Bac
3.5 x 2.6 centimeters (9.57 grams)
Made circa 1950’s-1960’s
SAN FRANCISCO XAVIER ROAD POR NOSTROS around laying figure of St. Francis Xavier holding cross, Jesuit; XS monogram below.
MISSION SAN XAVIER DEL BAC TUCSON ARIZONA around the mission’s building.
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Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O’odham San Xavier Indian Reservation. It was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino in the center of a centuries-old Indian settlement of the Tohono O’odham (formerly known as Papago), located along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The mission was named for Francis Xavier, a Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in Europe. The mission was built at a site near the historic 1700 church first constructed here. This served the mission until being razed during an Apache raid in 1770.
Today’s Mission was built between 1783-1797; it is the oldest European structure in Arizona; the labor was provided by the O’odham. Widely considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, it hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.
The site is also known in Tohono O’odham language as the “place where the water appears,” as there were once natural springs in the area. The Santa Cruz River, once critical to the community’s survival, now runs only part of the year.
The Mission is a pilgrimage site, with thousands visiting each year on foot and on horseback, in what are called cabalgatas in Spanish.
 
 Saint Francis Xavier, S.J. (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, 7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Navarrese Basque Roman Catholic missionary, born in Javier (Xavier in Navarro-Aragonese or Xabier in Basque), Kingdom of Navarre (present day Spain), and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India. The Goa Inquisition was proposed by St. Francis Xavier. He also was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his missionary preaching to China but died in Shangchuan Island shortly before he could do so.
He was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. In 1624 he was made co-patron of Navarre alongside Santiago. Known as the “Apostle of the Indies,” and the “Apostle of Japan”, he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since Saint Paul. In 1927, Pope Pius XI published the decree “Apostolicorum in Missionibus” naming Saint Francis Xavier, along with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, co-patron of all foreign missions. He is now co-patron saint of Navarre with San Fermin. The Day of Navarre (Día de Navarra) in Spain marks the anniversary of Saint Francis Xavier’s death, on 3 December 1552.
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