November 5 – Founder's Day of the Xaverian Missionaries

Blessed Guido Conforti (center), with the first first missionaries to go to China.

On November 5 the Xaverian Missionaries, more than 800 priests and brothers strong, celebrate the figure of their founder, Blessed Guido Maria Conforti.The Xaverian Missionaries were founded first for China, then to all the world.

It was December 3rd 1895, when a 30-year-old priest, Guido Maria Conforti, after much reflection, would officially begin, with a small group of young students, a seminary for missionaries under the patronage of St. Francis Xavier.

It was a group of 14 young men who would live in a house that Conforti bought with his meager savings. It was a poor and humble beginning… the first step of a totally unpredictable adventure… a small seed had been planted without knowing if it would bear fruits one day.

Blessed Conforti once wrote: “The missionary is the finest and most splendid example of the ideal life. In spirit, the missionary has contemplated Jesus Christ, commissioning the apostle to conquer the world, not by weapons but by persuasion and love. And the missionary has been captivated by this encounter with Christ. For this ideal cause, the missionary gives up family, homeland, and all he treasures as his very own.” More…

Check more on his life
Visit to China
Prayers
Novena
Writings
Photos and images