St. Francis Borgia
Feast Day: October 10
St. Francis was a husband, father of eight, a member of the court of Charles V and the Duke of Gandia.
Then he experienced a conversion in 1539.
And after his wife died, he joined the Jesuits in 1550.
St. Ignatius recognized Francis’ administrative talents and advanced him in the leadership of the society.
The Jesuits elected him general in 1565.
Francis consolidated the order, founding novitiates in every province.
He also expanded the society’s ministry throughout Europe and he introduced bases into the Americas.
Francis’ correspondence sparkles with wisdom.
“When you remove your clothes at bedtime,” he once wrote, “crave Jesus’ pain when he was stripped just before his crucifixion, so that he may strip us of our evil habits of mind.”
