Braving the Waves with Francis Xavier

Abstract

This chapter discusses the transoceanic voyage as a rite de passage into missionary manhood. Jesuits defined their brand of masculinity in the social microcosm of the ship, carrying out pastoral work in confinement and danger. If Ignatius was the Society’s inventor and Ur-father, Francis Xavier was its patron of mobility and a model for conduct for generations of missionaries, including many Germans. Hagiographical accounts and paintings of Xavier’s dramatic sea voyages emphasize his exemplary self-governance and ability to convert sinful fears into correct fear of God. The transoceanic ship was a site of embodied conditioning for those who followed in Xavier’s footsteps. When the missionaries reached foreign shores, they felt more ready than ever to convert and regulate indigenous others.