Have you ever wonder why the statue of St Francis Xavier at St Paul Hill is missing the right hand?According to Wikipedia, Francis Xavier was born into an aristocratic family at the castle of Xavier in the Kingdom of Navarre, on 7 April 1506.
Francis Xavier was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1537 at Venice, Italy. He devoted much of his life to missions in foreign countries.
He died at Sancian (an island on the southern coast of China) in the year 1552 on the 3rd of December at the age of 46.
He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. His incorrupt body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on 22 March, 1553.
On 11 December, 1553, Xavier's body was shipped to Goa. The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.
The right forearm, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached by Pr. Gen. Claudio Acquaviva in 1614. It has been displayed since in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome.
According to someone, when they constructed the statue, it has all the limbs. However, during a thunderstom, the lightning strike and broke the arm as St Francis Xavier was buried without his right hand.
True or False??
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