Did Saint Francis Xavier have the gift of tongues? I think not. Yes, he could speak his native Basque Spanish, Portuguese, and French. He had been a missionary in India, Malaysia, and the Malako Islands of Indonesia. But when Francis arrived in Japan and tried to learn the language, he failed. In a letter to St Ignatius, he wrote how admirable the Japanese were as a people, but thought their language was an invention of the devil!
Francis had been misinformed in regard to both the language and Japanese religious culture by Anjiro, a Japanese convert. Anjiro was enthusiastically inaccurate and spoke a distinctive local dialect little understood outside his area. Consequently, Francis later discovered that he had been proclaiming the Japanese sun god (Dainichi), one of many gods. Then he changed the word for God to ‘de-usu’, a transliteration of the Latin word, ‘Deus’.
This change was on the advice of a Japanese onlooker, named Ryosai, who heard Francis’ mangled language and was touched by his courage and patience in the face of scoffing insults. He received baptism from Francis and was given the name of Lawrence. Lawrence Ryosai was an almost totally blind lute troubadour. People like Lawrence were masters of the language and oral traditions and had privileged entry into the courts of the daimyo - powerful feudal lords. Lawrence became the companion and voice of Francis. We could say he was the first lay missionary in Japan.
Over the years, I have made many language bloopers! In Japanese, there are many similar sounding words, some with a long ‘u’, some with a short ‘u’. For example, in a catechumenate class the topic was the sacrament of matrimony. “Husband” is shujin, that is, with a short ‘u’.
I lengthened the ‘u’ and said shūjin, which means prisoner! Just imagine the mirth! My teacher (Lawrence) set the record straight. Interestingly, even years later that catechumenate class remembered the true Christian message of mutual love and respect!
Later, when I was on the staff of our Columban seminary in Australia helping deacons give homilies, I invited an actor from the Sydney Catholic Theatre Company, the Genesians, to give some guidelines for public speaking. She said something that has influenced my life as a Christian, priest, and homilist: “After 30 years of going out to face people on the stage, I still get nervous. I regard this feeling as a prompting by the Holy Spirit to ask for his guidance and help to speak boldly.”
I have come to realise that this attitude applies not just to homilies, but also to my ordinary everyday life. So, each morning I pray with the words of Psalm 143: “O Lord, let your gentle Spirit guide me in the paths that are level and smooth. Show me the way I should walk, talk and be. I put my trust in you.”
Try it. It works!
Columban Fr Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.
Listen to "Proclaiming mission in a language not your own!"
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - March/April 2022
