Martín Javier Mina y Larrea

General Martín Francisco Javier Mina y Larrea (July 1, 1789 – November 11, 1817), nicknamed "El Mozo," was a Spanish lawyer and army officer, who later became a Mexican revolutionary figure.

Biography

Francisco Javier Mina was born in Otao, Navarre, to Juan Mina, a wealthy farmer, and Maria Lerea. Mina studied Latin, mathematics, and humanities at the local seminary, while living in Pamplona with his uncle and aunt, Clemente and Simona Espoz. At the age of 18, he left Otao to continue his education in Zaragoza, where he began studying law at the university.

During the Peninsular War in early 1808, Spain was under occupation by French troops, prompting Mina to flee to the hills and forests of his native region. There he formed a small guerrilla force of ten men. Under his leadership, the small force quickly grew to over 200 men. Mina launched raids on the French and succeeded in capturing arms, ammunition, and horses. These additional resources allowed Mina to expand his small army to over 1,200 men and 150 mounted cavalry. Finding new strength in these numbers, he began to engage in full-scale military actions. Mina was captured in March 1810 and sent to Vincennes prison in France. He was finally released in April 1814, concurrent with the collapse of Napoleon's government.

Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier, S.J., born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Navarrese Basque Roman Catholic missionary, born in Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre (now part of Spain), and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work most notably in India. He also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas which had, until then, not been visited by Christian missionaries. In these areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. It was a goal of Xavier to extend his missionary preaching to China but he died in Shangchuan Island shortly before doing so.

St. Francis Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. In 1624 he was made co-patron of Navarre alongside Santiago. Known as the "Apostle of the Indies," and the "Apostle of Japan", he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since St. Paul. In 1927, Pope Pius XI published the decree "Apostolicorum in Missionibus" naming St. Francis Xavier, along with St. Thérèse of Lisieux, co-patron of all foreign missions. He is now co-patron saint of Navarre with San Fermin. The Day of Navarre (Día de Navarra) in Spain marks the anniversary of Saint Francis Xavier's death on 3 December 1552.