A Mythical St Francis Xavier Lore
Does it hold some truth?
Have you ever heard of St Francis Xavier Lore?
Let me share with you this mythical Melaka folklore.
This interesting and mythical folklore has a connection with a special crab which was believedto be found in Melaka, Malaysia only.
This photograph is taken from a book.
This is how the story goes…..
St. Francis Xavier also known as Apostle of the East visited Melaka four times in the 16th century. It was believed that on one of his visits, he and two others were sailing on a boat along the coast off Melaka when a heavy storm broke out.
Therefore, they were unable to get back to shore. St. Francis took out his crucifix and dipped it into the sea in order to calm the raging storm. Magically, the heavy storm ceased. However, his crucifix slipped from his fingers and disappeared into the waves.
They managed to land their boat on an island. There was some slight different version of St Francis Xavier lore, some believed that St. Francis Xavier prayed to God for the recovering of his crucifix while it was never mentioned in the other version.
Nevertheless, the following parts were the same. They saw a crab crawling up the beach and it was clutching his crucifix with its claws.
Surprised, St. Francis Xavier knelt down and bent towards the crab as it made its way towards him. Pleased with recovering his crucifix, St. Francis blessed the crab and the sign of the cross appeared on its back.
Melaka is believed to be the only place in the world where such crabs could be found. According to the local, some people (The Portuguese) refuse to eat such crabs as a mark of reverence to St. Francis Xavier.
Do you believe in this St. Francis lore?
By the way, these crabs are still found today in the straits of Melaka. When you are here in Melaka, just head towards the Portuguese Settlement in Ujung Pasir. Who knows, you might be lucky and encounter one from the fisherman’s net.
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