Communicating in difficult new languages can result in some bloopers cautions 90-year-old Columban missionary, Fr Barry Cairns.
Did St Francis Xavier have the gift of tongues? I think not! Yes, he could speak his native Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French. He was a missionary in India, Malaysia and Indonesia (Maluku Islands).
But after Francis arrived in Japan, he tried to learn the language and failed. In a letter to St Ignatius, he wrote how admirable were the Japanese as a people but he thought their language was an invention of the devil!
Francis was misinformed about both the language and Japanese religious culture in Malacca by Anjiro, a Japanese convert. Anjiro was enthusiastically inaccurate and spoke the language with a distinctive local dialect, little understood outside his own area.
So later, Francis found out that he had been proclaiming the Japanese sun-god (Dainichi) – one of many gods. He changed God to ‘deusu’, a transliteration of the Latin ‘Deus’. This change was on the advice of a Japanese onlooker named Ryosai who heard the mangled words of Francis, but was more touched by his courage and patience, despite the scoffing and insults.
Portrait of St Francis Xavier in the Kobe City Museum, Japan.
He received baptism from Francis and was given the baptismal name, Lawrence.
Lawrence Ryosai was an almost totally blind lute (biwa) troubadour. These tended to be masters of language and oral tradition, with a privileged entry into the courts of the Daimyo (feudal lords). Lawrence became the voice and companion of Francis. 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 have a long ‘u’, some a short ‘u’. For example, in a catechumenate class the topic was the Sacrament of Matrimony. ‘Husband’ is ‘shujin’. I lengthened the ‘u’ – ‘shu-jin’ is a prisoner! Just imagine the mirth! My team teacher (my ‘Lawrence’) put the record straight.
For five years at the Columban seminary in Australia I helped deacons with their homilies. I invited an actress from the Sydney Catholic Theatre Company, the Genesians, to give some guidelines for public speaking.
I heard words from that actress which have influenced my life as a Christian and as a priest. These are her precious words: “After 30 years of going out to face people on a 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 to my ordinary everyday life. So each morning I pray with the flavour of Psalm 143: “O Lord let your gentle Spirit guide me in 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! •
Fr Barry Cairns was born in New Zealand in 1931. After studying to be a Columban missionary in Australia, he went to Japan in 1956. At 90 years of age he still serves in a small parish in Yokohama City.
This article was published in the May/June 2022 edition of the Far East magazine.
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