Legendsofmiracleshavethusgrownaboutthelivesofallgreatbenefactorsofhumanityinearlyages，andaboutsaintsanddevotees。Throughouthumanhistorythelivesofsuchpersonages，almostwithoutexception，havebeenaccompaniedorfollowedbyaliteratureinwhichlegendsofmiraculouspowersformaveryimportantpart——apartconstantlyincreasinguntiladifferentmodeoflookingatnatureandofweighingtestimonycausesmiraclestodisappear。Whilemodernthoughtholdsthetestimonytothevastmassofsuchlegendsinallagesasworthless，itisverywidelyacknowledgedthatgreatandgiftedbeingswhoendowtheearthwithhigherreligiousideas，gainingthedeepestholdupontheheartsandmindsofmultitudes，mayattimesexercisesuchinfluenceuponthoseaboutthemthatthesickinmindorbodyarehelpedorhealed。
Wehavewithinthemodernperiodverymanyexampleswhichenableustostudytheevolutionoflegendarymiracles。OutoftheseI
willselectbutone，whichischosenbecauseitisthelifeofoneofthemostnobleanddevotedmeninthehistoryofhumanity，onewhosebiographyisbeforetheworldwithitsmostminutedetails——inhisownletters，inthelettersofhisassociates，incontemporaryhistories，andinamultitudeofbiographies：thismanisSt。FrancisXavier。FromthesesourcesIdrawthefactsnowtobegiven，butnoneofthemareofProtestantorigin；
everysourcefromwhichIshalldrawisCatholicandRoman，andpublishedunderthesanctionoftheChurch。
BornaSpanishnoble，Xavieratanearlyagecastasideallordinaryaims，devotedhimselftostudy，wasrapidlyadvancedtoaprofessorshipatParis，andinthispositionwasrapidlywinningacommandinginfluence，whenhecameundertheswayofanotherSpaniardevengreater，thoughlessbrilliantlyendowed，thanhimself——IgnatiusLoyola，founderoftheSocietyofJesus。