St Paul's Church

• Statue of St. Francis Xavier

Brief Introduction

• The ruin of St.Paul′s Church is located on top of St.Paul′s Hill and was one of five churches in the fortress complex A Famosa on the hill that was built by the Portuguese in 1521.
• The St. Paul's Church of Melaka was originally a Portuguese chapel built by

Duarte Coelho in 1521 in gratitude to Our Lady of Grace for a miraculous escape from an attack on his ship by a fleet in the South China Sea.

• This chapel was known as Chapel of the Mother of God (Madre de Deus) or Our Ladyof the Hill (Nossa Senhora do Oiteiro).
• The body of St. Francis Xavier was laid to rest at the church. His body was then transferred to Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India.
• In 1952, a statue of St. Francis Xavier was built to commemorate the passing of the saint.
• Canonization of St. Francis Xavier was done in 1614. The Pope requested Francis’s right arm to be brought to Rome, in order to be canonized.
• On the morning after the consecration ceremony, a large casuarina tree fell on it and broke off the right arm, resulted in a statue with missing arm until today.