Thousands of Catholics from all over Malaysia and Singapore as well as non-Christians and foreign tourists gathered at St Paul's Hill in Malacca recently to commemorate the annual feast of St Francis Xavier.

This year's celebration was special because of the revival of a tradition involving a candle-light procession to mark the feast of the Patron of Missionaries. This tradition was last observed in 1985.

The procession, preceded by two illuminated floats decked with flowers and garlands and carrying a large wooden cross and the statue of St Francis Xavier, started from the ruins of the 16th-century Portuguese church at the peak of St Pauls Hill.

Landmark: The annual Feast of St Francis Xavier is celebrated at the ruins of the 16th-century Portuguese church on St Paul's Hill.

It wound its way along Jalan Banda Hilir, Chan Koon Cheng and Banda Kaba before ending at the compound of the 1849-built St Francis Church.

Earlier, Bishop Paul Tan of the Malacca-Johor Diocese assisted by Rev Frs Francis Ng, John Yoew and M. Devadasan, led the late evening Eucharistic celebration in English, Tamil and Mandarin.

Like in previous years, the intent of the pilgrims and devotees was to give thanks and request intercession and blessings from St Francis.

Traditional: The candle-light procession that was revived after 23 years.

The body of St Francis, also known as the Apostle of the East, was temporarily interred in the church on St Paul's Hill from March to December 1553 following his death on Sancian Island off mainland China on Dec 3, 1552.

The body was later exhumed and moved to Goa's Basilica Bom Jesus in India where it lies encased in a glass chamber beneath the main altar as his final resting site.

Born in Navarre, Spain, in 1506, St Francis was a Jesuit priest who spent eleven years of his life preaching in Asia.

Devotional: Another view of the candle-light procession.

He made five visits to Malacca between Sept 1545 and May 1553 and made St Paul's Hill his missionary headquarters for his travels to Indonesia, Flores and the Far East.

Local parishioners and the clergy of the Church of St Francis Xavier boast of two sacred relics of the saint kept at its sacristy and exposed only during the annual feast day.

One of the two reliquaries contains a piece of skin taken from the foot of the saint and the other encases a fragment of his finger bone.

The saint: The statue of St Francis Xavier being paraded in the procession.

As with centuries old traditional Portuguese religious ceremonies in Malacca such as St Peter's Good Friday, Feast of the Holy Cross at Malim Hill, and Festa San Pedro and San Juang, St Francis Xavier's Feast has a large following.

The Catholic populace of Malacca cherish the celebration with pride as the saint once walked and preached on the streets here.

The late Fr Manuel Pintado, noted historian and parish priest of St Peter's Church, wrote in his book Voice of the Ruins: "The saint would walk up and around St Paul's Hill, a stone's throw from the famed Dutch Stadthuys, whenever he was in Malacca and spent hours there at night in prayer."

The hill is a major tourist destination drawing local and foreign visitors throughout the year.

St Paul's Hill and its surroundings, including the Porta de Santiago (San Tiago Gateway of the A Famosa Fort) and the Stadthuys, are within the heritage zone of Malacca's recently inscribed Unesco Word Heritage Site.