Francisco Cândido Xavier – a reliable reference for all those, Spiritists or not, who seek for inner peace, the necessary condition to rise to the greater planes of Life - was born on the ^2nd of April, 1910, in a small town called Pedro Leopoldo, in the inner land of the State of Minas Gerais, in a family formed by his father Joao Candido Xavier, his mother Mrs. Maria de Sao Joao de Deus and another eight brothers.  A very poor family with insufficient material resources; and it was in this family that the greatest and most effective instrument of Superior Spirituality appeared to accomplish a great work and of great impact: to deepen and clarify the Spiritist Codification, made by Allan Kardec in the middle of the nineteenth century, and which would complete the ideas proposed therein with total clarity and knowledge, without, however, altering the essence of the message brought by the Superior Spirits that make up the team of The Spirit of Truth, in complete alignment with the doctrinal bases instituted by the great Master from Lyon, who, through his common sense, discipline and effort in constant and constructive work, brought us the Third Divine Revelation, that is, the Doctrine of Spirits.

Our idea is to present our dear Chico in some ways so that we can understand his legacy, from four angles: human, mediumistic, moral and doctrinal.

Chico Xavier - The Man

Numerous reports of family members, friends and co-workers have something in common by stating about someone who worked and lived so that he could meet the commitments he made, as well as all the work he had to perform, always in an orderly manner, delivering a result of quality and responsibility in his professional work as well as in his spiritual work. Colleagues at the “Fazenda Modelo” - part of the Ministry of Agriculture where Chico worked as a clerk - said of the privilege of living and working with him, since he always created an atmosphere of joy, peace and cooperation.

Throughout his life, he made enough for his subsistence from the material work accomplished from a very young age; he started at the age of nine when he worked at the tissue factory in Pedro Leopoldo. With his example of life he inspires us to seek to achieve our renewal. We will not reach Chico's level of development, today or tomorrow, because it will take a long time, but as he said, quoting Emmanuel, his mentor and guide: "we cannot make a new beginning, but we can start over and make a new end".

The legacy of the man Chico Xavier is first of all the example of life so that we can also continue living and seeking for the knowledge of ourselves, with the firm decision to change towards the practice of good and love.

Without idolizing the person of Chico Xavier, we need to realize that he was an ordinary man, even though he was special. A man with human needs and who faced setbacks in the family, when he had been confronted by his brothers to move out of his house because they were not being able to handle so much movement around the medium, a fact that led to the displeasure of some. But even then, there was never a total split in his relationship with his family, but yes, there was understanding. He did not leave them spiritually and received them in Uberaba, and he would also visit them in the city of Pedro Leopoldo.

"Chico was a man of the world like any other, subject to anguish and pain, to hunger and cold and misunderstandings [...] He had dreams and material desires, he liked football, TV, movies and other entertainments, even though he had very little time for it".¹ He was a good-natured person who liked to listen and tell jokes, listen to music, and so on; so, to be a good Spiritist, one does not have to have a serious face or to be austere. Spiritism is the revival of the Gospel, which is the Good News!

According to his adopted son Euripedes Humberto Higino dos Reis, he knew how to strongly reprimand when necessary, but without losing his emotional balance. He knew how to talk to people, for he knew about them even before they opened their mouths to talk to him. With his finest mediumship and sensibility, he knew how to perceive intentions, and in general he already answered the doubt, or the mental comment of the approaching one. One of the situations that demonstrates this ability to be firm without being aggressive occurred on one occasion, during an evangelical meeting in Bairro do Abacateiro, a politician asked to speak, but instead of commenting on the subject under discussion, he began to campaign for the upcoming elections. There was an immediate and public reprimand on the part of Chico: “Doctor, this is not a political platform here!"². Of course, the individual was very uncomfortable and the meeting went on.

The legacy of the man Chico Xavier also leads us to the question of how to face the physical problems, which were many. As a child, he suffered from a skin disease, and then he went through a heel surgery where a tumor was growing; from the age of ten to fifteen, he also suffered of a disease known as "St Vitus disease". His eyes had serious problems: strabismus in his right eye and displacement of the lens on his left eye, subject to constant bleeding, forcing him from the age of 21 to wear dark glasses. In 1969 the great medium Ze Arigo set out to operate on Chico's eyes, but he refused, saying that: "Illness is a trial of the Spirits that I must endure". And about the disease, Chico said that it was a blessing, because: "... the disease controls my impulses, helping me, as the brake controls the animal in its necessary domestication. Not to look at what should not be looked at, not to have ambition to own this and that".

In 1951 she suffered a strangulated hernia crisis, being hospitalized in the Hospital San Juan de Pedro Leopoldo, where he was operated. Following medical advice, he moved to Uberaba in January 1959, and felt better from the hernia and also the labyrinthitis and angina that he acquired due to the heart attack he had suffered.

The inheritance that Chico leaves us with regard to the diseases that affected him is the understanding that these diseases did not represent an evil, but a good in his life, because they allowed him to concentrate on his mission without giving in to the appeals of matter. It gives us the example of resignation before the evils that he suffered, understanding that resignation is the agreement of the heart, that is, it is the equivalent of "Lord, Thy will be done and not mine". As for this aspect, it makes us think about our own attitude towards life and its setbacks. Are we finding ourselves despised by God? Abandoned by Spiritual Friends? Are our problems bigger and harder to solve? Let us look at Chico without the idolatry that we normally practice, but with the eyes that see the human being who suffered silently and happy, working tirelessly to carry out his mission.

Of course the thought of "But I'm not Chico Xavier" will come up in our mind. No doubt we are not, but we can be so as we move to change our point of view. His legacy in this sense can help us deal more lightly with the evils that arise in our lives, remembering that these arise as a consequence of our own actions and that we are making a settlement of scores today.

To conclude this analysis of the legacy of the man Chico Xavier, it is worth remembering here his attitude towards others, the people that surrounded him, not allowing, at any moment, people to raise him above anyone else. He said he felt as insignificant as a little speck! Coming from him, that phrase sounded with true humbleness, for it came out of his heart.

To be humble is an exercise in detachment that presupposes wisdom. St. Augustine, a great philosopher of the Catholic Church, who composes the team of the Spirit of Truth, contributing immensely to the codification of Spiritism, understood that the exhortation made by Jesus concerning "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heavens”, poor in Spirit meaning here someone simple, and not an inflated ego. Normally, we feel puffed up and swollen by pride and vanity, so Jesus promised the Kingdom of Heaven to the "poor in Spirit", i.e. to the humble. Chico represents very well this condition of humility that he demonstrated in his actions with the people who went to him, whom he always loved with great loyalty, and with whom he felt very well and happy. He never treated anyone differently, because he felt that everyone was equal to him and he was just like everyone else. He knew how to listen and talk calmly, with respect and love.

Jesus left us a message: "When you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted " (Luke 14: 10, 11). Chico Xavier was invited by Jesus to take the place of the simple and humble man during an incarnation that lasted 92 years, but when he was disincarnated, the great Master called him to the first places of the Wedding of Light and Love, to which the dear friend was invited.

Chico Xavier - the medium

Chico Xavier has recently been the greatest medium we know of, not only because of the legacy he leaves us with his more than 450 books published in several languages ​​and the remarkable phenomena he produced, under the safe guidance of Emmanuel, his mentor and friend, as well as a team of remarkable and enlightened spirits such as Dr. Bezerra de Menezes, Auta de Souza, Sister Sheilla, Meimei, Humberto de Campos, Andre Luiz, and Emmanuel himself who brought us pages of deep beauty and calling our attention to urgent issues for our progress. He possessed various types of mediumship: psychography, psychophony, clairvoyance, clairaudience, physical phenomena, healing, double sight, telepathy, and others, which he systematically placed at the service of goodness, the practice of charity and true love.

In The Book of Mediums, Chapter XX, item 227, Allan Kardec relates the qualities that attract the Good Spirits: kindness, benevolence, simplicity of heart, love of neighbor and detachment from material things.

(This article will be completed in the next issue of this magazine.)