While skeptics
choose to remain
unmindful to the
reality of life
after death,
the spirit
and its
progressive march
towards perfection,
the amount of
evidence regarding
that matter grows
unceasingly.
Within the last
hundred and fifty
years a great
number of
intellectuals in
various fields of
human knowledge,
especially in the
scientific area,
have contributed
with important
researches in
order to help
mankind understand
its own
spiritual reality
in a more
clear and
reasonable way.
To list all of
them here would
deviate from the
main purpose of
this work.
Nevertheless, it
is worth
mentioning names
such as William
Crookes, Frederic
Wilhelm Myers,
Camille Flamarion,
Leon Denis, Alfred
Russel Wallace,
Gabriel Delane,
Charles Richet,
Arthur Conan Doyle,
William James, Sir
Olive Lodge,
Robert Hare,
Gustave Geley,
James Hervey
Hyslop, William
Stainton Moses,
Robert Hare, Epes
Sargent, Alexandre
Aksakof, Robert
Dale Owen, Richard
Hodgson, Ian
Stevenson among
many others. It is
also opportune to
make reference to
the extensive
evidences
comprised in the
Proceedings
of the Society for
Psychical Research
in London as
well as the
American Society
for Psychical
Research.
The huge amount of
evidence in this
field discovered
by these men
through
organizations
alike, should be
enough to lead one
to the inevitable
conclusion that we
are spirits who
are here in a
journey of
learning.
Accordingly,
mediumship is
the key that will
lift up the veil
that still lays
over the natural
link which
connects the
material and the
spiritual worlds.
It also holds the
secret that will
unfold the laws,
which at this
point is mostly
unknown. These
laws will make us
understand that we
all belong to the
same and only
family that
inhabits the
universe. This
family comprises
of all the
brotherhood of
humanity,
incarnate and
discarnate, bound
in a chain of
unavoidable
fraternity, under
the banner of a
true charity and
the sovereignty of
the same Father –
God.
Many devoted men
and women
throughout the
world have
contributed
significantly to
spread the
knowledge
regarding
mediumship.
However, only a
few of them were
able to fulfill
the task of being
true missionaries
in this field, in
a sense of not
only spreading the
messages from the
Superior Spirits,
but also living
accordingly.
Francisco de Paula
Candido Xavier,
also known as
Chico Xavier,
lived his life as
a true missionary
and fulfilled the
mission of
mediumship
according to the
most pure and
elevated teachings
of the Christian
precepts:
Love your
neighbors and your
enemies and give
for free what has
been received
freely.
Reading the
Guardian’s
article by Alex
Billos (Brazil's
leading medium,
his many books
were dictated by
the dead),
published in our
last Spiritist
Messenger, one
will realize just
how big his work
was in the field
of mediumship.
This fact would
make him the
greatest medium
ever in the
history of mankind,
because as far as
we know, no one
else has channeled
over four hundred
books, which touch
almost any subject
of human knowledge.
Although our
intent is not only
emphasizing how
big his work was,
we would like to
share some further
information with
our readers
regarding the
capacity of
Francisco Cândido
Xavier as a medium.
Guy Lyon Playfair
in his interesting
book entitled “The
Indefinite
Boundary”,
while mentioning
the series of
books known as
Nosso Lar,
channeled by the
Brazilian medium
through the spirit
of André Luiz,
makes the
following
assertion:
“…and most
important of all,
the series
contains a huge
mass of
information that
we cannot possibly
expect Chico to
have obtained from
any normal source.
His formal
education ended at
primary level in
1923, when he was
thirteen, and yet
the Nosso Lar
series shows
clear signs of
having been
written by
somebody with a
professional
knowledge of
medicine,
especially anatomy,
and far more than
the average layman’s
familiarity with
physics, chemistry,
biology,
embryology,
psychology and the
history of
evolution.
Moreover, the
books reveal a
complete mastery
of the Portuguese
language, superior
to that of many a
Brazilian who has
been through a
university
education.”
Anyhow, it was
the example of a
life of humbleness,
simplicity and
total devotion to
his fellow human
beings which
characterizes him
as a true
missionary. His
entire life was
devoted to others
and it gives us a
slight glimpse of
what the real
meaning of the
word LOVE really
is.
In the
aforementioned
book, Guy Lyon
Playfair bears
witness to this
aspect of the
medium’s life,
stating:
“Chico’s life is
a model of
Christian humility.
He gives all he
has, and asks for
nothing in return.”
Guy Lyon Playfair
is a journalist
who was born in
India and educated
in London, he
lived and worked
in Brazil for
almost two decades,
studied the
Spiritist Doctrine
and had the
opportunity of
knowing the medium
personally.
In another
excellent book
entitled “The
Flying Cow –
Research into
Paranormal
Phenomena in the
World’s most
Psychic Country”
he gives us an
impressive amount
of information
regarding the
medium, his work
and his life. The
first chapter of
the book is
dedicated to Chico
Xavier and makes a
considerable
analysis about
some of the
interesting books
of the series. We
would like to
share some of this
information with
our readers.
“Before he left
for Uberaba,
however, Chico was
to produce one of
his most
impressive books,
which seems to
have been
deliberately
planned to
confound critics,
both as regards
its subject matter
and the
extraordinary way
it was put
together.
This was
Evolution in Two
Worlds
(Chico’s sixtieth
book), and it
marked a departure
in his routine in
that it was the
first of a total
of seventeen to be
automatically
written in
collaboration with
another medium.
The second writer
was a young doctor
and Spiritist
called Waldo
Vieira, a member
of the staff of
Uberaba’s
dentistry and
pharmacy faculty
who also ran a
free clinic at the
centre Chico was
to join.
The interesting
feature of this
collaboration was
that Chico, still
in Pedro Leopoldo,
would receive one
chapter while Dr.
Vieira would
receive the next
three days later
and 250 miles away.
In this way they
produced the
book’s forty
chapters at
alternate sessions
between January
15th and June
29th, 1958. Only
upon completion of
his half did Chico
get instructions
from his guide
Emmanuel to
contact Dr. Vieira
and put the book
together. (…) It
reveals an immense
knowledge of
several sciences
that no ordinary
writer, even a
qualified
scientist, could
have assembled
without copious
research and
note-taking, and
despite the wide
education gap
between the two
writers, the unity
of style is total.
One Chapter
frequently begins
exactly where the
previous one
leaves off.”
The author goes on
by describing the
role of some of
the books in the
André Luiz
Collection,
mentioning
particularities
regarding other
books of the
series such as
And Life Goes On;
Brazil, Heart
of the World,
Fatherland of the
Gospel; and
Mechanisms of
Mediumship. In
his analysis
regarding some of
the books of the
series, he states:
“Tantalizing as
such scraps of
parascientific
information from
the other side may
be, they are
nothing compared
to what is to be
found in the last
two books in the
Our Home
(Nosso Lar)
series. These are
Evolution in
Two Worlds
(1950) and
Mechanisms of
Medimship
(1960), and they
contain a mass of
technical
information on the
functioning of
both physical and
spiritual worlds
the like of which
has never been
received from any
source, normal or
otherwise, in the
history of
literature.”
“Mechanisms
covers much of the
ground mapped out
by Kardec in his
The Mediums’
Book, which I
assume anyone
seriously
interested in the
subject will
already have read.
It goes much
deeper, however,
into the actual
workings of
mediumship, as its
title implies,
while making it
clear that the
ultimate mystery
of life is just as
mysterious to the
spirits as it is
to us.”
And he follows in
his assertions:
“The Our Home
collection is the
most complete
study ever written
on the workings of
the spirit world.
Had it now been
written by a
supposed spirit, I
suspect it would
by now be regarded
everywhere as a
classic. This
applies to a fair
amount of Chico’s
other books as
well, especially
the poetry and
historical novels,
for what is most
surprising of all
about his oeuvre
is not so much its
quantity as its
overall high
quality.”
In the work of his
divine mission of
mediumship,
Francisco Candido
Xavier’s greatest
concern was always
to serve his
fellow human
beings and to help
them in order to
bear their trials
with courage and
abnegation. This
is what makes him
a true missionary,
a champion of this
noble mission of
mediumship, which
will play the
biggest role in
the transformation
of our world for
years to come.
Much is yet to be
understood
regarding this
divine gift that
is given to all,
despite their
social, racial or
religious
condition.
Another prominent
Brazilian medium,
Divaldo Pereira
Franco, delivered
an emphatic hail
of gratitude to
Chico Xavier’s
loyalty to the
Spiritist
Doctrine’s major
precept regarding
the practice of
medimship, saying:
“His abnegation
in the practice of
the mediumship,
who never
commercialized
under any pretext,
transformed in a
safer pattern of
moral behavior for
anyone that is
affected with the
spiritual
interchange.”
Chico Xavier
endured many
trials in his life
of absolute
devotion to the
practice of his
mission as a
medium. The first
and most
devastating one
was the
orphanage. His
mother died when
he was five years
old and he was
left to have a
heartfelt and
suffering
childhood. At the
age of eleven he
was already
working in a
textile factory
due to the fact
that his income
would play an
important role in
the maintenance of
a family of nine
children.
It would take too
long to describe
the type of trials
that he went
through, but he
always persisted
renitent in his
mission. His
family had trouble
comprehending him,
for he refused to
use his mediumship
for earthly gains.
He was often
persecuted by the
pulpit, and
attacked by those
who felt troubled
by his devotion to
help the needy.
Rather than being
upset, he would
always wave to
those who tried to
harm him with a
warm message of
forgiveness and
comfort and invite
them to join him
in his fight
against prejudice
and ignorance. He
would wisely and
patiently listen
to whatever was
delivered to him
with an
unimaginable peace
characteristic of
those who have
their conscience
at ease.
"He who has no
reason to
criticize me
deserves no
response; whoever
does have it, is
being truthful,
and we are
powerless to go
against the truth.
This is what
Emmanuel has been
teaching me. For
this reason,
during my entire
life I have tried
to listen in
silence to the
truths and lies
that have been
said about
myself."
Guy Lyon Playfair
is emphatic in
registering the
medium’s absolute
lack of interest
in profiting from
mediumship, which
is unanimously
recognized by all.
“Yet despite his
enormous
popularity and
record-breaking
sales, Francisco
Candido Xavier is
a poor man. He has
never sought nor
receive a single
payment for
anything he has
written.”
“Despite the
publicity he has
attracted
throughout his
career, though he
has never sought
any, Chico is a
man of almost
pathological
modesty and
humility. He only
took up writing in
the first place at
the insistence of
others, he had no
thought of
publishing at
first, and when
his first book
became a cause
célèbre he not
only refused to
change his daily
routine but flatly
refused any
payment, as he has
done ever since.
“The books
that pass through
my hands”,
he has always
insisted, “belong
to the Spiritual
Instructors and
Benefactors, and
not to me”
“Chico does not
enjoy the
reputation and
affection he has
won because of the
books he has
helped write so
much as because of
the kind of person
he is. Impressive
as his literary
work is, it is
nothing compared
to what he has
been achieved as a
human being.
His entire life
story has been one
of rejection of
material desire
and personal
ambition, and it
is worth noting
that he had very
considerable
wealth and
influence within
his grasp but
voluntarily
renounced his
claim to it at the
very start of his
career. It must be
much harder to
turn your back on
power and fortune
when you actually
have a good chance
of winning both,
as he had.”
Due to the
magnitude of the
work of the medium
Francisco Candido
Xavier and his
mission, it would
be difficult to
register much of
his
accomplishments in
this short writing.
The medium, his
achievements and
his mission will
undoubtedly be the
subject of many
inquires and
speculation for
years to come.
In conclusion, we
would like to call
the reader’s
attention to a
very important
point, which
constitutes the
main objective of
this article.
Since the
beginning of his
mission his main
spirit mentor,
Emmanuel,
taught him to be
loyal to Jesus
Christ and to the
Spiritist Doctrine,
codified by Allan
Kardec. This
spirit mentor who
would follow the
medium and give
him guidance
throughout his
entire life was so
strict in his
warnings that he
once stated:
“If one day
I provide you with
counsel that is
not in conformity
with Jesus and
Kardec, stay with
them and forget
me.”
The life and the
achievements of
Francisco de Paula
Candido Xavier
through his
missionary task as
a medium ought to
be a safer
pattern of moral
behavior for
anyone, and
especially for
those who are
committed to the
sacred duty of
mediumship. |