St. Francis Xavier (1506–1552) died of fever on the small island of Shangchuan off the coast of China, where he had been waiting to enter mainland China for missionary work. His Chinese companions buried him in lime, intending to accelerate decomposition so that the bones could later be returned to Goa.
Two and a half months later, when the grave was opened, the body was found completely incorrupt — flesh, skin, and the Jesuit cassock intact, with a fresh fragrance issuing from the coffin. The body was translated to Malacca and then in 1554 to Goa, the centre of his Asian apostolate, where it remains. Once every ten years the body is exposed for public veneration in the Basilica of Bom Jesus; tens of thousands of pilgrims attend. The right forearm — with which Xavier had baptised hundreds of thousands — was removed in 1614 at the order of the Jesuit General and sent to the Gesù in Rome, where it is venerated separately. Other small fragments are at major Jesuit churches worldwide.