On May 13, 2017, Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the three shepherd children and visionaries of Fatima, whom the Church commemorates on February 20. It was Lucia, the cousin of the two children (who died on February 13, 2005, and is currently a Servant of God), who sketched the profile of both in her Memoirs: these are precious lines because they reveal both the exceptional nature and, at the same time, the absolute normality of these children: saints because they allowed God to act in their lives!
FRANCISCO
Francisco Marto was born on June 11, 1908: he was the second-youngest of the five children of Olimpia and Manuel Marto. He was a boy with a round face and lively eyes; he had a gentle, patient, quiet, and very humble nature. He had a contemplative soul, more inclined to think and listen than to speak and express himself.
“I don’t care”
This is Lucia’s portrayal of him: «The friendship that united me to Francisco was that which arose from our kinship and that which brought with it the graces that heaven deigned to grant us.
Francisco did not seem like Jacinta’s brother, except in his facial features and his practice of virtue. He was not capricious and lively like her. On the contrary, he had a peaceful and accommodating nature.
When, during our games and amusements, someone stubbornly refused to acknowledge his rights as the winner, he would give in without resisting, limiting himself to saying only: “Do you think you won? All right then! I don’t care!”»
Close to the hidden Jesus
Of the three shepherd children, Francisco was always the one who offered more sacrifices to the Lord than the others, to console Him in His great sorrow. Lucia recounts that as soon as they told him, after the first apparition, that Our Lady had promised to take him to heaven if he said many Rosaries, “he, happy and showing the joy he felt at the promise of going to heaven, crossing his hands over his chest, said: ‘O my Lady! I’ll say as many Rosaries as you want!’”
And from that day on, he took to moving away from us, as if going for a walk. If I called him and asked what he was doing, he would raise his hand and show me the rosary. If I told him to come and play, saying that he could pray with us afterward, he would reply: “I’ll pray afterward too. Don’t you remember that Our Lady said I must recite many Rosaries?”. […]
When he went to school, arriving in Fatima, he would sometimes say to me: “Listen, you go to school. I’ll stay here in the church, near Jesus hidden away. There’s no point in my learning to read; I’ll be going to heaven soon. When you come back, come and call me”».
See you in heaven
During the second apparition, the Virgin Mary told the little shepherds that she would soon take Francisco and Giacinta to heaven, while Lucia would remain on earth for some time longer.
Francisco fell ill in October 1918: this is how Lucia recounts their last meeting: «Once it was already night, I said goodbye to him: “Francisco, goodbye! If you go to heaven tonight, don’t forget me up there; do you understand?”.
“I won’t forget you, no; don’t worry”. And, taking my right hand, he squeezed it tightly for quite some time, looking at me with tears in his eyes. […]
“Then goodbye, Francisco! See you in heaven!”.
“Goodbye, in heaven!”.
And heaven was drawing near. She flew up there the next day, into the arms of the heavenly Mother».
GIACINTA
Giacinta is Francisco’s younger sister, born on March 11, 1910. In her Memoirs, Lucia describes her as an extraordinarily sensitive soul: «At the age of 5, when she heard people recounting the sufferings of the divine Redeemer, she was moved to tears. “Poor Jesus – she would repeat – I must not sin anymore; I don’t want Jesus to suffer any more”».
When she was allowed to go with her cousin and brother to the pasture, Lucia recounts that «Giacinta very much enjoyed listening to the echo of her voice at the bottom of the valleys. So one of our amusements was to shout loudly from the mountaintops, sitting on the largest rock. The name that echoed the most was that of Mary. Sometimes Giacinta would say the entire Hail Mary this way, repeating the next word only when the previous one had finished echoing. […]
They had recommended that we pray the Rosary after our snack, but since all the time seemed too little for playing, we found a good way to finish it quickly: we passed the beads, saying in rapid succession: “Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary!” When we reached the end of the mystery, after a long pause, we said the simple words: “Our Father”! And so, in the blink of an eye, as they say, our Rosary was finished!».
«I suffer for love of the Lord…»
Jacinta is just 7 years old when Our Lady first appears to her while she is out tending the flock: from that moment, her life changes radically: the child reflects at length on the eternity of Hell and «takes sacrifices for the conversion of sinners seriously», even going without her snack to help the children of two needy families; she falls in love with the Pope, whom she very much wishes to meet face to face; she is often found praying with an outpouring of love surely beyond her years.
Jacinta falls ill with pneumonia in October 1918, shortly before her brother Francisco, but her ordeal is more tormented because, in addition to the Spanish flu, she suffers from purulent pleurisy, which she bears and offers «for the conversion of sinners and to make reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary».
One final great sacrifice is asked of her: to leave her loved ones for admission to a hospital in Lisbon. Jacinta tells her cousin Lucia that the Virgin had foretold what would happen: «She told me that I am going to Lisbon, to another hospital; that I will never see my parents again; that after suffering greatly I will die alone, but that I should not be afraid, because she will come there to take me to heaven». And indeed, Our Lady serenely comes to take her on February 20, 1920.
These holy children teach us that holiness is a “thing for little ones,” because it lies in entrusting ourselves without reserve to a Love that surpasses us, envelops us, and cares for us, whatever happens… This is the reason for our hope: from every darkness, the Lord knows how to draw light!
