Saints Francisco and Jacintha Marto as told by an exceptional witness

In Fatima, beginning on May 13, 1917, heaven bent down to earth, and the Virgin chose three little shepherds: Francisco, Jacintha, and Lucia, to reveal the things of heaven to them.
On February 20, the Church celebrates Francisco and Jacintha. To remember them, we turn to the words of an exceptional witness, their cousin Lucia, who later became Sister Lucia.

Francisco: consoling Jesus

Lucia describes Francisco as a lively but not capricious child, with a peaceful temperament. During games, if a disagreement arises, he gives in without resisting. After the Virgin enters his life, he is truly interested in nothing but heavenly realities: he is a man of few words, loves silence, and never misses an opportunity to sanctify himself through acts of heroism.
When he goes to school, he likes to stay in church “near Jesus,” because, as he himself says, “for me, it’s not worth learning to read; soon I will go to heaven”. 
He strongly feels that his mission is to pray incessantly according to Our Lady’s intentions. He has a special devotion to the Eucharist and spends a great deal of time in church adoring the Blessed Sacrament, which he calls “hidden Jesus”.

On December 23, 1918, fourteen months after the last apparition, Jacintha and Francisco are struck by the Spanish flu. During his illness, Francisco is always cheerful and content. When Lucia asks him if he is suffering a lot, he replies: “Quite a bit, but it doesn’t matter, I suffer to console the Lord, and soon I will go to heaven!”
On April 2, 1919, Francisco’s health is so serious that the parish priest is called to hear his confession. He fears dying without being able to receive his First Communion, but the priest accommodates him by administering the Eucharist to him for the first time that same evening. The next day, Francisco confides to his little sister Jacintha: “Today I am happier than you, because I have Jesus in my heart”. That night he says goodbye to Lucia, telling her they will meet again in heaven. Then he says to his mother: “Look, Mom, what a beautiful light over there, near the door!” His face lights up with an angelic smile, and then Francisco passes away peacefully.

Jacintha: suffering to convert sinners

Jacinta is only 7 years old when Our Lady first appears to her while she is out grazing the sheep. Lucia recounts that until that day Jacinta was a child like all the others: she liked to play; she was a little touchy, took offense easily, and could not accept losing; she liked to dance, and the sound of a fife was all it took to get her started.
Our Lady bursts into her life and radically changes it: the child reflects at length on the eternity of Hell and “takes seriously the sacrifices for the conversion of sinners”; she even gives up her afternoon snack to help the children of two needy families. Any suffering offered for the conversion of sinners is always accompanied by a profound love.

When she falls ill, she offers every suffering “for the conversion of sinners and to make reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” One day, she is asked to make a great sacrifice: to leave her family, and especially her cousin Lucia, to be admitted to a hospital in Lisbon. But she already knows everything; the Virgin has told her in advance, assuring her that she would come to take her. At her last meeting with Lucia before being hospitalized, Jacinta says to her: “You are staying here to tell everyone that God wishes to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the world. Tell everyone that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; let them ask her for them.” Our Lady came to take her on February 20, 1920, as she had promised.

Saints Francisco and Jacinta

On May 13, 1989, Saint John Paul II proclaimed the heroic nature of the virtues of Francisco and Jacinta and subsequently approved and promulgated the authenticity of a miracle attributed to their intercession. The same Pontiff declared them blessed on May 13, 2000, in Fatima itself. On March 23, 2017, Pope Francis approved another miracle obtained through the intercession of the two blessed shepherd children of Fatima, paving the way for their canonization, celebrated on May 13, 2017, the first centenary of the apparitions.
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children” (Mt 11:25). Let us learn humility, littleness, and readiness to give ourselves to others from Francisco and Jacinta!