The World Apostolate of
Fatima International in
conjunction with the
Shrine of Our Lady of
Fatima in Portugal is
convoking all of the faithful to join
the great celebration of the 100th
Anniversary of the death of St. Jacinta
Marto of Fatima on the 20th of Feb-
ruary, 2020. On this day, the Church
celebrates the liturgical feast of St.
Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto, the
Little Shepherds of Fatima, canonised
on May 13th, 2017.
The programme begins with a Vigil
of Adoration and Reparation to the
Blessed Sacrament in company of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary on the eve,
Wednesday, 19th of February, 2020, of-
fered for the intention of the triumph
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in
our days. It includes meditation of the
Holy Rosary, procession with candles
where possible, veneration of the
relics of the saints (Sts Francisco and
Jacinta) if possible, Fatima prayers,
prayers of reparation and blessing of
the faithful.
On the 20th of February, 2020, we
offer in our places at the most conven-
ient time, a solemn meditated Rosary
for the conversion of many sinners,
procession with the icon or statues
of Our Lady of Fatima (and of Sts
Francisco and Jacinta, if available) for
the families, the youth and children of
the world, and, above all, a Holy Vo-
tive Mass of the Little Shepherds (Sts
Francisco and Jacinta) for the unity
and strength of the Church.
The youngest among the seven
children of Manuel Pedro Marto and
Olympia Jesus dos Santos, Jacinta was
born on March 11, 1910, in the village
of Aljustrel near Fatima in Portugal.
She was a pretty child, with a sweet
singing voice and a gift for dancing
the folkloric music of Portugal. At a
First Communion, she was among the
little “angels” spreading petals before
the Blessed Sacrament. She had a
marked love for Our Lord, and at the
age of five she shed tears on hearing
the account of His Passion, vowing
that she would never sin or offend
Him anymore.
In the Spring of 1916, as Jacinta
with her brother, Francisco and their
cousin, Lucia watched their sheep,
an Angel appeared to them in an
olive grove. He asked the children to
pray with him. He appeared again
in mid-summer at a well in Lucia’s
garden, urging them to offer sacrifice
to God in reparation for sinners. In
a final appearance, at the end of the
Summer, the Angel held a bleeding
Host over a chalice, from which he
communicated the children. This
experience separated them from their
playmates and prepared them for Our
Lady’s apparitions to come.
The Angel of Peace taught the chil-
dren shepherds of Fatima the prayers
to initiate them as adorers of the Most
Holy Trinity. The Apparitions of the
Angel of Peace imposed secrecy on
the children. The apparitions of the
Angel were so intimate. Knelling on
the ground, the Angel bowed down
until his forehead touched the earth.
Led by a supernatural impulse, the
three children did the same, and
repeated the words which they heard
the Angel say: “My God, I believe, I
adore, I hope and I love Thee! I beg
pardon of Thee for those who do not
believe, do not adore, do not hope
and do not love Thee!”
On 13th May, 1917, Our Lady ap-
peared to the three shepherd children
and asked if they were willing to offer
sacrifices to God for the conversion of
sinners, and to pray the Rosary daily.
They said ‘yes’.
Jacinta was deeply affected by the
terrible vision of hell shown to them
by Our Lady in the third apparition.
She therefore was deeply convinced
of the need to save poor sinners
through penance and sacrifice as Our
Lady had told the children to do. All
three children practiced penance, but
Jacinta had a special call, for as the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
reported about Jacinta Marto in her
beatification decree, Jacinta had “an
insatiable hunger for immolation”.
As observed by Prof. Americo Lopez
Ortiz, the International President
of the World Apostolate of Fatima,
“Jacinta was a missionary who evan-
gelised people by preaching to them
the Good news of salvation, … the
message of Fatima, a need to convert
and do penance, to save many souls
from going to hell”.
“The glory of God, the salvation
of souls, the importance of the Holy
Father and priests, the necessity and
love for the sacraments, all this took
first priority in her life. She lived the
Fatima messages for the salvation of
souls around the world, demonstrat-
ing a great missionary spirit”.
Jacinta had a profound devotion that
took her very near to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. This love always led
her in a profound way to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. Jacinta attended daily
Mass with a great desire of receiv-
ing Jesus in Holy Communion in
reparation for poor sinners. Nothing
was more attractive to her than to be
in the Real Presence of the Eucharistic
Jesus. She said frequently, “I love to be
here so much. I have so much to say
to Jesus”.
With immense zeal, Jacinta sepa-
rated herself from the things of the
world to focus her attention on the
things of heaven. She searched for
silence and solitude to be in contem-
plation. “I love the Lord so much,” she
said to Lucia.
The siblings, Francisco and Jacin-
ta Marto, were victims of the great
1918 influenza epidemic that swept
through Europe that year. In October
1918, Jacinta told Lucia that Our Lady
had appeared to her and promised
to take her and Francisco to heaven
soon.
Jacinta was moved from one hospital
to another in an attempt to save her
life, which she insisted was futile.
She developed purulent pleurisy and
endured an operation in which two of
her ribs were removed. She could not
be fully anesthetized, and suffered ter-
rible pain, which she offered to God
for the conversion of many sinners.
On 19th February 1920, she asked
the hospital chaplain who heard her
confession to bring her Holy Com-
munion and administer Extreme
Unction because she was going to die
“the next night”. He told her that her
condition was not that serious and
that he would return the next day. The
next day Jacinta was dead; she had
died, as Our Lady told her, “alone” in
order to convert more sinners.
Jacinta, before her death at age nine,
told Lucia, then a twelve-year-old
girl: “When you are to say this, don’t
hide. Tell everybody that God grants
us graces through the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, that people are to ask
her for them; and that the Heart of
Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of
Mary to be venerated at his side. Tell
them also to pray to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary for peace, since God
entrusted it to her”.
In 1937 Pope Pius XI decided that
causes of canonization for minors
should not be accepted as they could
not fully understand heroic virtue or
practice it repeatedly, both of which
are essential for canonization. For
the next four decades, no sainthood
processes for children were pursued.
In 1979, the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima,
Don Alberto Cosme do Amaral,
asked all the world Bishops to write to
the Pope, petitioning him to make an
exception for Francisco, who had died
at age 10, and Jacinta, who had died
at age 9. More than 300 bishops sent
letters to the Pope, writing that “the
children were known, admired and
attracted people to the way of sanctity.
Favours were received through their
intercession.” The bishops also said
that the canonization of Francisco and
Jacinta was a pastoral necessity for the
children and teenagers of the day.”
In 1979 the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints convened a Gen-
eral Assembly. Cardinals, bishops,
theologians and other experts debated
whether it was possible for children
to display heroic virtue. They decided
that, like the very few children who
have a genius for music or mathemat-
ics, “in some supernatural way, some
children could be spiritual prodigies.”
Francisco and Jacinta were declared
venerable by Pope John Paul II in
- On 13th May 2000, the siblings
were declared “blessed” in a decree
from the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints.
Pope Francis solemnly canonized
Francisco and Jacinta on 13th May
2017 during the centennial of the first
apparition of Our Lady in Fatima.
They are the Catholic Church’s young-
est saints who did not die as martyrs,
with Jacinta the youngest.
Before her death, Jacinta revealed
some little-known statements made
by Our Lady:
• “The sin which leads most
people to hell is the sin of impurity”.
• “Tell everybody … that the
heart of Jesus wishes the heart of
Mary to be venerated at His side. Let
them ask for peace through the Im-
maculate of Mary, for God has given
it to her”.
• “War is a punishment for
sin”.
• “Certain fashions will be
introduced that will offend Our Lord
very much”.
• “Many marriages are not
good, they do not please Our Lord
and are not of God”.
• “Priests must be pure, very
pure. They should not busy them-
selves with anything except what
concerns the Church and souls. The
disobedience of priests to their supe-
riors and to the Holy Father is very
displeasing to Our Lord”.
Let us put into practice the Message
of Fatima explained to us by Our
Lady in 1917 “while there is still time
before it is too late”. Let us transform
our hearts by daily recitation of the
Rosary, meditating on the mysteries,
penance, Eucharistic Adoration and
Communion of Reparation to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary on the
First Saturdays of the month and con-
secrating ourselves to God through
the Immaculate Heart of Mary in this
time of grace and mercy that we have
been granted from heaven following
in the footsteps of St. Francisco and
St. Jacinta Marto of Fatima.
