The Lives of the Shepherd Children

They had everything for a simple, anonymous life, but they ended up making History — not only in the Catholic Church in Portugal and in the world, but also in humanity — as privileged witnesses of Apparitions at a small place called Cova da Iria, near Fatima, in central Portugal.

As the little shepherds they were, they became forever known as "the Three Shepherd Children" or "the Seers of Fatima," to whom Our Lady of the Rosary appeared six times in 1917.

Lúcia, then 10 years old, and her cousins Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7, brother and sister, were chosen to receive the Message in which the "Lady brighter than the Sun" asked for prayers, sacrifices, and reparation for offenses against her Immaculate Heart and God.

Lúcia was given the ability to see, hear, and speak during the Apparitions, while Jacinta could see and hear. Francisco could only see, so his cousin and sister would recount everything they had heard to him afterward.

Lúcia de Jesus

Born in Aljustrel on March 28, 1907, Lúcia received her First Communion on May 30, 1913. In her Memoirs, Lúcia recounts that in 1915 she first had visions of a cloud-like figure with a human form, on three different occasions, when she was with other friends. It was in the following year, 1916, that the three children received the manifestations of the Angel of Portugal.

From the first Apparition of Our Lady, on May 13, 1917, the lives of Lúcia and her cousins were completely transformed: not only because they embraced the Lady's requests — praying the rosary daily, making sacrifices for sinners, and appearing on the 13th of each month at that spot — but especially because they were constantly interrogated and accused of lying and inventing everything.

A Life Withdrawn from the World

After the last Apparition (on October 13, 1917), on the advice of the Bishop of Leiria, Lúcia began a life withdrawn from the world that would lead her to the postulancy of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Spain at the age of 15, and later to the cloistered life at the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra, where she remained from May 17, 1946, until her death on February 13, 2005.

On January 5, 1922, she wrote the first account of the Apparitions, and two and a half years later, on July 8, 1924, she responded to the official interrogation of the Diocesan Canonical Commission.

The Bishop of Leiria published, on October 13, 1930, a Pastoral Letter declaring the visions of the children at Cova da Iria "worthy of belief."

Messenger of the Fatima Message

Chosen from the beginning to be the great messenger of the Fatima Message and of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Lúcia left numerous writings, most notably her Memoirs, divided into six parts, written between December 1935 and March 1992.

The third part of the Secret, written by Sister Lúcia by order of the Bishop, was later sent to the Holy See. It was announced on May 13, 2000, by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and referred to the struggle of "atheistic systems against the Church and Christians" and described the immense suffering of witnesses of the faith in the last century. It is a "Via Crucis without end, guided by the Popes of the twentieth century."

Encounters with Popes

Lúcia met personally with almost all the Popes of her lifetime, except Benedict XV and Pius XII. Her first direct contact with a Supreme Pontiff occurred in 1967, when she traveled to Fatima to meet Paul VI during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apparitions.

Her most frequent contacts were with John Paul II, after the assassination attempt in Rome, during the Pope's visits to Fatima in 1982, 1991, and 2000. The last visit was especially significant, as it coincided with the beatification of her cousins Francisco and Jacinta.

Sister Maria Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart died on February 13, 2005, and was buried at the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra. Her remains were transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima on February 19, 2006, next to her cousin Jacinta.

Saint Francisco Marto and Saint Jacinta Marto

Of the short lives of Francisco and Jacinta Marto — "the two candles that God lit to illuminate humanity in its dark and restless hours," as John Paul II called them — there are few biographical records. The most important source is their cousin Lúcia's Memoirs.

Both born in Aljustrel, less than two years apart, they died shortly after the Apparitions, as Our Lady had told them: "I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you [Lúcia] will stay here a while longer" (June 13, 1917).

Francisco Marto (1908–1919)

Born on June 11, 1908, Francisco began shepherding with his sister Jacinta at the age of 8 in the area of Cova da Iria. During the Apparitions, he could only see, without hearing or speaking.

Driven by an intimate desire to console the heart of Jesus — for, he said, he wanted to bring joy to a God who was sad — Francisco lived intensely in contemplative prayer, spending hours before the tabernacle at the Parish Church of Fatima.

On October 18, 1918, barely a year after the last Apparition, Francisco fell ill from the pneumonic plague (Spanish flu) that ravaged the country. He died on April 4, 1919. The parish priest recorded: "And he confirmed that he had seen a Lady at Cova da Iria and Valinhos."

His remains were transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima on March 13, 1952.

Jacinta Marto (1910–1920)

Shy yet serene, Jacinta had an even shorter life than her brother Francisco. Born on March 11, 1910, she did not reach the age of 10, dying in Lisbon on February 20, 1920, also a victim of the pneumonic plague, far from her family, "but consoled with the certainty of going to Heaven" (Sister Lúcia).

During the Apparitions, Jacinta could see and hear but did not speak. She was deeply distressed by the suffering of sinners she had perceived in the vision of Hell (Apparition of July 13, 1917), and her heart filled with compassion for them and with devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

This profound devotion led her to intense prayer and enduring sacrifices for sinners. She suffered from being separated from her family, missing her mother, and weeping with hunger during the periods when she fasted out of compassion for sinners.

She was hospitalized at the Hospital de D. Estefânia in Lisbon on February 2, 1920. She was operated on but ultimately died on February 20, "with the greatest tranquility." Her remains were transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima on May 1, 1951.

Canonization — 65 Years in the Making

On May 13, 1989, John Paul II decreed the heroicity of the virtues of Francisco and Jacinta, making them venerable — the first time in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church that non-martyr children were recognized for the heroicity of their virtues and the maturity of their faith.

On May 13, 2000, John Paul II beatified Francisco and Jacinta at the Sanctuary of Fatima, presenting them as "two candles that God lit to illuminate humanity in its dark and restless hours."

On May 13, 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto were canonized at the Sanctuary of Fatima by Pope Francis during the Mass of the First International Anniversary Pilgrimage of the Centenary of the Apparitions. They thus became the youngest non-martyr saints in the history of the Catholic Church.