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| Francisco and Jacinta to be canonized May 13, 2017. |
Pope Francis on Thursday announced his intention to canonize Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the shepherd children and visionaries of Fatima, when he visits the famed place in May to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary on the site. Francisco, 11, and Jacinta, 10, became the youngest non-martyr children in the history of the Church when they were beatified May 13, 2000, by Pope John Paul II.
The brother and sister, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, witnessed the apparitions of Mary now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima. During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to pray the Rosary and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. The children did this and were known to pray often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their sacrifices and even refrained from drinking water on hot days. When Francisco and Jacinta became seriously ill with the Spanish flu in October 1918, Mary appeared to them and said she would take them to heaven soon. Bed-ridden, Francisco requested and received his first Communion. The following day, Francisco died, April 4, 1919. Jacinta suffered a long illness and was eventually transferred to a Lisbon hospital, where she underwent an operation for an abscess in her chest. However, her health did not improve and she died Feb. 20, 1920. Lucia survived and lived a long life as a Carmelite nun, seeing more apparitions of the Blessed Mother. She met many of the Popes, to whom she entrusted with the Secret of Fatima. She died in 2004, aged 97.
The brother and sister, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, witnessed the apparitions of Mary now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima. During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to pray the Rosary and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. The children did this and were known to pray often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their sacrifices and even refrained from drinking water on hot days. When Francisco and Jacinta became seriously ill with the Spanish flu in October 1918, Mary appeared to them and said she would take them to heaven soon. Bed-ridden, Francisco requested and received his first Communion. The following day, Francisco died, April 4, 1919. Jacinta suffered a long illness and was eventually transferred to a Lisbon hospital, where she underwent an operation for an abscess in her chest. However, her health did not improve and she died Feb. 20, 1920. Lucia survived and lived a long life as a Carmelite nun, seeing more apparitions of the Blessed Mother. She met many of the Popes, to whom she entrusted with the Secret of Fatima. She died in 2004, aged 97.
I am not Catholic, however, I read a book on this miraculous event and I have nothing but faith in the Lord that it is true.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderfully blessed we are to have a loving Lord who sent His mother to these children, who most deservedly should be made saints.
Hasi