Today we honor two of the youngest saints in history, the visionaries of Fatima, St Giacinta and St Francisco Marto, brother and sister to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in 1917, along with Lucia dos Santos. In fact both of them died of the Spanish flu a few years later, but Lucia survived and lived into her 90s at a Carmelite Convent in Portugal, also visited by two Popes. Francisco died on April 4, 1919 aged 10, and Giacinta died on February 20, 1920, aged 9. The Blessed Mother trusted the children with a few secret messages, which were shared with Popes and revealed only after the war ended and Communism was abolished from Russia. According to the memoirs of their cousin Sister Lucia, Francisco had a placid disposition, was somewhat musically inclined, and liked to be by himself to think. Jacinta was affectionate with a sweet singing voice and a gift for dancing. Following their experiences, their fundamental personalities remained the same. More investigation had to be carried out before Lucia is also canonized, since she lived a long life, and all her life, letters and writings will be examined and recorded through available documents, witnesses, etc. The two Marto children were solemnly canonized by Pope Francis at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal on 13 May 2017, the centennial of the first Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.
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