Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto

Francisco Marto, born in 1908, and his sister Jacinta, born in 1910, were children of a farming family in Aljustrel, near Fatima in Portugal. In 1917, while tending sheep with their cousin Lucia dos Santos, they saw the Virgin Mary six times, from May 13 to October 13, when tens of thousands witnessed the 'miracle of the sun.'

The children took Mary's requests to heart. Francisco, quiet and contemplative, spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament to console the 'hidden Jesus.' Jacinta, deeply moved by the vision of hell, offered sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and prayed constantly for the Pope. Both fell ill during the influenza pandemic. Francisco died at home on April 4, 1919; Jacinta died alone in a Lisbon hospital on February 20, 1920, at age nine. Pope Francis canonized them at Fatima on May 13, 2017, the centenary of the first apparition, making them the youngest non-martyr saints.

Their tombs are in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, visited by millions of pilgrims. Their feast is kept on February 20, Jacinta's death day.

Fatima devotion is strong throughout Latin America and the Philippines, where children often dress as the three shepherds for May processions.