Francisco and Jacinta Marto: The Young Visionaries of Fatima

Siblings Who Saw Mary

WEB Francisco de Jesus Marto (11 June 1908 - 4 April 1919) and Jacinta de Jesus Marto (5 March 1910 - 20 February 1920) were siblings from Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who gained the attention of the Church and the world when Mary appeared to them. Jacinta, two years younger than Francisco, charmed all who met her with her sweetness and piety.

Apparitions and Sainthood

Mary appeared to Francisco, Jacinta, and their cousin Lúcia dos Santos six times between May and October 1917. During these apparitions, Mary entrusted them with messages of peace, repentance, and the imminent danger of World War II. Francisco died of influenza in 1919, and Jacinta died a year later from tubercular meningitis. They were both beatified in 2000 and canonized as saints in 2017.