São Francisco and Santa Jacinta Marto are brothers from Aljustrel, Fátima (Portugal). They are the youngest of the seven children of Manuel Pedro Marto and Olímpia de Jesus. Francisco was born on June 11, 1908 and Jacinta on March 5, 1910.
Despite being children, Francisco and Jacinta already herded the family's flock of sheep, together with their cousin Lúcia. Both were from a simple family, however, very pious and active in the Catholic faith. Proof of this is that both were baptized less than 2 weeks after birth, which showed how much the family valued Christian tradition.
In 1916, when Francisco and Jacinta were 8 and 6 years old, respectively, they saw an angel three times. In 1917, they saw the Blessed Virgin six times, who exhorted them to pray and do penance for the remission of humanity's sins. This was so that sinners could be converted and world peace could be achieved.
Francisco and Jacinta immediately responded with all their strength to the Virgin Mary's exhortations. Increasingly inflamed by the love of God and souls, they had only one aspiration: to pray and suffer, in accordance with the requests of the angel and the Virgin Mary.
In the apparition on May 13, the Blessed Virgin asked: “Do you want to offer yourselves to God?” With their cousin Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta responded: “Yes, we want to”. From then on, their lives changed completely, with total surrender to God and his plans. They experienced suffering offered to the point of death in search of the salvation of souls.
In 1918, Jacinta, together with her brother, fell ill from the Spanish flu. In January 1920, she was taken to Lisbon for treatment at the D. Estefânia Hospital. On the night of February 20th, at 10:30 pm, she died alone. His brother confessed on April 2nd and, on the 3rd, received viaticum, dying on the 4th.
The brothers' remains were transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, in the Sanctuary of Fátima. Pope Saint John Paul II beatified them on May 13, 2000, and in 2017, Pope Francis canonized them.
