People

Jacinta Marto

Portuguese child visionary who, with her brother Francisco Marto and cousin Lúcia (Fatima seer), reported a series of Marian apparitions at Fatima in 1917 and died in 1920 at the age of nine.

1910-03-11 · 1920-02-20 · Fatima seer

Jacinta Marto was born on 1910-03-11 in the hamlet of Portugal, Aljustrel, part of the parish of Fatima Portugal, twenty-one months after her brother Francisco Marto.¹² Together with Francisco and their cousin Lúcia (Fatima seer), she reported a series of visions beginning in spring 1916, when the three children were watching their herds on the Loca do Cabeço mountain and an apparition they described as an angel of peace appeared to them.³ A second appearance of the angel followed, during which Lúcia and Jacinta reported hearing its words while Francisco reported only seeing it,⁴ and a third occurred late in August 1916 on the mountain slope between Preguiça and Lapa de Cabeço overlooking Aljustrel.⁵

The apparitions the family became known for began on 1917-05-13 at Portugal, Fatima, Cova da Iria, when the three children, grazing sheep, witnessed a flash of light they initially took for lightning.⁶ This First apparition of Our Lady of Fatima (1917-05-13) lasted about ten minutes; only Lúcia reported speaking with the figure, Jacinta reported only listening, and Francisco reported seeing the figure’s lips move without hearing anything.⁷ Jacinta was unable to keep the children’s agreed silence and told her mother, Olimpia Marto, that she had seen “Our Dear Lady” soon after returning home;⁸ Olimpia responded by laughing and mockingly telling her daughter she was now a saint.⁹ A Second apparition of Our Lady of Fatima (1917-06-13) followed on 1917-06-13, which the children’s parents declined to attend for fear of public embarrassment if the vision proved false,¹⁰ and a Third apparition of Our Lady of Fatima (1917-07-13) on 1917-07-13 included, according to the record, a vision of hell and the revelation of what became known as the three secrets.¹¹ The content of the Third Secret of Fatima was not made public for eighty years afterwards.¹²

In August 1917 the mayor of Ourém, Artur Santos, diverted a carriage carrying the three children and held them, reportedly threatening to throw them into boiling oil in an attempt to force them to disclose the secret.¹³ Jacinta was reported to have said that she and her siblings did not care if they were killed, since it would only send them to heaven sooner.¹⁴ The children were released without disclosing the secret, and a further apparition, treated as the 1917 Fatima Marian apparitions sequence, was reported near Valinhos shortly afterward.¹⁵ On 1917-09-27, the priest Manuel Formigao interviewed the three children separately and recorded their statements;¹⁶ Jacinta told him she had seen the Lady on the thirteenth of every month since May, and described a white and gold dress with the figure’s hands folded in prayer.¹⁷¹⁸

According to a “diplomatic version” published by Louis Emrich, the final apparition on 1917-10-13, an event associated with the Miracle of the Sun (1917-10-13), included a message warning of a coming period of severe punishment for humanity in the second half of the twentieth century.¹⁹ Manuel Pedro Marto, the children’s father, described Jacinta’s white dress with lace bows and recalled her being carried in a man’s arms through the crowd at Cova da Iria that day.²⁰²¹ Lúcia and Jacinta reportedly told the assembled crowd that the ongoing war would end that day, though it continued for roughly another year.²²

Jacinta later told her mother she had been thinking of a coming war in which many people would die, houses would be destroyed, and priests would be killed²³ - a statement Michael Hesemann has argued could not have referred to knowledge her mother possessed at the time, given that the First World War had only just ended, but which he connects to the World War II that followed two decades later.²⁴ In late 1918 Jacinta, Francisco, and their mother fell ill with the Spanish flu then spreading through Europe.²⁵ Jacinta told Lúcia that Our Lady would soon take Francisco to heaven and that she herself would be sent to hospital to suffer;²⁶ Francisco died on 1919-04-04 of a severe lung inflammation.²⁷ Jacinta’s own health worsened. Manuel Formigao, who also served as her physician, described her as resembling a skeleton, permanently feverish, with tuberculosis consuming her weakened body.²⁸ She was moved to Lisbon, admitted to the D. Estefania Hospital under the paediatrician Castro Freire on 1920-02-02,²⁹ and operated on by him on 1920-02-10.³⁰ Afterward she told the Mother Superior at the orphanage where she had been staying, Godinho (Mother Superior), that she felt better and that Our Lady had said she would soon relieve her pain.³¹ Jacinta Marto died on 1920-02-20.³²

Her remains were reburied at the cemetery of Fatima on 1934-09-12,³³ and when the coffin was opened for the Exhumation of Jacinta Marto’s body (1935-09-12) the following year, the body was reported to show no signs of decay.³⁴ In 1951, after construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, her remains and Francisco’s were transferred there.³⁵ In a 1967 declaration, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani referred to Jacinta and Francisco as Lúcia’s “brother and sister."³⁶ In 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto in the Beatification of Jacinta and Francisco Marto (2000), a ceremony held on 2000-05-13 at which their images were displayed on the Basilica’s tower.³⁷³⁸ A miracle attributed to the two children, documented by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause of the Saints, formed part of the process advancing their path to sainthood.³⁹

Later accounts placed particular weight on statements attributed to Jacinta during her final illness. Father Fuentes reported that Sister Lúcia told him the Virgin had said that many nations would vanish and that Russia would serve as the instrument of punishment if the world did not convert.⁴⁰ One secondary account notes that two of the three child seers died young, as the apparitions were said to have predicted, while Lucia dos Santos lived to an advanced age secluded in a convent.⁴¹ A separate account describes the Fatima events as beginning with the nine-year-old Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco reporting a vision of an angel in spring 1917,⁴² and states that the prediction that Jacinta and Francisco would die before reaching adulthood proved accurate.⁴³

References (44)

Jacinta Marto born 1910-03-11, twenty-one months after her brother Francisco
“Francisco's sister Jacinta was born exactly twenty-one months after him, on March 11, 1910.”
The Fatima Secret ch8:2871-2957
Aljustrel, where the children lived, was part of the village of Fatima
“The hamlet of Aljustrel, where Lúcia, Jacinta, and Francisco lived, was part of the village of Fatima, which got its name from a legend.”
The Fatima Secret ch9:710-839
First apparition of an angel of peace, spring 1916, on the Loca do Cabeço slope
“Several months later, in the spring of 1916, Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta were watching their herds on the eastern slope of the Loca do Cabeso mountain.”
The Fatima Secret ch8:9470-9614
Second apparition: Lúcia and Jacinta heard the angel's words, Francisco did not
“Lúcia and Jacinta heard these words, but not Francisco, who only saw the angel.”
The Fatima Secret ch8:12173-12246
Third apparition of the angel, late August 1916, between Preguiça and Lapa de Cabeço
“Late in August the angel showed himself for the third time. This time the children were on the mountain slope between Preguiera and Lapa de Cabeco, overlooking Aljustrel.”
The Fatima Secret ch8:12882-13042
1917-05-13: dazzling flash of light at Cova da Iria, assumed to be lightning
“Suddenly, they were interrupted by a dazzling flash of light. They assumed it was lightning and were worried that a storm was coming, for then they would have to head for home right away.”
The Fatima Secret ch9:3327-3509
First apparition lasted about ten minutes; only Lúcia spoke, Jacinta only listened
“It turned out that only Lúcia had spoken to the Lady. Jacinta had only listened, and Francisco had only seen her lips move. He couldn’t hear anything that she or Lúcia said. It had all taken about ten minutes.”
The Fatima Secret ch9:8000-8201
Jacinta could not keep the secret and told her mother Olimpia Marto
“But Jacinta had barely gotten home before she forgot her promise. She always told her mother everything and never kept secrets. She tried to keep silent but finally couldn’t control herself anymore. She ran to her mother, grabbed her around her knees, and cried out excitedly, “Mama, I saw Our Dear Lady in the Cova today!””
The Fatima Secret ch9:9178-9494
Olimpia Marto laughed and mockingly called Jacinta a saint
“Senhora Marto laughed at her daughter. “Oh, yes, you certainly did,” she said, “and you are a saint now, for you can see the Mother of God!””
The Fatima Secret ch9:9503-9638
Second apparition, 1917-06-13, parents refused to accompany the children
“Following the instructions of the “White Lady,” Lúcia, Jacinta, and Francisco arrived about eleven o’clock. Their parents had refused to come with them, because they were afraid of being embarrassed if the whole thing turned out to be a fraud.”
The Fatima Secret ch9:12566-12803
Third apparition, 1917-07-13, vision of hell and the three secrets revealed
“The children on July 13, 1917, after their “vision of hell” and the revelation of the three secrets.”
The Fatima Secret ch25:115-207
For eighty years the content of the Third Secret was not known publicly
“For eighty years, we did not know what she revealed to Lúcia and Jacinta after that. The Third Secret of Fatima was perhaps the most closely guarded secret of the Church.”
The Fatima Secret ch10:6974-7137
Artur Santos abducted the three children toward Ourém, 1917-08-13
“Santos had abducted the children.”
The Fatima Secret ch10:15406-15430
Santos threatened to throw them in boiling oil to force the secret from them
“Meanwhile Santos tried to bribe the children to reveal their secret to him. He then threatened to throw them into kettles filled with boiling oil. For two hours they sat in a cell at the local prison, fearing for their lives.”
The Fatima Secret ch10:18436-18655
Jacinta said she and her siblings did not care if Santos killed them
““You can kill us, but we don't care,” cried out Jacinta defiantly. “That way we'll only get to heaven quicker.””
The Fatima Secret ch10:15882-15983
Fourth apparition occurred near Valinhos after the abduction
“A few days later the Madonna appeared to the children, again above an oak tree, but this time near the field of Valinhos near Aljustral.”
The Fatima Secret ch10:19678-19804
Manuel Formigao, priest and professor, interviewed the children separately, 1917-09-27
“On September 27 he had long, separate interviews with each of them, and thanks to his records, we have an accurate report of what happened, free of distortion.”
The Fatima Secret ch11:9177-9325
Jacinta told Formigao she had seen the Lady on the thirteenth of every month since May
““Have you seen Our Dear Lady, since May, on the thirteenth of every month?” “Yes.””
The Fatima Secret ch11:10953-11030
Jacinta described the Lady's white and gold dress and folded hands to Formigao
““She wears a white dress decorated with gold and she wears a cloak, also white, which covers her head.””
The Fatima Secret ch11:11148-11244
Louis Emrich's account of the 1917-10-13 sixth apparition and its warning message
“'It was on the thirteenth of October 1917... A severe punishment will come to the whole of mankind, not today, not tomorrow, but in the second half of the twentieth century.... The great war will break out in the second half of the twentieth century. Fire and smoke will fall from the sky...'”
The Fatima Secret 19-23
Lúcia and Jacinta told the crowd the war would end that day; it did not for another year
“'The war will come to an end today, and you can expect the soldiers to return shortly,' answered Lúcia and Jacinta... The war did not come to an end that day, but went on for another year.”
The Fatima Secret ch12:18170-18400
Manuel Pedro Marto described Jacinta's white dress with lace bows on 1917-10-13
“Lúcia's dress was blue and Jacinta's white. She placed white lace bows on their heads so they looked like little angels as they walked in the procession to the oak tree.”
The Fatima Secret ch12:3650-3814
1917-10-13: Jacinta carried in the arms of a man at Cova da Iria
“October 13, 1917: The children are brought to the apparition site, Jacinta in the arms of a man.”
The Fatima Secret ch25:226-318
Jacinta told her mother of a coming war with deaths, destroyed houses, killed priests
““I am thinking of the Savior and the Mother of God, of sinners and about the war to come. How many people will die in it! So many houses will be destroyed, so many priests will be killed. Oh, how terrible it all is! If only they would stop insulting and hurting God, this war would not happen.””
The Fatima Secret ch13:4331-4616
Hesemann: her mother could not have known of the coming Second World War
“Since World War I had just come to an end, her mother couldn’t have known what she was talking about. But the Second World War was on the horizon.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:4626-4764
Jacinta, Francisco and their mother fell ill with Spanish flu in late 1918
“A year after the visions, in either October or December of 1918 (the record isn’t clear), Jacinta, Francisco, and their mother fell ill with the Spanish flu, which was raging through Europe in those days.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:4774-4973
Jacinta said Our Lady would take Francisco to heaven soon, and that she herself would suffer in hospital
““Our Dear Lady came to visit us and said she would soon take Francisco with her to heaven. She asked me if I wanted to convert more sinners. I said yes. She then said that I would go to a hospital and suffer a great deal there. I asked her whether you would come with me. She said no, and that is what hurts me the most. She said my mother would take me to the hospital, and after that I would have to stay there alone.””
The Fatima Secret ch13:5056-5468
Francisco Marto died 1919-04-04 of lung inflammation
“On April 4, 1919, the first part of this prophecy was fulfilled. Francisco died after a severe inflammation of the lungs.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:5477-5592
Dr Formigao described Jacinta as skeletal, feverish, with tuberculosis
““She resembles a skeleton, her arms are frightfully thin,” he said. “Since leaving the hospital she has never been free of fever. It is heartbreaking to see her. Tuberculosis is now eating up her weak body.””
The Fatima Secret ch13:5819-6019
Jacinta taken to D. Estefania Hospital in Lisbon, 1920-02-02, under Dr Castro Freire
“On February 2, 1920, Jacinta was taken to the D. Estefania hospital to be treated by the most prominent pediatrician in Lisbon, Dr. Castro Freire.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:6893-7032
Castro Freire operated on Jacinta, 1920-02-10
“On February 10 Dr. Castro Freire operated on Jacinta.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:10672-10717
After the operation, Jacinta said Our Lady would soon take her to heaven
“When the Mother Superior visited her at the hospital, Jacinta told her, “I feel better now. Our Dear Lady said she would soon relieve me of my pain and take me to heaven.””
The Fatima Secret ch13:10770-10933
Jacinta Marto died 1920-02-20
“On February 20, 1920, Jacinta died.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:10942-10972
Remains reburied at Fatima cemetery, 1934-09-12
“On September 12, 1934, the remains of Jacinta and Francisco were reburied in a grave chosen especially for them at the cemetery of Fatima.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:11232-11363
Body found undecayed when exhumed, 1935-09-12
“The undecayed body of Jacinta, exhumed on September 12, 1935.”
The Fatima Secret ch25:834-890
Bodies transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in 1951
“After the beautiful basilica was built at the site of the vision, the bodies were transferred there in 1951 and buried inside the church, close to the altar.”
The Fatima Secret ch13:11511-11662
Cardinal Ottaviani's 1967 declaration called them Lúcia's 'brother and sister'
“Later on in his declaration Cardinal Ottaviani referred to Jacinto and Francisco as Lúcia's "brother and sister."”
The Fatima Secret ch17:11547-11652
John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto in 2000
“In 2000 he beatified Jacinta and Francisco.”
The Fatima Secret ch18:15798-15831
Beatification ceremony, 2000-05-13, pictures displayed on the Basilica tower
“Next came the ceremony of the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta, whose pictures were displayed on both sides of the tower of the basilica.”
The Fatima Secret ch24:9634-9768
A miracle attributed to Francisco and Jacinta, documented by the Vatican, advanced their sainthood cause
“The documentation of a miracle at Fatima by the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of the Saints had finally put Francisco and Jacinta on the road to sainthood.”
The Fatima Secret ch24:2341-2491
Fuentes reported Sister Lúcia's account that Russia would be the instrument of punishment
““Tell them, Father, that the Most Holy Virgin told my cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, and me, that many nations will vanish from the face of the earth. She said that Russia would be the instrument of punishment, if we do not convert that poor nation before it happens.””
The Fatima Secret ch16:7902-8161
Two of the three seers died young as predicted; Lucia dos Santos lived to an advanced age in a convent
“Two of the three children at Fatima died young, as the Lady had predicted, but Lucia lived secluded in a convent to an advanced age.”
THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE ch15:21077-21205
Fatima events began with nine-year-old Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto seeing an angel in spring 1917
“It started with the three children, nine-year-old Lucia Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, who saw an angel in the spring of 1917.”
American Cosmic ch5:19467-19610
The Fatima lady predicted Jacinta and Francisco would die before reaching adulthood, which proved true
“One of the predictions of the lady was that Jacinta and Francisco would die before they reached adulthood, which sadly proved true.”
American Cosmic ch5:27474-27600

Jacinta Marto

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