106th Anniversary of St. Francisco Marto’s Death
Tomorrow is the 106th anniversary of the death of Francisco Marto, one of the three shepherd children to whom Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917.[1]
As Our Lady had promised, Francisco and his sister Jacinta were taken to Heaven very soon after those apparitions had ended. Weakened by their heroic penances, they were among the victims of the influenza pandemic which followed the First World War.
Francisco Marto was born on June 11, 1908 to Manuel and Olimpia de Jesus Marto and was the older brother of Jacinta and cousin of Lucia dos Santos. He was nine years old at the time of the Miracle of the Sun. During the appearances of the Angel and of the Blessed Virgin, he saw all, but, unlike his two companions, he did not hear the words which were spoken.
The Promise of Our Lady
During Our Lady’s first apparition at Fatima (May 13, 1917), Lucia asked if they would go to Heaven. How instructive for us that the children’s foremost concern was on the Four Last Things and their own eternal end.[2] Our Lady assured them they would go to Heaven, yet regarding Francisco She emphasized: “He will go there too, but he will have to say many Rosaries.” Francisco never forgot these words. Like Saints Dominic and Louis de Montfort before him, he became a real apostle of the Rosary. He had no other interest in life than fulfilling these words of Our Lady and consoling Our Lord, especially in the Blessed Sacrament.
Then during the apparition of June 13, Lucia made this request:
“I would like to ask You to take us to Heaven.” Our Lady gave a clear answer: “Yes, I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer.”
From then on, Jacinta and Francisco knew they did not have very long to live in this world. As Fatima scholar Frère Michel tells us:
“This certitude of going to Heaven – which was transformed into a courageous acceptance, and then a firm act of the will, a heroic decision – along with the consideration of the immense sorrow of God is what best explains the behavior of Francisco, and the amazing progress he made in such little time. For only eighteen months passed between the apparition of October 13 and the day of his death.” [3]
One day, when two ladies asked Francisco what career he would choose when he grew up, he responded, “I don’t want to be anything! … I want to die and go to Heaven!”
Anxious to Go to Heaven
Knowing that he would soon be called to Eternal Beatitude, everything Francisco ever said and did from then on bore witness to this fact: He was anxious to go to Heaven. He exclaimed, “Soon Jesus will come to look for me to take me to Heaven with Him, and then I will be with Him always to see Him and console Him. What happiness!”[4]
In the meantime, whenever possible, he used to take every opportunity to visit the Blessed Sacrament in the nearby parish church. He would spend uninterrupted hours praying to the Hidden Jesus[5] in the Tabernacle. When Francisco needed to be found, this was the first place his companions would look.
Francisco also showed little interest in attending classes. Often, when the three children neared the school, he would tell Lucia and Jacinta:
“Listen! While you go to school, I’ll stay with the Hidden Jesus. It’s not worth it for me to learn to read. Soon I will go to Heaven.”[6]
Francisco would also often separate himself from Lucia and Jacinta after they had reached the hills. More and more he sought solitude and silence. This brought him closer to God and enabled him to meditate on all that Our Lady had told them. He would say afterwards: “I liked to see the Angel so much, but I liked Our Lady much more. What I liked best about the apparitions was seeing Our Lord in that light that the Blessed Virgin put into our hearts. I love God very much. He is so sad because of so many sins. We must not commit even the smallest sin.”[7]
A Heroic Patient
In October 1918, Francisco fell gravely ill with the so-called “Spanish flu.”[8] When his family members assured him that he would survive his sickness, he responded firmly: “It is useless. Our Lady wants me with Her in Heaven!” In the course of his illness, he continued to offer constant sacrifices to console Jesus offended by so many sins.
One day he told Lucia:
“It won’t be long now till I go to Heaven. When I’m there, I am going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much. Jacinta is going to pray a lot for sinners, for the Holy Father and for you. You will stay here, because Our Lady wants it that way. Listen, you must do everything that She tells you.”[9]
Father John de Marchi tells us:
“Suddenly Francisco’s condition grew worse. He could no longer cough up the phlegm; his throat became blocked; the fever grew worse; only with difficulty could he take any medicine; the weakness and exhaustion grew rapidly, giving away the fact that the end was near.”[10]
In six months, the influenza had overcome Francisco’s robust health. Previously, he prayed as many as seven or eight terços a day (Portuguese term for the five-decade Rosary), but now he was so weak that he barely had the strength to pray one. This greatly afflicted him. No longer being able to pray and realizing that the end was near, Francisco begged his father to get the village pastor, Father Manuel Ferreira. He wanted to receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament before he died. (Francisco had not yet received his first Holy Communion.)
Receiving the Sacraments
Preparing himself for confession, Francisco urged Lucia and Jacinta to recount for him the sins which he had committed. Hearing of some mild pranks he had committed, Francisco began crying and said: “I have confessed these sins, but I will confess them again. Perhaps it is because of these that Jesus is so sad. You both ask also that Jesus will pardon all my sins.”
Father de Marchi recounts the recollections of the Marto family on Francisco receiving his first (it also being his last) Holy Communion:
“Finally came the dawn of April 3. … When Francisco heard the sound of the bell announcing the arrival of the King of Heaven, he wanted to seat himself on his bed; however, he was too weak, and he fell back on his pillow [and remained lying down to receive Our Lord]. …
“Near the bed, the two little children (Lucia and Jacinta) were kneeling with sadness, but also with holy jealousy. Jesus was coming to take their companion away, and usher him into Heaven. After receiving the Host on his parched tongue, Francisco closed his eyes, and remained motionless for a long time. … The first words he pronounced were to say to his mother: ‘Will Father bring me the Hidden Jesus once again?’”
St. Francisco Marto should truly be counted among the Church’s great “Saints of Holy Commuinon,” along with the likes of St. Tarcisius, Bl. Imelda Lambertini, St. Juliana Falconieri, and St. Thomas Aquinas. He is an ideal patron saint for our young sons to invoke as they prepare for their own first Holy Communion.
The Death of a Saint
No longer strong enough to pray, Francisco asked Lucia and Jacinta to pray the Rosary in a loud voice so he could follow with his heart.
The next day, everything indicated that his end was near. He still had the strength to ask pardon of his godmother for the few times he had caused her some little trouble during his life, and to ask for her blessing.
Later, when night had fallen completely, he called his mother and exclaimed: “Mother, look! … What a beautiful light, there, by the door!” And after a few minutes: “Now I can’t see it any more …” Then, at about ten o’clock in the evening, on April 4, 1919, he died calmly, without any sign of suffering, without any agony or groans, his face shining with an angelic light. Describing the death of her young cousin in her Memoirs, Sister Lucia writes: “He took his flight to Heaven in the arms of our Heavenly Mother.”
In 1919, Easter was celebrated on April 20 and Passiontide began on April 6. Thus, the day on which Francisco died was the Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent. According to Catholic tradition, this day is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.[11] What a fitting day to enter eternal life for a young boy who was so pure, offered so many sacrifices in reparation for sins, and was completely dedicated to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Further Resources
You can read more about St. Francisco’s life in The True Story of Fatima by Fr. John de Marchi, especially in Chapter 11 (pp. 61-66), which narrates his inspirational death.
We also invite you to view an excellent talk, St Francisco and the Sacred Heart, by Suzanne Pearson from our Fatima Conference in Seattle (June 2019) or listen to the audio only podcast of the same talk.
May St. Francisco’s prayers preserve us and hasten the Consecration of Russia to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart!
ENDNOTES:
[1] In the Office of Prime the entry for the following day from the Roman Martyrology is read. This serves as a proximate reminder for the saints whom the Church will especially honor the following day.
[2] St. Alphonsus Liguori frequently reminds us that only one thing really matters, namely the salvation of your soul.
[3] Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II: The Secret and the Church, (Buffalo, Immaculate Heart Publications, 1989), Ch. III, p. 83.
[4] Ibid., p. 84.
[5] Francisco used this wonderfully intimate and mysterious term to refer to Jesus’ Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
[6] The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II, p. 84.
[7] Father John de Marchi, The True Story of Fatima, Ch. XI, p. 62.
[8] Millions of people died throughout the world from the ‘Great Influenza Epidemic’ which broke out near the end of World War One. Some reports state nearly 500 million people were infected with this disease and estimates range from 15-50 million people having died from it. Truly this was a terrible and deadly plague.
[9] The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II, Ch. IV, p. 94.
[10] Cited in The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II, Ch. V, p. 97.
[11] In the traditional liturgical calendar there are nine special feasts aimed at helping the faithful continually reflect upon the Passion of Christ during the Septuagesima / Lenten season. Each of these feasts had a special votive Mass. These were removed from the 1962 Roman Missal. However, they were observed in Portugal in 1919 when St. Francisco died. These feasts and their appointed days are:
- The Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane – Tuesday after Septuagesima Sunday
- Commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord – Tuesday after Sexagesima Sunday
- The Holy Face of Our Lord – Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday
- The Sacred Crown of Thorns of Our Lord – Friday after Ash Wednesday
- The Sacred Lance and Nails of Our Lord – Ember Friday in Lent (First Week of Lent)
- The Most Sacred Shroud of Our Lord – Friday in the Second Week of Lent
- Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord – Friday in the Third Week of Lent
- Most Precious Blood of Our Lord – Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent
- The Seven Dolors of Our Lady – Friday in Passion Week (one week before Good Friday)