Saints Francisco & Jacinta Marto

Francisco and Jacinta Marto were a brother and sister in the tiny Portuguese village of Fatima. In 1916, when Francisco was eight and Jacinta was six, an angel appeared to them and their cousin Lucia while they were tending sheep. The angel taught them to pray. Then in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary herself began appearing to them once a month. She told them to pray the Rosary every day for peace. She showed them a vision of hell. She asked them to offer their suffering for sinners. Francisco and Jacinta took her words to heart. They gave up treats, water on hot days, and played less — all to pray for people who didn't know Jesus. Mary told them both they would die young and go to heaven soon. In 1918, the Spanish flu swept the village. Francisco died in 1919 at ten years old. Jacinta died in 1920 at nine. Their cousin Lucia lived a long life as a nun. Francisco and Jacinta were canonized in 2017 — the youngest non-martyr saints in the Catholic Church.