Los tres pastorcillos de Fátima: quiénes fueron de verdad

Marian devotion

historical photograph of the three seers (Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta), public domain, with accredited authorship and provenance
Unknown photographer — Public domain, vía Wikimedia Commons

First of all: its exact canonical state

This is constantly wrong, even in serious publications. All three They're not at the same point.:

	Canon State today (September 21, 2026)
Francisco Marto	SANTO - canonized on May 13, 2017 by Pope Francis, in Fatima
Jacinta Marto	SANTA - canonized on the same day
Lucia dos Santos (Sister Mary Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart)	VENERABLE - Decree of Heroic virtues of 22 June 2023. No esta's beta. Beatification requires the recognition of a miracle, which to this day does not contain

To call Sr Lucia "Blessed" or "Sin" is a fact mistakeAnd this module doesn't commit it. The Sanctuary itself maintains published a "Prayer for the beatification of the Venerable Hermana Lucía» (https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/oracao-pela-beatificacao-de-lucia, HTTP 200).

Lucía dos Santos (1907-2005)

portrait of Lucía dos Santos, girl, or Ser Lucía Carmelita (check free license; photos of Carmel de Coimbra usually have rights)
Unknown photographer — Public domain, vía Wikimedia Commons

Date of birth: 28 March 1907, en Aljustre, village of the parish of Fatima.

⚠️ A fact to explain, not to hide: el baptism seat says March 22. The divergence is explained by Lucia herself in her Fifth Memory: her father declared her to be born on 22 so that she could be baptized on 30 without a fine. The Vatican decree of 2023 used on March 28, 1907.

She was the youngest of seven brothers, daughter of António dos Santos y Maria Rosa. His parents are precisely the subject of his last two Memories: the Fifth (1989) on the father, the Sixth (1993) on the mother.

Chronology of his life, on the official chronology of the Sanctuary

Date	Done
16-17 June 1921	He leaves Aljustrel and is admitted in the Vilar Asylum (Oporto), "taking the name Maria das Dores"
25 October 1925	It enters the postulate of the Doroteas Sisters of Pontevedra (Spain)
10 December 1925	In Pontevedra, the apparition of the promise of the first five Saturdays
2 October 1926	Noviciado en Abs (Spain), under the name Maria Lúcia das Dores
3 October 1928	Temporary votes
13 June 1929	In Tuy, the vision of the Most Holy Trinity and the request for the consecration of Russia
3 October 1934	perpetual
17 May 1946	Sent al Colégio do Sardão (Vila Nova de Gaia)
25 March 1948	Ingresa en el Carmelo de Santa Teresa de Coimbra
13 May 1948	Take the habit with the name of Sister Mary Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart
31 May 1949	Solemn votes
13 February 2005	Die in the Carmel of Coimbra, at the age of 97

Fuente: cronología anotada de los tres videntes del Santuário de Fátima, https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/cronologia-dos-videntes (HTTP 200), que cita asientos de bautismo y defunción y la Critical Documentation.

Your cause of canonization, step by step

1. 17 December 2007 - Benedict XVI grants the dispensation. The Latin decree is more precise than it is said: it does not dispense "five years," but the two missing to complete the quinquennium (‘a tempore duorum annorum expectationis’).

2. 13 February 2008 — decreto de la Congregación para las Causas de los Santos: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20080213_luciae_fr.html (HTTP 200).

3. 30 April 2008 - the bishop of Coimbra, Mr Albino Mamede Cleto, opens the diocesan phase.

4. 13 February 2017 — clausura solemne del diocesan Inquirito at the Carmel de Coimbra, chaired by Mr Virgílio Antunes.

5. 22 June 2023 — decree of heroic virtues: VENERABLE. Boletín oficial de la Sala Stampa (PDF verificado, HTTP 200): https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/06/22/230622e.pdf, que dice: «the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Lúcia de Jesus e do Coração Immaculado (née Lúcia dos Santos), professed nun of the Order of Descalced Carmelites; born on 28 March 1907 in Aljustrel, Portugal, and died on 13 February 2005 in Coimbra, Portugal».

The woman who wrote everything else

Of the three, only Lucia wrote. And he always wrote by mandate: none of his six Memories was born on his own initiative. This is the introduction of the official edition:

"Clearly, Sister Lucia had no literary claim in writing these admirable documents. She was writing because they sent it to her. And it can be said that Lucia never wrote anything of her own free will.»
— Memories of Sister Lucia I, « Literary genre of Memories», p. 13. Own translation.

This has a consequence that should always be kept in mind when reading Fatima: almost everything we know about the apparitions we know about her.And we know it twenty, twenty-five, or seventy years later. His own editor, Fr. Joaquín M. Alonso, warns of two things that no diver cites:

"As for dates, is already known the insecurity of Lucia. [...] In fact, an intelligent criticism finds some purely accidental errors of dates, facts, circumstances. […] What Lucia is always sure of - and says so - is the meaning of what it transmits.»

«Es necesario distinguir entre aquello que la Hermana Lucía nos presenta como Mensaje del Cielo y aquello que ella misma nos presenta como «reflexión» o «interpretación suya». [...] he is certainly a privileged interpreter, pero siempre y sólo «un» intérprete.»
— Memories of Sister Lucia I, introduction, pp. 11-12. Own translation.

That doesn't reduce Fatima. What he does is to study it as any historical document is studiedwhich is the only way he can resist.

Francisco Marto (1908-1919)

historical portrait of Francisco Marto (public domain, accredited procedure)
Unknown photographer — Public domain, vía Wikimedia Commons

Birth: 11 June 1908, Aljustrel; baptized 20 June 1908 (seat No. 39 / 1908).

Death: 4 April 1919at his house in Aljustrel, about ten o'clock in the night (seat No. 21 / 1919). I had 10 years.

He died of the 1918 fluthe pandemic that struck Europe. There is nothing miraculous about his death: he died as millions died, and that is part of the strength of his history.

What distinguishes him: Francis did not hear the Lady

This is a documented detail that is always forgotten. Francis saw, but he didn't hear. Everything I knew about the message I knew because Lucia told him. And yet it was not hell or secret that made him the most.

"In the third apparition, Francis seemed to be the least impressed with the sight of hell, even if it also caused a rather great feeling. What impressed or absorbed him most was God, the Most Holy Trinity, in that immense light that penetrated us into the most intimate of the soul. Then he said:
— We were burning in that light that is God, and we were not burning. God! You can't say! You can never say this! But what a shame He is so sad! If I could comfort him!...»
— IV Memoria, Memories of Sister Lucia I, p. 144. Own translation.

John Paul II cited that phrase in the homily of beatification on May 13, 2000:

«Más tarde, Francisco, uno de los tres privilegiados, explicaba: «We were burning in that light that is God and we were not burning. What is God like? You can't say. This can't be said by people.«.»
— https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/es/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000513_beatification-fatima.html (HTTP 200).

"To comfort Our Lord"

The whole spirituality of Francis lies in his response, which was collected by Lucia:

"- Francis, what do you prefer: to comfort Our Lord or to convert sinners, so that they were no more souls to hell?
— He preferred to comfort Our Lord. Did you not notice how Our Lady, even the last month, was so sad when she said no more to offend God Our Lord, who is already very offended? I would like to comfort Our Lord and then turn sinners, so that they would no longer offend Him. "
— IV Memoria, p. 154. Own translation.

And his way of praying:

"- I'd rather - I'd answer - To pray alone, to think and comfort Our Lord, who is so sad.»
— property.

His other devotion was the Eucharist, to which the three children called "Jesus hidden.":

- "Look, you go to school. I stay here in the church, next to Jesus hidden. I'm not worth learning to read; I'm going to Heaven soon. When you get back, come over here and call me. "
— IV Memoria, p. 154. Own translation.

Jacinta Marto (1910-1920)

historical portrait of Jacinta Marto (public domain, accredited procedure)
Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain, vía Wikimedia Commons

Birth (official Vatican date): March 11, 1910.

⚠️ The documentary criticism of the Sanctuary itself says something else: nacida el 5 March 1910, baptized March 19, 1910 (seat No. 19 / 1910). The Sanctuary warns: "Although the official date of birth is 11 March, it is likely that the date of birth of Jacinta has been altered by the parents, as was the case with that of Lucia."; and Dr. Formigão's notes include" Jacinta 5 de marzo. " The two dates are given here and you tell which is which.

Death: 20 February 1920, en el Hospital de D. Estefânia de Lisboaaway from his house and family. I had nine years. She was first buried in Vila Nova de Ourém; her remains were then moved to Fatima.

The girl who couldn't stop thinking about hell

Of the three, Jacinta was the one that was most marked by the vision of July 13. Sister Lucia dedicates whole pages to it, and they are of the most impressive of the entire corpus:

"He often sat on the floor or on some stone and, thinking, began to say:
— Hell! Hell! What a pity I have of the souls who go to hell! And people there live burning like wood in the fire!
And half a trembling man kneeled, with his hands together, to pray the prayer which Our Lady had taught us:
- O my Jesus, forgive us, deliver us from the fire of hell, bring all souls to Heaven, mainly those most in need. "
— III Memoria, Memories, p. 122. Own translation.

"- Why does Our Lady not show hell to sinners? If they saw it, they would no longer sin, so that they would not go there."
— idem, pp. 122-123.

And a scene where the six-year-old asks and the ten-year-old answers with what she knows:

"- That lady also said that many souls went to hell. And what is hell?
- It is a cave of bugs and a very large bonfire (as my mother explained to me) and it goes there who makes sins and does not confess and stays there always burning.
- And he never gets out of there again?
— No.
- And after many, many years?
— No; Hell never ends. And neither is Heaven. [...] Don't you see that they are eternal, that they never end? "
- I report, Memories, pp. 44-45. Own translation.

What impressed Jacinta most was not fire: it was eternity. This is expressly said by Lucia: "What impressed Jacinta most was eternity.»

On how to read this without falling into terror or frivolity, see page "Hell, purgatory and heaven in the message of Fatima".

The visions of the Holy Father

Jacinta had, according to Lucia's account, own visions that do not match any of the six apparitions:

' Have you seen the Holy Father?
— No!
- I don't know what it was like! I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, on my knees, in front of a table, with his hands on his face, crying. There were many people outside the house and some threw stones at him, others threw curses at him and said many ugly words. Poor Father! We have to ask a lot for him. "
— III Memoria, p. 125. Own translation.

And another, in the Loca do Cabeço:

"- Don't you see so much road, so many roads and fields full of people, crying of hunger, and they have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church, in front of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying? And so many people praying with Him?"
— III Memoria, p. 126. Own translation.

The official edition notes in footnote 15 that, following the revelation of the third part of the secret in the year 2000, "it is better understood why Jacinta recognized the Holy Father in his visions," and refers to the response that Sister Lucia gave to Monsignor Bertone the 27 April 2000:

«We did not know the name of the Pope; Our Lady did not tell us the name of the Pope. We did not know if he was Benedict XV, Pius XII, Paul VI or John Paul II, but he was the Pope who suffered and that made us suffer too.»
— Memories, Apéndice III, pp. 216-217. Own translation.

Read that phrase slowly. It is the seer who says that in the know of which Pope it is. Any identification - including the 1981 attack - is interpretationand this is what the Holy See itself presents.

The visions of war

"- I'm thinking in the war to come. So many people must die! And it goes almost all to hell. Many houses must be destroyed and many priests killed. Look, I'm going to Heaven. And you, when you see, at night, that light that Lady said comes before, flee there too!
- Can't you see that Heaven can't run away?
- It's true! You can't. But don't be afraid! I, in Heaven, will ask much for you, for the Holy Father, for Portugal, for war not to come here, and for all priests. "
— III Memoria, pp. 126-127. Own translation.

And his death

Jacinta died alone in a hospital in Lisbon on 20 February 1920. I had previously said to Lucia, asked about what she was going to do in Heaven:

"- I will love Jesus very much, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to ask much for you, for sinners, for the Holy Father, for my [parents]..."
- I report, p. 61. Own translation.

The way to the altars of Francis and Jacinta

Date	Done
April 1952	The Bishop of Leiria opens the diocesan process (extended until 1979)
13 May 1989	John Paul II declares his virtudes heroicas
28 June 1999	Super miracle decretum for beatification. The Sanctuary identifies that healing as that of Emília Santos
13 May 2000	Beatification in Spainby Juan Pablo II
2 February 2017	The Medical Consultation judges the new healing "inexplicable in the light of medical science»
23 March 2017	Decree on the Miracle — boletín oficial: `https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/03/23/170323d.html` (HTTP 200)
13 May 2017	Canonization in Spain, by Pope Francis

Procedural framework verified at the Litterae Decretales of the canonization, published in * * * Acta Apostolicae Sedis *, vol. CIX (2017), No. 9, pp. 896-898 — PDF oficial: https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/2017/acta-settembre2017.pdf (HTTP 200).

The approved miracle, según el sitio oficial del Santuario para la visita papal de 2017 (https://www.papa2017.fatima.pt/pt/pages/pastorinhos, HTTP 200):

"the miraculous healing of Lucas, a five-year-old Brazilian boy, who had fallen from a window, at a height of 6.5 metersThe day 3 March 2013, leaving in a coma, with loss of brain tissue in the right frontal lobe. "

⚠️ El Acta Apostolicae Sedis does not name the child or give clinical details, and the full name that runs, we have not been able to verify it in official source. This module says "Lucas" and nothing else.

Canonization formula (AAS CIX / 9, pp. 897-898, in Portuguese in the original):

"In honor of the Most Holy Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of Christian life, with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and Our, after having long thought, repeatedly implored the divine help and heard the view of many of our Brothers in the Episcopate, We declare and define as Saints the Blessed Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto and we enlist them in the Catalogue of Saints…»

And in the homily of that day, Pope Francis said something that no page on Fatima should stop quoting, because he puts everything in his place:

"As an example for us, we have before our eyes Saint Francis Marto and Saint Jacintawhom the Virgin Mary introduced into the immense sea of the Light of God, to be adored.»
— https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/homilies/2017/documents/papa-francesco_20170513_omelia-pellegrinaggio-fatima.html (HTTP 200).

Note that the Pope himself reserves the verb love For God. The Virgin "introduced them... so that lo They will worship, "to Him. Mary is venerated and asked for intercession; that intercession leads to Christ. It is not a nuance of style: it is the difference between the Catholic faith and its caricature.

Sources of this page

Shrine of Fatima, cronología anotada de los tres videntes**: https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/cronologia-dos-videntes (HTTP 200).
Memories of Sister Lucia I — PDF oficial, ficha F002: https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F002_Memorias1.pdf (HTTP 200). Páginas 11-13, 44-45, 61, 122-127, 144, 154, 216-217.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. CIX (2017), n.º 9, pp. 896-898: https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/2017/acta-settembre2017.pdf (HTTP 200).
Sala Stampa de la Santa Sede, boletín del 22 de junio de 2023 (decreto de virtudes heroicas de sor Lucía): https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/06/22/230622e.pdf (HTTP 200).
Homilies of John Paul II (13-V-2000) and Pope Francis (13-V-2017) in vatican.va (HTTP 200, full Spanish text).

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