A shepherd boy of Fatima, Portugal, he saw the apparitions of Our Lady in 1917. Wishing to console the hidden Jesus, he spent long hours praying before the tabernacle and died young of the Spanish flu.
Life
Saint Francisco Marto was a shepherd boy born in 1908 in the small village of Aljustrel, Portugal. In 1917, with his younger sister Jacinta and his cousin Lúcia, he witnessed apparitions of Our Lady at the Cova da Iria in Fatima. The three children heard her call to prayer and penance, especially the Rosary.
Francisco was a quiet, contemplative boy. After the apparitions he loved most of all to stay near the hidden Jesus in the tabernacle and to console the Lord. He caught the influenza that spread in 1918 and died at home in 1919. On May 13, 2017, Pope Francis canonized him together with his sister at Fatima.
Spirituality
Francisco Marto's spirituality is a simple, deep love that wished to console the Lord. Thinking of God saddened by the sins of the world, he lingered before the tabernacle and prayed the Rosary. His quiet prayer, offered with a child's heart, shows that the way of contemplation is open to everyone.
Reflection
Francisco loved to stay near Jesus in the tabernacle. This week, why not sit for a little while before the tabernacle before or after Mass, simply staying with the Lord without words?