Jacinta
was no different than so many little children.
She loved to play. She loved to hear her voice
echoing down in the valleys. One of her favorite
amusements was to climb to the tops of the hills,
sit down on the biggest rock she could find, and
call out different names at the top of her voice.
The name that echoed back most clearly was Maria.
Sometimes Jacinta used to say the whole Hail Mary
this way, only calling out the following word
when the preceding one had stopped re-echoing.
All the children loved to sing as well. Interspersed
among the popular songs of which they knew quite
a number – were Jacinta’s favorite’s
hymns. ‘Salve Nobre Padroeira’ (Hail
Noble Patroness), ‘Anjos, Cantai Comigo’
(Angels, sing with me.) Jacinta was fond of dancing,
and any instrument she heard beginning playing
by the other shepherds was enough to set her off.
Jacinta, tiny as she was, had a special aptitude
for dancing.
| 
Blessed
Jacinta ~ Little shepherdess of Fatima |
As
children they were told to say the Rosary after
lunch, but as the whole day seemed too short for
play, the children worked out a fine way of getting
through it quickly. They simply passed the beads
through their fingers, saying nothing but “Hail
Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary…”
Jacinta loved to hold the little white lambs tightly
in her arms, sitting with them on her lap, fondling
them, kissing them, and carrying them home at
night on he shoulders, so that they wouldn’t
get tired.
This
was the nature of our Blessed Little Jacinta.
But let us revisit the nature of this little girl
of 7 following the apparitions of the ‘Angel
of Peace’ and Our Lady herself.
It
was to Jacinta only that was granted two visions
of the Holy Father.
Click Here to learn more…
On
the evening of the first apparition, May 13th,
1917, despite all her promises to Lucia not to
say anything about the apparition, Jacinta told
her mother everything: “Mother” she
said, “I saw Our Lady today in the Cova
da Iria! “Oh, what a beautiful Lady!”
It was to Jacinta only that was granted two visions
of the Holy Father. She beheld a Pope who was
suffering deeply on account of persecution s of
the Church, besides wars and destruction which
were throwing the world into confusion. “Poor
Holy Father!” she said, “we must pray
very much for him” From then on, the Pope
was always included in the prayers and sacrifices
of the little shepherds, especially in those of
Jacinta.
After
having seen the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Jacinta
became intensely devoted to her. She often repeated:
“Sweet Heart of Mary be my salvation!”
adding: “I so love the Immaculate Heart
of Mary!” it is the Heart of our dear Mother
in heaven.”
Sweet
Heart of Mary, convert sinners, save souls from
hell… If only I could put into the hearts
of all the fire that is burning within my own
heart, and that makes me love the Hearts of Jesus
and Mary so very much!”
To save souls from the fires of hell, she spared
herself no sacrifice. She refused to drink water
in the heat of summer, she gave away her lunch
to children poorer than herself, she endured the
torture of a piece of rope tied tightly round
her waits, with three knots pressing against her
tender skin, she underwent exhausting interrogations,
and she patiently bore the insults meted out to
her many people. She did all this without the
slightest complaint. “I’m so sorry
for sinners!” she would say. “If only
I could show them hell! How happy I would be if
they could all go to heaven.”
As
Our Lady prophesied Jacinta became ill with tuberculosis
and it was inexorably consuming her small emaciated
body. She was suffering for Our Lord, and asked
Lucia: “Will Jesus be pleased with the offering
of my sufferings?”
In
the hospital, Jacinta was favored with three visits
from Our Lady. While there, the little girl uttered
words of wisdom far beyond her age, both as to
their delivery and their content. She spoke of
priest, statesman, doctors, persecutors of the
Church, the obedience of religious, marriage,
riches, poverty…
These were surely ideas that came from above.
Finally,
on the night of February 20th, 1920, the promise
of Our Lady brighter than the sun was fulfilled:
“I shall come to take you to heaven,”
she had said.
Jacinta was buried in the cemetery of Vila Nova
de Ourem, and later in 1935, in the Fatima parish
cemetery.
On March 1st, 1951, her mortal remains still preserved,
were placed in a side –chapel to the left
of the high altar of the Fatima Basilica.
Blessed
Jacinta and her brother Blessed Francisco were
both beatified
by Pope John Paul II in the Jubilee year 2000.
