New Evangelizers Post: The Little Saints of Fatima

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

On May 13th, the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Francis canonized Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

These siblings were two of the visionaries of that extraordinary event, along with their older cousin Lucia. With this, they have become to the two youngest non-martyrs ever to be declared saints.

Most people know the story of how Mary appeared to these three shepherd children in the Covo di Ira in Fatima, Portugal. They were for all intents and purposes ordinary children of their day. They did their chores and their duties as children did, with reluctance since it took them away from play time. To fulfill their duty to pray the rosary, they would only say the first two words of each prayer “Our Father” and “Hail Mary,” as a quick short cut.

But then Mary made herself present to them and everything changed.

At first Francesco had difficulty with the vision and could not apprehend clearly. Lucia even asked, “Will I go to heaven?”
“Yes,” replied Mary.
“And will Jacinta?”
“Yes.”
“And will Francesco?”
Silence.
Finally Mary replied “Yes, but only after many rosaries.”

This always gave me pause. If young Francesco needed that much work, I shudder to think how many rosaries it would take to lift up my soul.

Regardless, over the course of the next few months, Mary showed the children several things and the children lived that witness despite the persecution of the local government and the pressures of the people.

But that in-and-of itself is not why Francesco and Jacinta are saints.

You can read the entire article here.