Francisco Marto

Born June 11, 1908, in Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima in central Portugal, Francisco de Jesus Marto was the fourth of seven children of Manuel Pedro Marto and Olímpia de Jesus. His younger sister Jacinta and his cousin Lúcia dos Santos were his closest companions.

On May 13, 1917, Francisco accompanied Lúcia and Jacinta to the Cova da Iria to tend sheep and was present at the first of six apparitions of the Virgin Mary. He shared the experience but occupied a distinct place within it: unlike Lúcia and Jacinta, Francisco could see the apparition clearly but could not hear her words. Everything the Lady communicated reached him secondhand, from Lúcia after each vision. Despite this, he never doubted what he had witnessed. His response to the apparitions was marked by deep contemplation — he was less drawn to the messages than to the overwhelming sense of God's presence he experienced during them.

In the months that followed, Francisco bore the public attention and repeated official interrogations with quiet patience, describing what he had seen with consistent simplicity. After the apparitions concluded, he spent much of his remaining time before the Blessed Sacrament. He told Lúcia he wanted to console God, whom he sensed was grieved by human sin.

In early 1919, Francisco fell ill with influenza during the pandemic that swept Europe after the war. His condition deteriorated through the spring. He received First Communion on his deathbed on April 3, 1919, and died the following morning, April 4, at the age of ten — one of the youngest non-martyred saints in Church history. His last wish was for his toys to be given to the poorest children in the village.

Beatified by Pope John Paul II at the Sanctuary of Fátima on May 13, 2000, the eighty-third anniversary of the first apparition, he was canonized by Pope Francis on May 13, 2017, the centenary of that same day. He shares his feast day (February 20) with his sister Jacinta.