Saint Who?
Saints Who Teach Us about Purgatory
Saint Francisco Marto
Young layman († 1919) Feast: February 20
Francisco was the sixth of seven children born into a peasant family in Aljustrel, Portugal. He was kind and gentle, but he was also a typical boy who loved to play games and could sometimes be mischievous. Like other poor children, he and his sister Jacinta, along with their cousin Lucia, spent their days tending the family’s sheep. Alone in the fields, they played and prayed, although they often abbreviated their prayers to spend more time playing.
On May 13, 1917, the three children experienced their first vision of the Blessed Mother. Francisco was eight years old. Two months later, Our Lady showed them a terrifying vision of a sea of fire containing demons and human souls groaning in pain. The Mother of God explained to them that they had seen hell and that their prayers, united with Christ’s, could help sinners from going to hell as well as bring relief to the souls suffering in purgatory.
After this vision, Francisco and the other two children became more like adults than children. They played less and prayed more, and they looked for ways to offer sacrifices for sinners, just as the Lady had taught them. During the Spanish flu epidemic, Francisco contracted the flu. Despite his illness, which proved fatal, he continued to make visits to church to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and offer sacrifices for sinners.
God of love and mercy, give us childlike hearts, willing to make sacrifices for the poor souls in purgatory.
