Francisco and Jacinta – Designs of Mercy
“The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you.”
Today, we consider Francisco and Jacinta, the two youngest saints of Fatima. As we discussed in our earlier post,
“The Promise”,
Francisco saw the Blessed Virgin
perfectly, but did not hear Her words. He only understood the questions
of Lúcia. As for Jacinta, who saw and heard everything, she never
brought herself to speak to the apparition. Thus Lúcia was the only one
to have the privilege of speaking with Her.” … “Young and quite small,
the Queen of Heaven also came very close to (the) three children. For a
pedestal She had chosen a little holm oak, about a metre high. ‘We were
so close’, writes Lúcia , ‘that we found ourselves in the light
surrounding Her, or rather emanating from Her, about a metre and a half
away, more or less.’ (from Sister Lucia’s Fourth Memoir)
In 1916, St. Michael the Archangel, the Angel of Fatima had told the
children, “The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you”,
but it was not until Our Lady began to appear that they perceived the
true meaning of “designs of mercy”. By the time of Our Lady’s third
visit, July 13, 1917, it was becoming clearer, and by then, Francisco
could say emphatically, “What I want is to go to Heaven!” This eagerness
for Heaven recalls St. Bernadette of Lourdes, who said of Our Lady,
“She was so beautiful that after seeing Her once one would be willing to
die to see Her again!”
