Jacinta, 10, offers her suffering to save souls from hell

At Fatima in 1917, Our Lady said to three young shepherds: "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners". Then, to make them understand better what sin is, its extreme seriousness and its eternal consequences, she showed them hell and the damned. Brief as it was, this vision would never fade from the memory of the three visionaries of Fatima, especially the youngest, seven-year-old Jacinta Marto. Until her premature death on 20 February 1920, Jacinta decided to offer all her sufferings to save as many sinners as possible from damnation.

Stained glass window depicting the three shepherd children of Fatima, at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Tylicz, Poland / © Shutterstock, Adam Jan Figel.

Les raisons d'y croire :

Becoming the confidante and messenger of Our Lady of the Rosary profoundly transformed Jacinta's daily behaviour and character. This change was noticed by everyone around her, suggesting that the little girl had indeed seen and spoken to the Virgin Mary.

In fact, from the second apparition of the Virgin, on 13 June 1917, Jacinta was transformed, because she had had a revelation of the immense love that overflows from Mary's immaculate heart - "the heart of our dear Mother in Heaven", she said in her childlike expression. From then on, her innocent pleasures - playing, dancing, singing - no longer held any interest for her, and she would never worry about them again, absorbed as she was in contemplating the mysteries she had glimpsed. Her parents were astonished that such a young child should spend her time in prayer, failing to understand that she was ablaze with love for Our Lady and longing for the splendors of Heaven.

Consumed with compassion, Jacinta repeated over and over: "My God, how I pity those who are going to hell!" It would be inconceivable that the trauma provoked in her by the vision of hell was a memory of images seen elsewhere in the past. The appalling description given by the children corresponds to the reality of the demonic kingdom and the eternal, excruciating suffering of the souls that are consumed there like burning coals - striking images that the children could not have invented. The only representation of hell that the children knew, before the apparitions of the Virgin, was a mediocre painting in the parish church, with red tones and grimacing figures.

Jacinta wanted to fulfil the Lady's requests for people to pray and sacrifice themselves to save sinners from hell. This mission was obviously beyond the physical, moral and spiritual strength of such a little girl. But Jacinta did not mince words: she really prayed, sacrificing herself totally to save souls and console Jesus. From then on, she refused to indulge in anything greedy or distracting. Even during her illness - she contracted Spanish flu - she didn't allow herself any indulgences, continued to fast and, as long as she was able to stand, went to mass every day "for those who never go, not even on Sundays". All this went far beyond what you would expect from a girl of eight or nine, and only supernatural graces can explain how she maintained this frightening penitential effort until her death.

That Jacinta, an ordinary little girl of less than ten years of age, took on the role of reparation and expiation - one of the most difficult and painful mystical vocations, reserved for a few privileged, adult souls - is proof of the reality of the Fatima apparitions, and of hell. She devoted herself to this call with incredible generosity.

After showing them what hell is, the Virgin promised the children that they would be saved from it. She foretold the Marto children (Francisco and Jacinta) that she would soon come to take them to Heaven. Far from being frightened by this, the siblings rejoiced, while their cousin Lucia, whose mission was to spread the message of Fatima and who would die at a very old age, wept with disappointment and sorrow at this announcement which most people would rejoice at. This underlines their faith, so firmly anchored in eternal life and the salvation of their souls.

Our Lady's prediction came true. In October 1918, a year after the last apparition on 13 October 1917 and the dazzling Miracle of the Sun, Francisco and Jacinta caught the Spanish flu. The little boy died of it on 4 April 1919, telling his mother in tears: "Mama, can't you see this magnificent light?"

As death approached, Jacinta suffered constant pain. The little patient rejoiced instead of complaining, saying: "I love telling Jesus that I love him so much! I love suffering so much to please him!" This was not masochism, but an oblation of her whole person to God's will for her. Here again, special and particular graces are needed to explain it, especially at that age.

On 16 February, Our Lady appeared to her in the hospital to announce the end of her ordeal: "I will soon come to get you. But from now on, I'm taking away all your suffering". Without any medical justification, the child's pain, aggravated by the useless operation, stopped and never returned. The nursing staff observed this without being able to explain it.

On the evening of 20 February, Jacinta called the nurse on duty and said gravely: "Sister, I know I'm going to die. Please call a priest". She did indeed die at around ten o'clock in the evening, shortly after the priest had left, as she had said she would. The marvellous perfumes that immediately wafted from her body lasted until her burial in Vila Nova de Ourem, and were still noticeable when her remains were transferred to Fatima in 1935.

Synthèse :

Born on 11 March 1910, Jacinta Marto was the youngest of eight children. Until the days before her first apparitions, Jacinta was known to sometimes be fussy and sulk when she couldn't have it her way. On the other hand, she was kind and cheerful. She loved to laugh, dance and sing all day long. In other words, she was a completely normal child.

Jacinta, her brother Francisco and her cousin Lucia received apparitions from Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, Portugal, between 13 May and 13 October 1917. During the third apparition, Our Lady said to them: "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners". Then she opened her hands, and the light that radiated from them "seemed to penetrate the earth", revealing an ocean of fire, where the children clearly saw demons and the souls of the damned, "like transparent embers, black or bronze, in human form", "floating in this fire, lifted up by the flames that came out of themselves" amid shrieks, screams and complaints "that horrified us and made us tremble with fear". It was a vision striking enough "to make you die of horror and fear".

Fortunately for the children, the eldest of whom, Lucia Dos Santos, was only ten years old, this vision lasted only a few seconds, after which the Lady explained: "You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If people do what I am going to tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace." On 13 August, Mary added: "Pray, pray a lot and make sacrifices for sinners, as many souls go to hell because no one prays and sacrifices for them."

Jacinta, her brother and her cousin understood - with a clear-sightedness that few people have - the extraordinary greatness of divine love, the seriousness of sin, which offends this loving God, the need for justice to match the crimes, and therefore hell, and eternal punishment for those who have deliberately chosen to reject God, his love and his forgiveness. The three children were entrusted with complementary missions that corresponded to their own spirituality.

Distressed by the ingratitude of men towards the sufferings of Christ and their refusal to respond to the love of the Sacred Heart, Francisco chose to make reparation for those who do not love, pray or sacrifice, by spending his life "consoling Jesus"; Lucia's mission was to spread the message of Fatima; as for little Jacintha, overwhelmed by the vision of hell and the tragic fate of the damned, who fall into it "like snowflakes", she decided to save as many as possible by obeying Mary's request to pray and make sacrifices for them.

From then on, she imposed penances and sacrifices on herself that were beyond the capacity of a nine-year-old child and, even when she fell very ill, refused to relax her penitential lifestyle. Her condition continued to worsen, causing her terrible suffering, which she accepted and offered with a constancy and generosity that few adults are capable of.

Generous donors, made aware of Jacinta's condition, paid for the treatment they hoped would save her, but the ineffective medical treatment, instead of healing her damaged lungs, opened an incurable wound in her ribs that would never close, causing her constant, excruciating pain. Although she kept repeating that she was going to die, since the Blessed Virgin had told her so, doctors persisted in treating her. In mid-January 1920, an eminent doctor, Dr Lisboa, said he could save her if she were transferred to his hospital in Lisbon, by attempting a last-chance operation, which was painful and risky, but which he guaranteed would be successful.

When she left Fatima for the capital, Jacintha knew that she would never return and that she would die alone in Lisbon, deprived of the affection and support of her family and feeling abandoned. She accepted this too, offering it for the salvation of sinners. On 10 February, she had to be operated on without anaesthetic because she was too weak to tolerate it. The medical staff who carried out the excruciating curettage could not understand how a child could endure such an ordeal, which was also pointless, as no human efforts could save her. Jacinta told them: "Patience... One has to suffer more to get to Heaven." No one understood how she could endure any more, and no pain medication could relieve her sufferings.

On the evening of 20 February, she was resting in a room in the infirmary of the Our-Lady-of-Miracles orphanage. Suddenly, she called the nurse on duty, Sister Mary of the Purification, and said gravely to her: "Sister, I know I'm going to die. Please call a priest." Knowing who the child entrusted to her care was, the nun called the chaplain, who heard the little girl's confession but refused her the viaticum, saying that she wasn't going to die straight away and that she would receive communion the next day. Then he left, without hearing the little girl's pleading voice: "Tomorrow I'll be dead...", depriving Jacinta of the only consolation she allowed herself, the Eucharist - a last spiritual suffering she accepted.

Jacinta died alone, around ten o'clock in the evening, shortly after the priest had left, as she had said she would. Wonderful perfumes immediately wafted from her martyred body, lingering until her burial in Vila Nova de Ourem, and were still perceived when her remains were transferred to Fatima in 1935.

Anne Bernet is a Church History specialist, postulator of a cause for beatification and journalist for a number of Catholic media. She has written over forty books, most of them devoted to sanctity.

Aller plus loin :

The Shepherds of Fátima by M. Fernando Silva, Pauline Books & Media (December 1, 2008)

En savoir plus :

Our Lady Came to Fatima (Vision Books) by Ruth Fox Hume, Ignatius Press (July 28, 2005)
The Miracle and the Message: 100 Years of Fatima by John C. Preiss, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. (September 26, 2017)
The Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Fatima: The Miraculous Story of the Three Little Shepherds and the Apparitions of Our Lady by Anna Garavitt, Independently published (May 21, 2024)
Fatima: 100 Questions and Answers about the Marian Apparitions by Paul Senz, Edward Sri, Ignatius Press (July 28, 2020)
The film by Ian and Dominic Higgins, The 13th Day, SAJE distribution, 2009
Marco Pontecorvo's film, Fatima, SAJE distribution, 2020