February 20 – Blessed Jacinta Marto: Patron Saint of Prisoners and Those Who are Sick
Blessed Jacinta Marto, Patron Saint of the Sick (Feast Date: February 20)
Extract from Blessed JACINTA MARTO OF FATIMA: “She called the moon ‘Our Lady’s Lamp.’ . . . During the first Apparition in May, 1917, Jacinta kept shyly in the background, but asked, charmingly, whether they should offer the Lady some of the bread and cheese they had brought for their lunch. Afterwards, Lucia insisted she should tell no one what they had seen. Jacinta vowed that she wouldn’t say a word, but later, when her parents returned from the market she rushed out exclaiming: ‘Oh, Mother! I saw Our Lady today!’ Over supper she related her story to the whole family. Her mother laughed but her father believed her. . . . After interviewing the children the parish priest suggested they might be the victims of a trick by the Devil. Lucia was terrified, though Jacinta assured her the Devil was ugly and lived underground in Hell. When Lucia, worried by all the pressure, suggested telling everyone she had lied, Jacinta and Francisco told her indignantly that that would be a lie. On 13th August, The Administrator, Santos, ‘kidnapped’ the children to prevent them going to Cova da Iria for the next Apparition, and threatened them with a cauldron of boiling oil. Jacinta cried bitterly, not at the thought of dying, but because she would never see her mother again. It may well be that she and Francisco connected the death threats with Our Lady’s promise to come soon to take them to heaven. . . . After they had been taken ill during the Spanish Influenza epidemic in October, 1918, Jacinta told her cousin that Our Lady had come and said she would fetch Francisco very soon, that Jacinta herself would go to two hospitals and be alone. Lucia relates in her memoirs how her little cousin said she never tired of telling Our Lord and Our Lady how much she loved them. . . . She was obsessed by the thought of Hell and saving sinners. . . . On the evening of 20th February, 1920, she asked to receive the Last Rites. A priest heard her confession and promised to bring her Communion next morning, but Jacinta died peacefully that night. Alone. She was almost eleven.” See PICTURE of Blessed Jacinta Marto. See also: Jacinta and Francisco Marto (Multilingual), Beata Jacinta Marto (SP), Beata Giacinta Marto (IT), LA BIENHEUREUSE JACINTA MARTO (FR), ‘Nie lękajcie się’, objawienia Fátimskie (PO).
Blessed Jacinta Marto, Patron Saint of Prisoners (Feast Date: February 20)
Extract from Fatima – The Children: Jacinta: “Jacinta charmed all who knew her. She was pretty and energetic, and had a natural grace of movement. She loved to dance, and was sorry when their priest condemned dancing in public. Sometimes willful, she would pout when she did not get her way. She took a special delight in flowers, gathering them by the armful and making garlands for Lucia. At a First Communion, she was among the little “angels” spreading petals before the Blessed Sacrament. She had a marked love for Our Lord, and at the age of five she melted in tears on hearing the account of His Passion, vowing that she would never sin or offend Him anymore. . . .” See video: Blessed Jacinta Marto, Picture of Blessed Jacinta Marto and Prayer for the Beatification of Jacinta Marto.
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We, at the CTF/SOS DRS have prayed for the intercession of Bl. Jacinta Marto on behalf of those affected by the following catastrophes:
HIV/AIDS in Jayapura, New Guinea (January, 2012) (Oceania) See World Mission Rosary Intentions: January 30 – February 12, 2012.
Tuberculosis in Indonesian Prisons (Winter, 2010) (Asia) See World Mission Rosary Intentions: February 1 – February 14, 2010.
That the Lord in His Divine Mercy – through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary – may build up His Kingdom,
make these mysteries a reality in our lives, strengthen us in our common mission, and come to the aid of those for whom we pray.
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