1. His Spirituality

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Apart from his features and his practice of virtue, Francisco did not seem at all to be Jacinta’s brother. Unlike her, he was neither capricious nor vivacious. On the contrary, he was quiet and submissive by nature.

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I must confess that I myself did not always feel too kindly disposed towards him, as his naturally calm temperament exasperated my own excessive vivacity. Sometimes, I caught him by the arm, made him sit down on the ground or on a stone, and told him to keep still; he obeyed me as if I had real authority over him. Afterwards, I felt sorry, and went and took him by the hand, and he would come along with me as good-humouredly as though nothing had happened.

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3. Francisco Sees the Angel

During the Apparition of the Angel, he prostrated like his sister and myself, carried away by the same supernatural force that moved us to do so; but he learned the prayer by hearing us repeat it, since, he told us, he heard nothing of what the Angel said.

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I then told him all that the Angel had said at the first and second Apparitions. But it seemed that he had not received an understanding of all that the words meant, for he asked:

“Who is the Most High? What is the meaning of: ‘The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications’?…”

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Once the first few days were over and we had returned to normal, Francisco asked:

“The Angel gave you Holy Communion, but what was it that he gave to Jacinta and me?”

“It was Holy Communion, too” replied Jacinta, with inexpressible joy. “Didn’t you see that it was the Blood that fell from the Host?”

“I felt that God was within me, but I did not know how!”

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4. Impressions of the First Apparition

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Afterwards, we told Francisco all that Our Lady had said. He was overjoyed and expressed the happiness he felt when he heard of the promise that he would go to Heaven. Crossing his hands on his breast, he exclaimed, “Oh, my dear Our Lady! I’ll say as many rosaries as you want!” And from then on, he made a habit of moving away from us, as though going for a walk. When we called him and asked him what he was doing, he raised his hand and showed me his rosary.

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He said to me on one occasion: “I loved seeing the Angel, but I loved still more seeing Our Lady. What I loved most of all was to see Our Lord in that light from Our Lady which penetrated our hearts. I love God so much! But He is very sad because of so many sins! We must never commit any sins again.”

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From time to time, he said: “Our Lady told us that we would have much to suffer, but I don’t mind. I’ll suffer all that she wishes! What I want is to go to Heaven!”

“Never mind! Didn’t Our Lady say that we would have much to suffer, to make reparation to Our Lord and to her own Immaculate Heart for all the sins by which They are offended? They are so sad! If we can console them with these sufferings, how happy we shall be!”

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5. Impressions of the Second Apparition

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For this reason, he asked later:

“Why did Our Lady have a Heart in her hand, spreading out over the world that great light which is God?”

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6. Francisco Strengthens Lucia’s Courage

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When he saw me perplexed and in doubt, he wept, and said:

“But how can you think that it is the devil? Didn’t you see Our Lady and God in that great light? How can we go there without you, when it is you who do the talking?”

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“But what a shame! Why is it that you now think that way? Don’t you see that it can’t be the devil? God is already sad enough on account of so many sins, and now if you don’t go, He’ll be sadder still! Come on, say you’ll go!”

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7. Impressions of the Third Apparition

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“We were on fire in that light which is God, and yet we were not burnt! What is God?… We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express! But what a pity it is that He is so sad! If only I could console Him!…”

One day, I was asked if Our Lady had told us to pray for sinners, and I said she had not. At the first opportunity, while the people were questioning Jacinta, he called me aside and said:

“You lied just now! How could you say that Our Lady didn’t tell us to pray for sinners? Didn’t she ask us to pray for sinners, then?”

“For sinners, no! She told us to pray for peace, for the war to end. But for sinners, she told us to make sacrifices.”

“Ah! That’s true. I was beginning to think you had lied.”

8. Francisco in Prision

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While in prison, Jacinta wept bitterly, for she was so homesick for her mother and all the family. Francisco tried to cheer her saying:

“Even if we never see our mother again, let’s be patient! We can offer it for the conversion of sinners. The worst thing would be if Our Lady never came back again! That is what hurts me most. But I offer this as well for sinners.”

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9. Impressions of the Last Apparitions

After the 13th of September, when I told Francisco that in October Our Lord would come as well, he was overwhelmed with joy.

“Oh, how wonderful! I’ve only seen Him twice, and I love Him so much!”

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After October 13th, he said to me:

“I loved seeing Our Lord, but I loved still more seeing Him in that light where we were with Him as well. It’s not long now, and Our Lord will take me up close to Him, and then I can look at Him forever.”

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“Why didn’t you tell us so that we could come and pray with you?”

“Because I prefer to pray alone.”

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12. Francisco, Lover of Solitude and Prayer

Francisco was a boy of few words. Whenever he prayed or offered sacrifices, he preferred to go apart and hide, even from Jacinta and myself. Quite often, we surprised him hidden behind a wall or a clump of blackberry bushes, whither he had ingeniously slipped away to kneel and pray, or “think”, as he said, “of Our Lord, Who is sad on account of so many sins.”

If I asked him: “Francisco, why don’t you tell me to pray with you, and Jacinta too?”

“I prefer praying by myself,” he answered, “so that I can think and console Our Lord, Who is so sad!”

I asked him one day:

“Francisco, which do you like better – to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners, so that no more souls will go to hell?”

“I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month, when she said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already much offended? I would like to console Our Lord, and after that convert sinners so that they won’t offend Him any more.”

Sometimes on our way to school, as soon as we reached Fatima, he would say to me:

“Listen! You go to school, and I’ll stay here in the church, close to the Hidden Jesus. It’s not worth my while learning to read, as I’ll be going to Heaven very soon. On your way home, come here and call me.”

The Blessed Sacrament was kept at that time near the entrance of the church, on the left side, as the church was undergoing repairs. Francisco went over there, between the baptismal font and the altar, and that was where I found him on my retum.

Later, when he fell ill, he often told me, when I called in to see him on my way to school: “Look! Go to the church and give my love to the Hidden Jesus. What hurts me most is that I cannot go there myself and stay awhile with the Hidden Jesus.”

When I arrived at his house one day, I said goodbye to a group of school children who had come with me, and I went in to pay a visit to him and his sister. As he had heard all the noise, he asked me:

“Did you come with all that crowd?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Don’t go with them, because you might learn to commit sins. When you come out of school, go and stay for a little while near the Hidden Jesus, and afterwards come home by yourself.”

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On another occasion, I found him very happy when I arrived.

“Are you better?”

“No. I feel worse. It won’t be long now till I go to Heaven. When I’m there, I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much. Jacinta is going to pray a lot for sinners, for the Holy Father and for you. You will stay here, because Our Lady wants it that way. Listen, you must do everything that she tells you.”

While Jacinta seemed to be solely concerned with the one thought of converting sinners and saving souls from going to hell, Francisco appeared to think only of consoling Our Lord and Our Lady, who had seemed to him to be so sad.

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14. Francisco and His Feathered Friends

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Thereabouts, lived an old woman called Ti Maria Carreira, whose sons sent her out sometimes to take care of their flock of goats and sheep. The animals were rather wild, and often strayed away in different directions. Whenever we met Ti Maria in these straits, Francisco was the first to run to her aid. He helped her to lead the flock to pasture, chased after the stray ones and gathered them all together again. The poor old woman overwhelmed Francisco with her thanks and called him her dear guardian angel.

When we came across any sick people, he was filled with compassion and said: “I can’t bear to see them, as I feel so sorry for them! Tell them I’ll pray for them.”

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16. Francisco’s Illness

While he was ill, Francisco always appeared joyful and content. I asked him sometimes:

“Are you suffering a lot, Francisco?”

“Quite a lot, but never mind! l am suffering to console Our Lord, and afterwards, within a short time, I am going to Heaven!”

“Once you get there, don’t forget to ask Our Lady to take me there soon as well.”

“That, I won’t ask! You know very well that she doesn’t want you there yet.”

The day before he died, he said to me:

“Look! I am very ill; it won’t be long now before I go to Heaven.”

“Then listen to this. When you’re there, don’t forget to pray a great deal for sinners, for the Holy Father, for me and for Jacinta.”

“Yes, I’ll pray. But look, you’d better ask Jacinta to pray for these things instead, because I’m afraid I’ll forget when I see Our Lord. And then, more than anything else I want to console Him.”

164 One day, early in the morning, his sister Teresa came looking for me.

“Come quickly to our house! Francisco is very bad, and says he wants to tell you something.”

I dressed as fast as I could and went over there. He asked his mother and brothers and sisters to leave the room, saying that he wanted to ask me a secret. They went out, and he said to me:

“I am going to confession so that I can receive Holy Communion, and then die. I want you to tell me if you have seen me commit any sin, and then go and ask Jacinta if she has seen me commit any.”

“You disobeyed your mother a few times,” I answered, “when she told you to stay at home, and you ran off to be with me or to go and hide.”

“That’s true. I remember that. Now go and ask Jacinta if she remembers anything else.”

I went, and Jacinta thought for a while, then answered:

“Well, tell him that, before Our Lady appeared to us, he stole a coin from our father to buy a music box from José Marto of Casa Velha; and when the boys from Aljustrel threw stones at those from Boleiros he threw some too!”

When I gave him this message from his sister, he answered:

“I’ve already confessed those, but I’ll do so again. Maybe, it is because of these sins that I committed that Our Lord is so sad! But even if I don’t die, I’ll never commit them again. I’m heartily sorry for them now.” Joining his hands, he recited the prayer: “O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need.”

Then he said: “Now listen, you must also ask Our Lord to forgive me my sins.”

“I’ll ask that, don’t worry. If Our Lord had not forgiven them already, Our Lady would not have told Jacinta the other day that she was coming soon to take you to Heaven. Now, I’m going to Mass, and there I’ll pray to the Hidden Jesus for you.”

“Then, please ask Him to let the parish priest give me Holy Communion.”

“I certainly will.”

When I returned from the church, Jacinta had already got up and was sitting on his bed. As soon as Francisco saw me, he asked:

“Did you ask the Hidden Jesus that the parish priest would give me Holy Communion?”

“I did.”

Then, in Heaven, I’ll pray for you.”

“You will? The other day, you said you wouldn’t!”

“That was about taking you there very soon. But if you want me to pray for that, I will, and then let Our Lady do as she wishes.”

“Yes, do. You pray.”

“Alright. Don’t worry, I’ll pray.”

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17. Francisco’s Holy Death

That night I said goodbye to him.

Goodbye, Francisco! If you go to Heaven tonight, don’t forget me when you get there, do you hear me?”

“No, I wont forget. Be sure of that.” Then, seizing my right hand, he held it tightly for a long time, looking at me with tears in his eye.

“Do you want anything more?” I asked him, with tears running down my cheeks too.

“No!” he answered in a low voice, quite overcome.

As the scene was becoming so moving, my aunt told me to leave the room.

“Goodbye then, Francisco! Till we meet in Heaven, goodbye!…”

Heaven was drawing near. He took his flight to Heaven the following day in the arms of his heavenly Mother. I could never describe how much I missed him. This grief was a thorn that pierced my heart for years to come. It is a memory of the past that echoes forever unto eternity.