Jacinta does not remember the exact date of her vision of Jesus, but it was not on the feast of the Sacred Heart which in that year of 1961, was before June 18.

How did the vision occur? On December 23, 1978, Jacinta was interviewed by Father Francis Benac, S.J., at her home in California. Here are excerpts from that interview:

Benac: We have read about your vision of the Sacred Heart. Please tell me about this experience.
Jacinta: I recall a day when the four of us went a little further up [in the lane] from where the angel had first appeared — no one from the village followed us — when suddenly the other three fell into ecstasy seeing the angel. I was a little behind and seeing them in ecstasy I said to myself: "But I don't see anything." Then suddenly like a flash, I saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus which made a deep impression on me. He did not speak to me, but His gaze penetrated deep into my heart.

Benac: What impressed you most?
Jacinta: His eyes, His look — a gaze that penetrated so deeply into me that I cannot explain it.

Benac: What were your thoughts at that moment?
Jacinta: Oh, Father, more than seeing Our Lady, this vision of the Sacred Heart had the greatest impact on me even though I did not see Him again. Whenever I see His image, I have an intense feeling of suddenly seeing someone very dear.

Benac: Do you still feel this?
Jacinta: Oh yes. Whenever I see His image or talk about Him just as we're doing now, I feel within me something I cannot explain.

Benac: When you passed through the period of the doubts, did you also doubt this vision?
Jacinta: No Father. This vision has always remained vivid in my mind. I remember telling my mother that I may have doubted seeing Our Lady or the angel, but regarding this vision of the Sacred Heart even if I were to die, I would insist on its truth. It is something I have never doubted.

Benac: Did this particular vision lead you to a greater love of God? Did you think that He wanted something special from you?
Jacinta: I can't answer that since He didn't speak to me. But my heart did grow much closer to His.

Mother Teresa: Jacinta, how happy you must feel for all the graces that the Virgin has granted you.

Jacinta: You are right, but I don't know if I'll be able to correspond to all the favors received.

Mother Teresa: You are a chosen soul. Before I make an important decision, I always invoke the Sacred Heart of Jesus.