Little Lily

St. Jacinta Marto (11 March 1910 – 20 February 1920)

Tinted Charcoal and Pastel Pencil

© 2021 Adelaine Nohara

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

~Matthew 11:25

Jacinta was the youngest of the three Fatima children who received apparitions of Our Lady between May 13 and October 13, 1917. She was a charming little girl: pretty, lively and talkative. She possessed a natural grace of movement and loved to dance. Jacinta took special delight in flowers and her cousin Lucia, her best friend. She also made friends of the sheep they would pasture together.

At the age of five, little Jacinta melted in tears upon hearing the story of Our Lord’s Passion, vowing that she would never offend Him again by sin. Her love for Jesus would grow tremendously – and in a short time – through the visitations that she, Lucia, and her brother Francisco were to receive from Heaven.

Our Lady’s apparitions affected Jacinta profoundly, in particular the terrifying vision of Hell she received. The bubbly little girl became quiet and serious. Determined to rescue sinners from eternal fire, Jacinta became heroic in her voluntary penances, whether it be sacrificing her lunch, going without water in the summer heat, or wearing a rough, knotted rope around her waist. She also bore the cross of incessant mockery and harassment from unbelievers and skeptics.

Following the miracle of the sun, Jacinta became a soul of intercession for others who sought her prayers. Her life came to an early end through illness. As Our Lady prophesized, Jacinta went to two hospitals, not to be healed but to suffer and make reparation for sinners. She bore her suffering without complaint, offering everything to God in love. Though a child in years, she had grown old in wisdom, having understood and lived the mysteries of our Catholic Faith.

Her pure soul was ripe for Heaven before her tenth birthday.

Prayer

Sweet St. Jacinta, little lily of Fatima, please teach us how to love as you loved: to pray and offer sacrifices for sinners. Grant us to remember eternal things, especially the reality of Heaven and Hell, that we might comprehend the shortness of this life and never procrastinate in the service of God. Give us your horror of sin, that we might preserve our hearts pure and undefiled amidst the corruption of our day, and make generous reparation for those who do not believe, adore, hope and love. Amen.