Textile Portrait of a Little Saint

Jacinta Marto was one of three shepherd children to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in three apparitions beginning on March 13, 1917, in the fields near Fatima, Portugal. At the time of these apparitions, Europe was devastated by the ravages of World War I, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic was poised to grip the global population. Mary asked these children to pray the rosary in order to bring peace to the world, and to urge all people to turn away from conflict and seek God.
With a spiritual maturity far beyond her years, little Jacinta demonstrated extreme piety and a deep conviction for the need to save a sinful world through her penance and sacrifice.

Both Jacinta and her brother, Francisco, were victims of the Spanish influenza. Jacinta lingered a year beyond her brother's death. She told of another apparition of Mary in which the Virgin came to her bedside and gave Jacinta the opportunity to live an additional year of suffering for the sake of converting sinners. She bravely accepted the opportunity, and its consequences. In February 1920, Jacinta developed purulent pleurisy. She endured an operation in which two of her ribs were removed. Due to the condition of her young heart, she could not be fully anesthetized. She suffered terrible pain, which she considered an offering. One month later, at the age of nine, Jacinta died.

Jacinta was canonized in 2017. She is the patron saint of sick people, captives, and Portuguese children. This textile portrait by Joaquina Designs pays homage to the spirit of a faithful child who found blessing in her illness, and displayed remarkable courage and altruism. One cannot help but hope and pray that Saint Jacinta now intercedes on behalf of a world enduring this current Corona virus pandemic. May our faith and courage bring us all the way through it.