SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 20, 2026

MEMORIAL OF SAINTS JACINTA AND FRANCISCO MARTO AND SAINT EUCHERIUS OF ORLEANS, BISHOP | SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINTS JACINTA AND FRANCISCO MARTO AND SAINT EUCHERIUS OF ORLEANS, BISHOP – FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 20TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of  Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto (Patron Saint of Bodily ills; Portuguese children; Captives; People ridiculed for their piety; Prisoners; Against sickness) and Saint Eucherius of Orleans, Bishop. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and these Saints, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, particularly pray for those suffering from hernias, cancers and other terminal diseases, praying for God’s divine healing and intervention. We also pray for captives, prisoners, persecuted Christians, the conversion of sinners and all who have fallen away from the joy of living in God’s loving presence and grace. And we also pray for peace, love and unity in our families and the world. Amen 🙏🏽

Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Saint Eucherius of Orleans, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽

SAINTS JACINTA AND FRANCISCO MARTO: St. Francisco (1908-1919) and St. Jacinta Marto (1910–1920) were siblings and the youngest of the three shepherd children, who, along with their cousin, Lúcia Santos, witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917 while tending sheep in the countryside of Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions of our Blessed Mother Mary is now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima. Jacinta and Francisco were entrusted by Our Lady of Fatima with many messages and warnings for the world, and that they were to do penance and pray for the conversion of sinners. During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to say the Rosary and to make sacrifices, offering them for the conversion of sinners. Both became prayerful mystics, much wiser than their age, on account of these visits. Although only young children, they faithfully offered up many sacrifices as Our Lady requested, by praying the rosary daily, giving their lunches to the poor and going without food themselves, denying themselves water on hot days, wearing a rough rope next to her skin, calmly facing ridicule on account of the apparitions, they offered up their daily crosses and bravely enduring the suffering that ended in their deaths. One time she said to her mother, “Oh Mama … do you see Our Lady of the Cova da Iria?”

In October 1918, Francisco and Jacinta became seriously ill with the Spanish influenza. Our Blessed Mother appeared to them again and told Francisco and Jacinta that they would die young and that she would soon come to take them to heaven. Jacinta explained: Our Lady came to see us and she said that soon she will come to get Francisco to bring him to heaven. Francisco died first. Bed-ridden, Francisco requested his first Communion. The following day, Francisco died, April 14, 1919. Jacinta the next year suffered a long illness as well with two hospitalizations. She was eventually transferred to a Lisbon hospital and operated for an abscess in her chest, but her health did not improve. She died alone on February 20, 1920, at age 9. Their feast is marked on the anniversary of Jacinta’s death, February 20.

Pope John Paul II beatified Francisco and Jacinta on May 13, 2000, on the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. Pope Francis on May 13, 2017 officially declared Francisco and Jacinta Marto saints of the Catholic Church. They were canonized on the 100th anniversary of the first Apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in front of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at Fatima, Portugal – teaching us that even young children can become saints. Saints Francisco and Jacinta are the youngest non-martyrs to be canonized in the history of the Church. They are the Patron Saint of Bodily ills; Portuguese children; Captives; People ridiculed for their piety; Prisoners; Against sickness.

Saint Jacinta once said, “Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at His side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to her”.

PRAYER: Saints Jacinta and Francisco, pray for us that we will remain committed in our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary for peace in our homes, families and our divided and conflicted world ~Amen🙏

SAINT EUCHERIUS OF ORLEANS, BISHOP: St. Eucherius was born at Orleans of a very illustrious family. St. Eucherius was the nephew of Suavaric, bishop of Auxerre, who was the Bishop of Orléans. At his birth his parents dedicated him to God, for his mother had been advised in a vision that he would some day be Bishop of the city of Orleans. They took great care to form both his mind and his heart. His improvement in virtue kept pace with his progress in learning; he meditated assiduously on the sacred writings. His meditations on the Epistles of St. Paul influenced him to abandon the world, especially on Saint Paul’s manner of speaking on the world and its enjoyments, calling them mere empty shadows which deceive us and vanish away. These reflections at length sank so deeply into his mind that he resolved to leave the world. To put this design in execution, about the year 714 he retired to the abbey of Jumiege in Normandy, the diocese of Rouen and soon acquired a reputation for sanctity, where he spent six or seven years in the practice of penitential austerities and obedience.

When his uncle, Suaveric, the Bishop of Orleans, died, the senate and people with the clergy of that city, begged permission to elect Eucherius to the vacant see. Charles Martel, mayor of the palace, who practically governed France, granted their request, despite his own lack of favor toward the Saint. The Saint entreated his monks to screen him from the honors threatening him; but they preferred the public good to any private inclinations, and resigned him to accept that important charge. Thus, St. Eucherius left his beloved solitude to assume the episcopal dignity and he was consecrated with universal applause in 721.

Saint Eucherius apostolic zeal was tempered with such meekness that he was beloved by all who knew him. Charles Martel, to defray the expenses of his wars and other undertakings, often stripped the churches of their revenues. Saint Eucherius reproved these encroachments with so much zeal that in the year 737, Charles banished him to Cologne. The extraordinary esteem which his virtue procured him in that city caused Charles to have him taken to a fortress in the territory of Liege. The governor of that country was so charmed with his virtue that he made him the distributer of his large alms, and allowed him to retire to the monastery of Sarchinium, or Saint Tron’s. Here prayer and contemplation were his whole employment until the year 743, in which he died, on the 20th of February.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Eucherius as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example ~ Amen🙏