Francisco, brother of Jacinta, and one of the three seers of Fatima, had a contrasting personality to that of his sister. Francisco was quiet and submissive by nature. Where as Jacinta usually won the games the children played and won with relish; Francisco even if the winner was not impressed by it. Francisco did not share his sister's delight with dancing. He much preferred playing the flute while the others danced.

Francisco conformed to the other children's preferences and had a naturally calm temperament. When bullied he demonstrated good humor. If a possession were taken from him his attitude was "Let them have it" Nothing enchanted him as much as the beauty of the sunrise or sunset.

During the apparitions, Francisco could see the visions as Lucia and Jacinta saw them, but he could not hear what the Angel or what the Immaculate Queen said. When the Angel of Peace, taught the prayers, Francisco learned them from listening to the other two children. Just the same, Francisco was saturated by the atmosphere of a supernatural occurrence.

For several days after the third apparition of the Angel, Francisco did not speak. He explained it later as "I love to see the Angel, but the worst of it is that, afterwards, we are unable to do anything. I couldn't even walk. I don't know what was the matter with me." Little by little the effect faded, before it did, Jacinta explained " I don't know how I feel, I can no longer talk or sing, or play. I haven't strength enough for anything." Lucia explains: page 154- "I do not know why, but the Apparitions of Our Lady produced in us very different effects. We felt the same intimate joy, the same peace and happiness, but instead of physical prostration, an expansive ease of movement; instead of this annihilation in the Divine Presence, a joyful exultation: instead of the difficulty in speaking, we felt a certain communicative enthusiasm. Despite these feelings, however, we felt inspired to be silent, especially concerning certain things.

Francisco, with his quiet little personality developed habits of solitude and prayer. He said 'I prefer praying by myself so that I can think and console Our Lord, Who is so sad!" "I would rather console Our Lord. Didn't you notice how sad Our Lady was 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."

After Francisco became ill, he appeared joyful and content. On page 143 of Lucia's book (Fatima in Lucia's own words) is recorded a conversation between the two seers. " Are you suffering a lot, Francisco?" 'Quite a lot, but never mind! I am suffering to console Our Lord, and afterwards, within a short time, I am going 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 that anything else I want to console him' Page 145 '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.'

From Lucia's book page 145

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