Francisco Marto
Francisco said that he saw the Lady moving her lips, opening her hands and closing them, but did not hear her words. At the beginning of the apparition, when Lúcia said she was seeing Our Lady,
Francisco, seeing nothing, advised his cousin to throw a stone at it, and Lúcia said to the Lady: – “So you are Our Lady from Heaven and Francisco doesn't see you?” – The Lady had already told her that she was from Heaven. Our Lady said to Lúcia: “Tell him to pray the rosary and he will see me”. The boy told how he then put his hand into his waistcoat pocket, where he had the beads he used at Mass, and began to pray, and when he had prayed six or seven Hail Marys he could already see the Lady and could pray no more. At the moment when he could already see her, he noticed that the sheep were starting to go into a wheat field in the lowest part of the Cova da Iria and said he was going to turn them back. He was about to set off when Lúcia said to him: “Oh Francisco, don't go, because Our Lady says the flock won't eat the wheat”. He then observed: “So the sheep are going right into the wheat and not eating it?!” And he came back. His mother asked him: “After Our Lady left, did the sheep eat the wheat?” He answered: “Ah, if they'd let them, they would have eaten it all”.
O Francisco disse que via a Senhora a mexer os beiços, abrir as mãos e fechá-las, mas não ouvia as suas palavras.
[…]
No princípio da aparição, quando a Lúcia dizia que via Nossa Senhora, o
Francisco não vendo nada, aconselhou a prima a atirar-lhe com uma pedra e a Lúcia disse à Senhora: – “Então vossemecê é Nossa Senhora do Céu e o Francisco não a vê?” – Já a Senhora lhe tinha dito que era do Céu. Nossa Senhora disse à Lúcia: “Diz-lhe que reze o terço e já me verá”. O pequeno contou que então meteu a mão no bolso do colete, onde tinha as contas da Missa e começou a rezar e quando tinha seis ou sete Avé Marias rezadas, já via a Senhora e não pôde rezar mais. Na ocasião em que já a via, notou que as ovelhas começaram a ir para um trigal que havia na parte mais baixa da Cova da Iria e disse que as ia voltar. Estava para se pôr a caminho quando a Lúcia lhe disse: “Ó Francisco, não vás, que Nossa Senhora diz que o gado não come o trigo”. Ele então observou: “Então as ovelhas já vão pelo trigo dentro e não o comem?!” E voltou para trás. A mãe perguntou-lhe: “Depois de Nossa Senhora sair, as ovelhas comiam o trigo?” Respondeu ele: “Ah, se as deixassem comiam-no todo”.
Editor's notes (2)
7 António Ferreira Rosa and Manuel Ferreira Rosa.
8 At the date of this interrogation, José dos Santos Marto and João dos Santos Marto were alive.
7 António Ferreira Rosa e Manuel Ferreira Rosa.
8 À data deste interrogatório, estavam vivos José dos Santos Marto e João dos Santos Marto.
