Daybreak

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Saints of the Day: Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto; in 1917 three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady near Fatima, Portugal; Mary asked them to learn to read and write, and to pray the rosary for peace and for the end of the war; they were also to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia; less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza; Jacinta died of influenza in 1920, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world, and for the Holy Father; their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun, and died in 2005 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 2/20/25 Gospel: Mark 8:27-33