The Youngest Prophet - A Review
By
Jude Wudarczyk - posted August 27, 2007

The Youngest Prophet is written by Christopher Rengers, OFM Cap. Father Rengers resides in Lawrenceville’s Capuchin Monastery on 36th Street. His book takes its name from Jacinta Marto, the youngest of the three visionary children near Fatima, Portugal in 1916-17. It is the story of one of the most phenomenal events of the twentieth century.

Fr. Rengers' work is obviously well researched and scholarly written, yet it is so easy to read that a teenager would have no trouble understanding it.

While the life and death of young Jacinta are the main thrust of the book, the author tells the entire story of the visions at Fatima and their effects on the lives of the people who were touched by them from the beginning of the story to the present day. The current updated edition, which was published in 2004, has additional information that was not available at the time the first edition was printed in 1986.

The three main characters are the three children who reported experiencing the visions of celestial beings including St. Joseph, the Blessed Mother, and an angel. The children's names are Jacinta Marto mentioned above, her brother Francisco, and their cousin Lucia dos Santos.

Although the children originally agreed to keep the visions a secret, young Jacinta leaked the information to others. Soon flocks of people appeared at the site where the visions were supposedly taking place, a spot called Cova da Iria. When it was predicted that on October 13, 1917, a sign would appear in the heavens an estimated 70,000 individuals came to the cova. Many were scoffers, others were firm believers, and still others were just curious. It was in that spot that 70,000 witnesses saw what latter day historians would call “the day the sun danced.” This phenomenon was visible for a distance of 30 miles.

To this day unbelievers say the dancing sun was an optical illusion and that its occurrence at the cova on that day was merely a coincidence. Those who embrace the idea that a miracle occurred ask the question, “If it was not a miracle how could three small children, who had little education, know the exact day and place that such an event would occur?”

It is not the object of this review to analyze this event or pass judgment on the visionaries or those that support or repute the visions. However, we must always bear in mind that the visionaries were children and that their interpretations of the visions may or may not have been enhanced with childish imaginations. At the time of the first vision, none of the children was even ten years old. By the time the Blessed Mother is reported to have appeared; only Lucia had reached that age. Also, as Father Rengers points out, we do not know what they were told or saw. We only know what the visionaries say they experienced.

The reader will be awed by the children’s deep devotion. They never quivered or strayed from their belief in God, their piety, or their servitude to Holy Mary. The author tells many of the tribulations the children suffered. Numerous sacrifices the children endured were not made for their own benefit, but rather for others.

Next the reader will be horrified to know that adults would mock the children, kidnap them, throw them in jail, and threaten them with death by being boiled in oil. Lucia, Jacinta’s cousin, and the oldest of the three was brutally attacked. On another occasion two soldiers threatened to behead her. Her own mother tried to get her to say the whole thing was a hoax. Yet the children remained firm.

The reader is not done with the emotional journey. He or she will be moved to extreme pity as they read of the sorrowful deaths of Jacinta and her brother Francisco. Francisco was the third visionary in the story. He was ten years old when he died. Jacinta was just nine at the time of her death. She continued to tell of visions and to prophesize until her death. Unusual happenings are said to have followed her to her grave. Lucia lived to the ripe old age of 97.

Often when men of the cloth write, they will fill their books with preaching. The author refrains from doing this until the epilogue. Even at that point the preaching is so soft that the reader might not realize that the author is doing it. The seven appendices, extensive bibliography, a list of resources, and several photographs add to an already excellent book.

The book is published by Alba House, and sells for $9.95. It is highly recommended for anyone that is interested in religious phenomena, history, or just darn good non-fiction.