It seems to me that it was in the course of this month that Rev. Dr. Formigão came for the first time to question me. His interrogation was serious and detailed. I liked him very much, for he spoke to me a great deal about the practice of virtue and taught me various ways of exercising myself in it. He showed me a holy picture of St. Agnes, told me about her martyrdom and encouraged me to imitate her. His Reverence continued to come every month for an interrogation, and always ended up giving me some good advice, which was of help to me spiritually. One day he said to me: “My child, you must love Our Lord very much, in return for so many favors and graces that He is granting you.”
These words made such an impression on my soul that, from then on, I acquired the habit of constantly saying, “My God, I love you, in thanksgiving for the graces which You have granted me.” I so loved this ejaculation, that I passed it on to Jacinta and her brother, who took it so much to heart that in the middle of the most exciting games, Jacinta would ask: “Have you been forgetting to tell Our Lord how much you love Him for the graces He has given us?”