Mary, Mother of the Heart

Dear Friends,

May and October are months when Catholics especially honor Mary, Mother of God. She is, for us, mother, sister, comforter, advocate and friend. Believers in Jesus love Mary in a hundred thousand ways!

Countries on every continent have shrines to Mary – at last count, some 350 of them. A Marian shrine is a place of apparition, or a place where a miracle ascribed to Mary happened, or a site of a historically strong Marian devotion.

Just last month, Pope Leo XIV visited the sanctuary of Mama Muxima in northern Angola. Muxima means “of the heart,” and so this is the place of Mary, Mother of the Heart. How this ever became a holy place is a matter of awe.

Built by the colonizing Portuguese in the 16^th century, this fortress became the hub of the slave trade and was subject to a complex history. This is where priests baptized the slaves and then the slaves were required to walk to the port of Luanda, 70 miles to the north. Finally, they were put on ships bound for the Americas, where their lives as slaves became real in horrific ways. It is amazing that this place of suffering has become a destination for pilgrims from across Angola. Simply put, the history and character of this shrine is remarkable.

The Angolans came to believe that Mary, confidant, advocate, mother and comforter, held her children close in their suffering. Before they even knew it was she, she held them close.

Generations after generations of Angolans to this very day have honored Mama Muxima for all she has been to their people. They have intuited her presence to them. They came to treasure what they know. Mary has seen them through as a people.

Pope Leo went to this out of the way area because the reality of slavery is woven into his being. Slaves and slaveholders were part of his ancestry. Deep down, this particular shrine in Angola must have already been special to him.

The shrine of Mama Muxima emerged as a place of pilgrimage more clearly in the early 19^th century. It stands with Guadeloupe, Mexico (1531), Aparecida, Brazil (1717), and Kibeho, Rwanda (1980) to mention a few lesser-known shrines of Mary.

Mary, mother, midwife, intercessor, is always new to us because we are always hearing in new ways how she enfolds the children who are disciples of her Son.

It is cause for us to be glad this month of May to have her as our own mother, midwife, intercessor, comforter, and guide.

~ Sister Joan Sobala