May the Mother of the Heart make our hearts like hers, Pope says at Rosary in Angola
April 19, 2026
Pope Leo XIV departed this afternoon from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola’s capital (video), and traveled by helicopter to the town of Muxima, where he arrived a half hour later (video).
Muxima is the site of a Marian shrine where the Blessed Virgin is venerated as Mama Muxima, or Mother of the Heart. After the recitation of the holy Rosary, Pope Leo delivered an address (video).
“We are in a sanctuary where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country,” the Pope said. “For a long time now, Mama Muxima has quietly worked to keep the heart of the Church alive and beating.”
“Her heart contains a multitude of hearts: yours, and those of many people who love, pray, celebrate, weep, and sometimes—even when unable to come in person—entrust their requests and petitions to letters and postal messages,” Pope Leo continued. “Mama Muxima welcomes everyone, listens to everyone and prays for everyone.”
The Pope called on the faithful to look to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of holiness and to make her loving sentiments our own:
As we journey toward heaven with joy, we look to her as our good Mother and model of holiness. Following her example, we bring the light of the risen One to the brothers and sisters we meet ...Praying the Rosary, then, commits us to loving every person with a mother’s heart—concretely and generously—and to dedicating ourselves to the good of one another, especially the poorest.
A mother loves all her children in the same way and with her whole heart, even though each one is different. In the presence of the Mother of the Heart, we too want to promise to do likewise. We strive without measure so that no one may lack love. We also seek to provide the necessities for living with dignity and happiness: that the hungry may have enough to eat, that the sick may receive the necessary care, that children may be guaranteed a proper education, and that the elderly may live their later years in peace.
A mother thinks of all these things Indeed, Mary thinks of all these things, and she also invites us to share in her maternal concern.
The Pope told young people that “the Mother of Heaven entrusts a great project to you as well: to build a better, welcoming world, where there is no more war, injustice, poverty or dishonesty, and where the principles of the Gospel increasingly inspire and shape hearts, structures and programs, for the good of all.”
“It is love that must triumph, not war!” the Pope added. “This is what the heart of Mary—the heart of the Mother of all—teaches us. Let us set out, then, from this shrine as ‘messenger angels’ of life, bringing Mary’s tender embrace and God’s blessing to everyone.”
Following the conclusion of the Rosary, Pope Leo returned this evening to Luanda.
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