About Us

Official Name

Home of the Mother of all Humanity, Mother of the youth

Also Known As

Home of the Mother (the Home)

Acronym

Name in Other Languages

Spanish: Hogar de la Madre (HM). Italian: Focolare della Madre (FM).

History

The Home of the Mother (“the Home”) was initiated by Reverend Rafael Alonso (born in 1947 in Jerez del Marquesado, Granada, Spain. Received priestly ordination from the archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Marcelo González Martín, on 6 July 1980).

From the outset of his priestly life he was involved in working with young people. He celebrated Mass every morning with a group of students, and he inspired their desire to aim for holiness by responding to God’s will and through a vocation to apostolate.

On 29 July 1982 a group of fifty five young women went on pilgrimage to Rome. Six of them made commitments to Christian life at Saint Peter’s tomb as a sign of fidelity to the Church. This marked the beginning of the Home of the Mother of the Youth (HMY).

On 27 December 1983 (the Holy Year of the Redemption) nine young men undertook the same pilgrimage and made their commitments, thus initiating the men’s branch of the Home.

On 22 September 1984, four young women who felt the call to consecrated life according to the charism of the Home, started the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother.

On 8 September 1990, the Servant Brothers of the Home of the Mother began with the express aim of living the Home’s missions as priests.

Both institutes were recognized separately as Public Associations of the Faithful in the diocese of Cuenca, in 1994.

On 25 December 1995, the first nucleus of the Home’s laity was born. These were people who wished to live according to the Home’s missions within their families. On 3 June 2010, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decreed recognition of the Home as an International Association of the Faithful.

Identity

Our 3 missions: Defense of the Eucharist, Defense of the honor of Our Mother, Conquest of the Youth for Jesus, titled "Our 3 Missions".

According to the statutes of the Association, the Home is “the gift that the Lord wishes to give his Mother.” It is a spiritual family of Eucharistic adoration where each one desires to belong totally, solely and forever to God and to Mary. The soul of every member of the Home should be a sanctuary exclusively for God in which a covenant is made with the Lord and with Mary. The ultimate aim of the Home is the holiness of its members for the glory of God, under the maternal protection of Mary. It was born within the Church in order to be at the service of the Church.

It has three specific missions:

1) The Defense of the Eucharist
2) The Defense of the Honor of Our Mother, especially in the privilege of her Virginity
3) The Conquest of the Youth for Jesus Christ

Special attention is given to fostering worship and adoration of the Eucharist and to fostering Marian devotion in the Church. Apostolate is carried out with young people through summer camps, pilgrimages, retreats and spiritual exercises. A feature of the apostolate of the movement is the use of means of communication to spread the Gospel and the truth.

Organisation

The Home is a spiritual family in which all the members in the three missions described above share the same charism. The members freely take on commitments in spiritual life and apostolate, according to each one’s vocation and life status.

The Home is composed of people of different states in life:

1) The lay faithful, adults and young people, form two branches:

– The Home’s Laity (LHM), composed of lay people over 25 years of age, married and single.
– The Home of the Mother of the Youth (HMY) is for young people up to the age of 25.

Under 18s receive Christian instruction according to the charism of the Home in the various activities organized for them.

2) The members of the public association of the faithful ‘Servant Brothers of the Home of the Mother’ and those of the public association of the faithful ‘Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother,’ live according to their respective statutes in consecrated life and form part of the Home’s international association of the faithful.