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Our"Genesis":
The Home of the Mother Begins
Rome, July 29, 1982
One of the fruits of the apostolate of Fr. Rafael Alonso Reymundo, diocesan
priest from Toledo, Spain, was the commitment made by six young women,
on the 29th of July 1982, which took place in Rome, at the tomb of St.
Peter, sign of their fidelity to the Pope and their desire to serve the
Church. Their commitment was to live a profound Christian life, with total
openness to God’s will. Thus, they formed the seed of the apostolic
group, “The Home of the Mother of the Youth,” having as its
missions: the defense of the Eucharist, the defense of the honor of Our
Mother, especially in the privilege of her Virginity, and the conquest
of the youth for the Lord.
In December 1983, the masculine branch of the youth group also began.
The Home of the Mother of the Youth, formed by both girls and boys of
various ages, began to mature and grow. Some felt the call to live the
charism and missions of the Home with a total consecration.
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 The
Fruit Blossomed:
The Servant Sisters Begin
Toledo (Spain)
September 22, 1984
On the 22nd of September 1984, three young people, in silence,
began to live this new experience of consecrated life: “The Servant
Sisters of the Home of the Mother.” Five years, they lived in an
apartment in Madrid, along with other young women, as they studied in
the university and matured in carrying out what it is they had so desired
to live.
In July 1988, Fr. Rafael Alonso Reymundo, at the time Geography
and History teacher, transfered to Santander. There, he providentially
met Fr. Jeremias Rodriguez Pastrana, C.P., then Episcopal Delegate for
the Religious Sisters of Active Life in the Diocese of Santander. Fr.
Rafael told him of the young people who had begun living this new form
of consecrated life. Fr. Jeremias encouraged him to present the Statutes
for approval and urged him to have the young people move to the Diocese
of Santander, something that later took place on January 24, 1989.
A few months later, Fr. Carlos Osoro Sierra, then Vicar General of the
Diocese and now the Archbishop of Oviedo, and Fr. Jeremias celebrated
Mass and placed the Holy Eucharist for the first time in the Tabernacle
of the apartment where they were temporarily living.
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A
Decisive Step: Vows in the House of the Virgin Mary
Nazareth, September 8, 1989
The 8th of September 1989, the first three Servant Sisters made private
vows for three years before the Episcopal Delegate for Religious Sisters
of Active Life, Fr. Jeremias Rodriguez Pastrana, with expressed oral permission
from then Bishop of Santander, Bishop Juan Antonio del Val Gallo. Little
by little, other young people who also wanted to share in this new way
of life began to join us.
The desire of a total conscration also arose from within the male branch,
and September 8, 1990, the Servant Priests and Brothers of the Home of
the Mother began.
The
Church Officially Approves Us
Cuenca, December 8, 1994 
As we awaited the Church’s approval, the Servant Brothers were
approved in the Diocese of Cuenca (Spain), in 1994, following an encounter
with Cuenca’s bishop at that time, Bishop Jose Guerra Campos. Their
foundation was established in Priego (Cuenca). The parish priest there
asked them if they might know of some religious Sisters who could run
a small residence for elderly people. They spoke to him of the Servant
Sisters, and shortly after, the Sisters’ foundation was also established
in Priego in October 1994. The Sisters presented their Statutes to Bishop
José Guerra Campos and on the 8th of December, Solemnity of the
Immaculate Conception, the Bishop approved them as Public Association
of Faithful, Religious Institute in Formation. Since then, the number
of vocations has grown and we have founded in other places. Currently,
there are 71 Servant Sisters, from ten different nationalities.
There are 29 sisters with perpetual vows, 18 with temporal vows, 8 novices,
and 16 postulants. We have 9 houses worldwide, 4 of which are in Spain.
Last updated: July 23, 2008
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The
Lord Blesses Us
 And
since then our path has been the same as it has been from the beginning:
being faithful to God by living in plenitude our vocation in the Holy
Church, convinced that we form part of a work that is not ours but His
and that we have the duty to conserve and to spread the treasure that
has been entrusted to us in vessels of clay. However, our many imperfections
have not inhibited the hand of the Lord who has deigned to continue blessing
this little plant of the Church by sending us new Sisters.
We are living intense moments, moments of many graces from God and all
we could wish for is always to live with this foundational spirit, without
losing the original fervor. We are all useful to the Lord no matter how
ramshackle we may consider ourselves. We are all useful to Him as steps
on that stairway by which He wishes to descend to souls. It is the Love
of God that brings us together in the same religious family to live the
same rules of life:
"All of those who in the unfolding of time are called by God
to participate as members of the gift that the Lord wishes to make to
his Mother, with greater perfection, come together to form the Servant
Sisters of the Home of the Mother. We place ourselves under the maternal
protection of Mary in order to reach Holiness through the following of
Christ, in the Church. And we have as our missions: the Defense of the
Eucharist, the Defense of the Honor of Our Mother, especially in the privilege
of her Virginity, and the conquest of the young people for Jesus Christ.”
(First rule of the Statutes of the S.H.M.)
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Our
Communities
Spain
The foundations in Spain are located in Priego (Cuenca), Belmonte (Cuenca),
Zurita (Cantabria), and Alcalá de Guadaíra (Sevilla).
In Priego (Cuenca), since 1994, we have run a home for the elderly, which
currently has 10 residents. We also collaborate in the local parish.
In Belmonte (Cuenca), since 1996, we have been directors of a boarding
school of 19 girls with severe family problems and we also collaborate
in the local parish.
In Cantabria in Zurita de Piélagos, our activity is above all
in communications media. We publish a magazine for adults, as well as
one for one for children, each in four languages: Spanish, English, Italian,
and German. We have local radio and television stations, and we also collaborate
with EWTN in production. We also work on designing our web page.
Zurita is also the site of our novitiate. There are currently 8 novices.
In October of 2007, we founded a community of Servant Sisters in Alcalá
de Guadaíra (Sevilla). We are in charge of the pastoral and spiritual
care for the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Aguila, in addition
to our work in the local parish.
Italy
The first foundation outside Spain was in Rome, in 2002. The sisters
there are studying; last year, in the Pontifical University of Santa Croce. Two sisters work in the Fides Agency run by the Congregation for
the Evangelization of the Peoples. The sisters also collaborate with the
communications media. We are now working in a new project called H2onews,
together with Jesús Colina, director of the news agency Zenit,
together with other collaborators. The project consists in creating an
audio-visual news source, transmitted through internet, offering the possibility
of usage among Catholic television stations from all over the world. We
count with support from the Pontifical Counsel for Social Communications,
as well as from Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of Centro Televisivo Vaticano
(CTV), the Vatican’s audio-visual service.
Ecuador
The second foundation outside Spain took place in 2003. The Archbishop
of Portoviejo (Ecuador), Archbishop Jose Mario Ruiz Navas, asked us to
take over the responsibility of evangelization in one of the most needy
areas, Chone. The sisters work in the Parish of San Cayetano, giving catechesis,
formation of catechists, taking Communion to the sick, collaborating in
projects such as soup kitchens for poor children, sanitary aid, etc.
In 2006, we once again founded in Ecuador, in Playa Prieta, also located
in the diocese of Portoviejo. In Playa Prieta, Bishop Jose Mario has entrusted
us with the leadership and direction of a school with 250 children.
United States of America
In August of 2004, we founded a new community in a Catholic university
named Ave Maria University, in Naples, Florida. The sisters there lead
a vocational discernment program for students and offer Spanish classes
in the Ave Maria Grammar School, which is attended by the children of
the professors as well as other local children. The sisters also study
Theology at the university.
Then, in 2006, we founded another community of sisters in Jacksonville,
Florida. The sisters there collaborate in Assumption Parish and teach
religion classes in the parish school.
Last updated: July 23, 2008
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