Our Mission
The Alexander House is a national, not for profit, lay apostolate dedicated to marriage education and enrichment through the teachings of John Paul II and the teachings of the Catholic Church. We assist married couples, troubled couples, engaged couples, young adults, high school/middle school youth, priests, and dioceses.
Our Vision
To see a society full of married couples who are living God’s plan for marriage, so that the joy, sanctity and permanence of the sacrament may be realized and preserved.
Our Goal Is
To preserve the marriage covenant, build strong families and lower the divorce rate by helping individuals to discover the beauty and grandeur of the vocation to love and the service of life through marriage, family, church and community.
Our Motto
To be a witness to God's Glory one must be humble enough to share one's story with others. By our example of repenting and turning to God, we reveal the redeeming power of God. We make what is perceived to be intangible, tangible!
The Name
As a result of coming to understand and live out God's design for marriage Greg and Julie felt called to create a vehicle that would allow others to experience the same happiness and joy that they discovered in their marriage. They also believe that all we need to know about marriage should be taught in the home, hence the word house. Because it was from their own wounds that they (the Alexander's) began to educate and help to heal others in their marriages; it was only logical that this apostolate should be called the Alexander House.
The Alexander House collaborates with parents, churches, schools, higher education, industry and community groups to provide programs, workshops, seminars, retreats and resources to increase the understanding and education of God's plan for the Sacrament of Marriage and to stop and reverse the decline of marriage in our society. It also pledges its allegiance to the Holy Father and is loyal to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
"I support this move" to reconcile the traditionalist faction in the Church, he said, "because I understand the big picture, which is that the Catholic Church has a problem. There is a strong left wing of the Church that is doing immeasurable harm to the faith."...Rabbi Yehuda Levin
As one of the Sisters said "I definitely know that we are on the westernmost edge. And each day at school seeing the beach and seeing that there's ocean and the land stops has helped me to realize that gift of actually simplicity and giving to the Lord and of giving of myself. Because I see the beauty and I see that there's something greater than me that's a constant reminder that there's something greater than me out there. The Hawaiian people are very also a very beautiful people and their gift is their gentility."
Senate Bill 360, which will allow home schooled students to participate in public school extracurricular activities such as band and sports, will be heard on February 13 in the Senate’s Education Committee starting at 2:30 in the State Capitol, Conference Room 225.
Let Brotherly love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you are also are in the body.
Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you Thus we may say with confidence:
The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?...
1. Who can become a spiritual mother to priests?
Any mature Catholic woman, already fully engaged in the sacramental life of the Church, can discern a call to the spiritual motherhood of priests. This spiritual motherhood can be lived in any state of life; it is open to single women, married women, mothers of families, widows, grandmothers, and religious in both the active and enclosed forms of consecrated life. None of its obligations bind under pain of sin. The vocation to the spiritual motherhood of priests is also compatible with the spirituality and obligations of Benedictine Oblates and of those who belong to one or another of the Third Orders: Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Servite, etc.
2. What is spiritual maternity?
Spiritual maternity is a particular grace of the Holy Spirit by which a woman surrenders herself, body and soul, to the fruitful love of Christ, for the sake of His Bride the Church and for the glory of the Father, so that, through her offering, the particular priest entrusted to her, and all priests, may be purified, healed, and sanctified.
3. How does a woman express the grace of spiritual maternity.
A woman expresses the grace of spiritual maternity by imitating the hidden life of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, in the mystery of the Annunciation, consented to the enfleshment of the Word in her womb, and was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, so that through her, Christ, Priest and Victim, might enter the world, save it by His Sacrifice, and offer it back to the Father.
4. How does a woman live out this imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
A woman lives out this imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by embracing the Will of God in joy and in sorrow, health and infirmity, prosperity and want, companionship and solitude, light and obscurity. In a word, she sees in every event of life an opportunity to enter, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, into the sacrifice of Christ the Priest.
In this way, a woman can participate in the spiritual fecundity of the Mother of the Redeemer who, by her constant intercession, cares for the gift of life that ever flows from the open Heart of her Son, and cooperates with a mother's love in the birth and upbringing of Christ's faithful, her children.
5. How is spiritual maternity related to the Priesthood?
Spiritual maternity in favor of priests derives from the special relationship of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Saint John, that Jesus Himself established when, from the altar of the Cross, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, thy son!" (Jn 19:26). "Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, thy mother!'" (Jn 19:27).
While John -- representing all priests past, present, and to come -- had the power to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ in the unbloody renewal of His Sacrifice, Our Lady was charged with supporting all her priest-sons down through the ages by standing at their side, even as she stood by the Cross of her Son on Calvary. There, with her Immaculate Heart pierced by a sword of sorrow, she co-offered in silence the Sacrifice of her Son, Priest and Victim, and through Him, with Him, and in Him, offered herself to the Father.
6. What does this imply for a woman called to spiritual maternity in favor of priests?
For a woman called to spiritual maternity in favor of priests, this implies a readiness to stand by all priests and, in particular, for the priest entrusted to her, in a ceaseless offering of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and supplication. The Diocese of Tulsa is preparing a prayer book to help the spiritual mothers of priests fulfill this role.
7. What characterizes the adoration of a spiritual mother of priests?
In her adoration, a spiritual mother of priests looks to the Blessed Virgin Mary who, on August 21, 1879 at Knock in County Mayo, Ireland, manifested herself in reference to the immolated Lamb, the altar, and the Cross. The spiritual mother of priests draws near to Christ, the Eternal Priest and to the altar of His Cross so often as she participates in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. She adores the Lamb of God present on the altar during the Holy Sacrifice; she adores Him hidden in the tabernacle and exposed to her gaze in the monstrance. She offers herself in adoration for the sanctification of all priests, desiring with Our Lady, to see them become, in their liturgical service and in all of life, "true adorers, who shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:23).
8. What characterizes the thanksgiving of a spiritual mother of priests?
The thanksgiving of a spiritual mother of priests is, first of all, for the Priesthood of Jesus Christ prolonged in space and in time, from the rising of the sun to its setting, by means of the gift and mystery bestowed on the apostles in the Cenacle, and perpetuated in the Church so often as a bishop, a successor of the Apostles, lays hands on a man and pronounces over him the solemn prayer of sacerdotal consecration.
The thanksgiving of a spiritual mother of priests is, also, for the sacramental ministrations and fruits of the priesthood: first of all, for the Most Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of all Christian life; then for the preaching of the Word of God, the forgiveness of sins, the healing of the sick, deliverance from evil, comfort in affliction, and shepherding along the path that leads to holiness.
8. What characterizes the reparation of a spiritual mother of priests?
The reparation of a spiritual mother of priests seeks to console the Heart of Jesus who grieves over the coldness, offenses, and betrayals of His priests, and waits for them to return to Him, for He is merciful.
The spiritual mother prays for priests who fail to pray; adores the Most Blessed Sacrament for those who do not adore; listens to the Word of God for priests who neglect it; and seeks the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for those who have forgotten that she is their Mother and Advocate. She offers herself for the spiritual restoration and resurrection of priests who have fallen into patterns of sin; for the deliverance of priests oppressed by the powers of darkness; and for the healing of souls scandalized, alienated, or wounded by the sins of priests.
9. What characterizes the supplication of a spiritual mother of priests?
The supplication (or intercession) of a spiritual mother of priests draws its inspiration, first of all, from the Priestly Prayer that Our Lord Jesus Christ offered in the Cenacle on the night before He suffered: "Father . . . keep them clear of what is evil. They do not belong to the world, as I too, do not belong to the world; keep them holy, then, through the truth; it is Thy word that is truth" (Jn 17: 16-17). In their intercession for priests, spiritual mothers will also take to heart the words of the Apostle Paul: "Nothing must make you anxious; in every need make your requests known to God, praying and beseeching Him, and giving Him thanks as well" (Phil 4:5); and in another place, "And now, brothers and sisters, let us have your prayers, that the word of the Lord may run its course triumphantly with us . . . and that we may preserved from malicious interference" (2 Thess 3:1-2).
10. Are there any obstacles to spiritual motherhood for priests?
The obstacles to spiritual maternity are the same ones that would impede any growth in holiness: willful attachment to sin, the refusal to forgive another, hardness of heart, pride, and the other "root" or capital sins. The most effective means of overcoming the obstacles to holiness are frequent confession and Holy Communion; full, conscious and zealous participation in the liturgy of the Church; devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (especially the Rosary); meditation of the Word of God; adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament; acts of penitence and mortification; and obedience to a spiritual father.
11. How does a woman go about becoming a spiritual mother to priests?
A woman who desires to become a spiritual mother to priests should ask her parish priest for the name of the priest charged by the bishop with promoting spiritual motherhood at the diocesan level. She should communicate with him and, after a suitable time of discernment and preparation, can make an act of dedication to spiritual mother on behalf of priests. The Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has developed a program to foster the formation and perseverance of women in the grace of spiritual maternity to priests.
I came to your blog by way of Historical Christian, which linked to Big is Beautiful, where there appeared to be a thank you to you for recommending it for some award.If you are wondering why I am posting it here it is to ask you...what is she talking about?
I find Aimee Cooper’s blog challenging and grace-filled, and occasionally a little angry over this or that, but by and large quite “Christian” in the sense of not attacking other most of the time. The Big is Beautiful blog seems to be on hold, so I checked yours out.
I am quite surprised, and disappointed, in the over-arching negative tone of the blog, if the several articles I read are representative. I don’t want to presume that you are not a happy person, but as a Catholic woman trying to live my faith and interact with this hurting world in a way that may bring others closer to our Lord, I found most of the vitriol spouted quite hateful, judgmental, and off-putting.
I pray your life is filled with more light than your blog suggests. May Christ’s love fill you and all those you love and hold dear.
The problem is it is seen by many as “the Catholic channel.” Unfortunately, it is Mother Angelica’s version of the Catholic Church, and it is an outdated view of what “church” is.
Sorry but I do not have the source of the above cartoon. It was shared via email.A banker on a business trip in New York City, Fred Berretta had just checked into his hotel room. He had about 20 minutes down time before he had to meet his colleagues.
For some reason he decided to clean out his briefcase, something he hadn't done in a long time. As he emptied it out, he came across a booklet he had stuffed into a pocket years ago on praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. He recalls having prayed it a few times years ago. But by Jan. 15, 2009, it was a good intention mislaid — among spreadsheets and quarterly reports and matters that seemed far more pressing.
Only two weeks prior, Fred had made a New Year's resolution to try to get into better spiritual shape. Here in this hotel room was an opportunity to fulfill it. So he followed along in the booklet and prayed the chaplet, a prayer our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s during a series of revelations that have sparked the modern Divine Mercy movement.
The time happened to be 3 o'clock, known as the Hour of Great Mercy, when Jesus died on the cross. Fred would consider that detail the following day — as he was preparing to die....
Another 72 day Conversion of America novena will begin on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and end on April 6th (Monday of Holy Week) Please help spread the word! If you come late, simply start at a later date and end later also. People may also become "American Sentinels" by pledging to pray the rosary every day over the next four years! ***
Conversion of America Novena - Day 15: Sorrowful Mysteries Rosaries Pledged: 44810
Dear Spirit and Life readers,
One of my most memorable experiences in Marine Corps boot camp was the lesson of integrity. Certain infractions of the strict code of discipline were considered “integrity violations” such as lying or undermining the chain of command, etc. We all implicitly understood that term to mean the breaking of rules of conduct or ethics that bind men together for the common mission. We did our best to avoid committing any violations of integrity, not merely to avoid penalties, but more so because we sought to form ourselves as honorable, trustworthy men deserving of our uniforms.
Ironically, the country our honorable Marines serve is currently being led by a President who has begun his term of office with an extensive list of “integrity violations,” setting new lows for integrity in American history, and on the way to shredding the last bits of moral fiber left in our nation. But this is what we get when we elect a confirmed champion of the culture of death to the highest office of our land.
Count with me a couple of these violations that occurred in the President’s first two weeks in office:
* Mr. Obama is the first and only President-elect ever to be investigated by the FBI (regarding the Blagojevich scandal); and hasn’t his normally-boisterous Chief of Staff been rather quiet lately?
* Three of his nominees for high office were caught cheating on their taxes, including—astoundingly—the now-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury who has oversight of the IRS!
* Candidate Obama’s fervent promises to shun lobbyists from any influence in this administration didn’t stop him from picking at least twelve lobbyists for top jobs, including the #2 man at the Defense Department. One blog noted that Obama has hired a lobbyist a day in less than two weeks in office!
* The #1 man at the Obama Justice Department helped President Clinton pardon a billionaire financier on the run from tax evasion charges; the #2 man at the Obama Justice Department is an extreme pornography and abortion rights advocate; the #3 man at the Obama Justice Department helped to kill Terri Schiavo. This is Mr. Obama’s version of justice?
* Our new Secretary of State, even aside from her husband’s foreign fundraising conflicts of interest, will put the whole US foreign policy apparatus behind the promotion of abortion around the world. Come to think of it, this is not an integrity violation at all; it is an essential part of the moral code of Obama, Hillary and company. The President’s erasure of the Mexico City Policy will fund the international killers to the teeth for a new reign of terror on the unborn worldwide.
I could go on but I won’t. One just wonders what the word “shame” means any more.
The icing on the integrity cake, however, is Mr. Obama’s recent call to limit the compensation of the CEOs of corporations that receive government bailout monies. There are two good reasons (among many) why this move is disingenuous in the extreme: first is that it actually applies to no one at the moment because all those who have already received government bailouts are exempt. Second, keeping corporate executive salaries down will stimulate nothing except the rapaciousness of the vultures in Congress who want more sectors of American society under their control.
I can think of a number of people whose salaries should really be capped, however, but it would take integrity to call these filthy rich celebrities and sports stars to account for their obscene income in the same period of time in which more than one million Americans lost their jobs:
* J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author)—$300,000,000
* Oprah—$275,000,000
* Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z—$162,000,000
* Jerry Bruckheimer—$145,000,000
* Tiger Woods—$115,000,000
* Simon Cowell (American Idol)—$72,000,000
* Howard Stern—$70,000,000
* David Letterman—$45,000,000
* Michael Jordan—$45,000,000
* Madonna—$40,000,000
* Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—$34,000,000
Integrity is clearly not Mr. Obama’s strong suit. His lack of experience, superficial judgment, and penchant for empty rhetoric is now on display for all the world to see, and it is embarrassing. The point of the matter, however, is not that America can’t survive such a poor performance. Remember that we did survive eight years of the Clinton regime. It’s that this man is a product of the culture of death and will entirely radicalize our nation’s institutions with other immoral and extreme people who share his views. The blood of fifty million aborted babies has clouded our national judgment, and we have chosen to rule over us not just one man, but thousands of his appointees who will likely drive us into oblivion before we wake up and insist on integrity once again.
Personally, I think a few months in Marine Corps boot camp might serve President Obama very well.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
