THE ORDER OF SERVANTS OF MARY
The Servites

The Order of Servants of Mary - the Servites- is a Catholic religious order ministering throughout the world in a variety of fields.

Most religious orders, congregations, or societies give credit to a single person as their founder, and that founder is usually a recognized saint. However, the Order of Servants of Mary claims seven men as founders, and they are canonized as the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order.  Their names are not important.  What is important is that seven men, joined in prayer, received a special inspirational message to withdraw from their families and their professions and climb to the heights of Monte Senario outside Florence, Italy, to live a life of holiness.  Each received the same prompting, seemingly from the Blessed Virgin Mary, without knowing that the others had received the same message.  It wasn’t until they came together atop the mountain that they realized they had been chosen for something special.  Our Lady had brought them together and precisely through this forming of one spirit and one body she started the Order that was to be her own and that of her Servants.  That was in the thirteenth century.  Today the Servites have spread throughout the world as priests, brothers and various branches of Sisters.

The Servites have no particular limits to their apostolic work but are present where there is a need to serve.  Servite friars can be found in parishes, schools, hospitals, universities and colleges (both religious and public), and shrines dedicated to Our Sorrowful Mother, such as The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother (The Grotto).  The Novena in honor of Our Sorrowful Mother attracted thousands to Friday services during the World War II, and remained popular for years afterwards.

Devotion to St. Peregrine Laziosi, a Servite Brother of the thirteenth century, has become an important apostolate and ministry of the Servites since Peregrine is the patron saint of those who suffer from cancer, AIDS, and any life-threatening disease.  There are two such centers in the United States - The St. Peregrine Center at The Grotto, and the St. Peregrine National Shrine in Chicago.

The American Province of Servites, the result of the merging of the Eastern and Western Provinces in 1998, is represented throughout the United States in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, and Florida, with vicariates in Australia, Ireland and South Africa.  Other branches of the
Order can be found in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)and South America.  The headquarters of the Order is in Rome.