Servants
of Mary
Heirs to an eight-century vigil begun by the Seven Holy Founders, the Secular Order of the Servants of Mary invites lay Catholics to live the ancient Servite charism of prayer, fraternity, and compassionate service in the heart of daily life.
"And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed."
Luke 2:35
Our Roots
1233
Origins & Early Lay Communities
Seven wealthy Florentine merchants withdrew from public life to live in prayer and penance, placing themselves under the protection of the Virgin Mary. Officially approved in 1256 as the Order of Friars Servants of Mary, their community drew lay men, women, and married couples from its earliest years.
These early lay participants — oblates, confraternity members, and associates — lived ordinary city and family life while remaining spiritually bound to the friars. Varied by priory and held together by devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, they are the direct ancestors of today's OSSM.
1424
Formal Recognition
Through the Bull Sedis apostolicae providentia, Pope Martin V officially recognized lay Servites as a structured Third Order — giving them a genuine ecclesial identity alongside the Third Orders of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians.
For the first time, lay people affiliated with the Servites held a defined place within the Church's life, with early forms of governance and a common name that spread across Europe in the centuries that followed.
1962 – 1995
Vatican II & The Rule Renewed
The Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of lay vocations across all religious families. In response, the Servite Third Order was re-examined to better reflect modern lay life and a clearer identity within the broader Servite family.
A new Rule of Life was approved by the Apostolic See in 1987 and, after further revision, definitively confirmed by the Holy See on 29 April 1995. The order was formally renamed the Secular Order of the Servants of Mary — the OSSM — a worldwide movement of lay men and women living in ordinary society, fully part of the Servite spiritual family.
Our Charism
Standing with Mary at the Foot of the Cross
Marian Inspiration
Mary, model of the servant
The constant wellspring of Secular Servite life is Mary — venerated as Virgin at the Annunciation, Mother at the Nativity, intercessor at Cana, sharer of our suffering at the Cross, and Bride of the Spirit at Pentecost. Above all she is honoured as the Virgin of Sorrows: her compassionate presence in Christ's Passion makes her the perfect model of discipleship, simplicity, and total surrender to God. She is not a distant icon but a living presence — the measure against which every Servant of Mary asks how deeply they have given themselves to God.
Fraternal Life
One mind, one heart
Imitating the first community of the apostles, Secular Servites are called to live with one mind and one heart. The Seven Holy Founders were bound together in the Lord's name — and that bond is the Order's defining mark. This call to unity is not merely social but mystical: a participation in the communion of love that is the Church itself. In a world broken by hatred and division, Servants of Mary are sent to be visible signs that another way of belonging is possible.
Charitable Service
Compassion made flesh
Mary's vigil at the Cross was not passive — it was an act of total, costly love. Secular Servites inherit that posture: they are a people called to remain. Where others move on, they stay. Where suffering is hidden, they look. The Order asks not for grand gestures but for a consistent, incarnate compassion — rooted in the conviction that every wounded person is a place where Christ is still being crucified, and where Mary still stands.
Life in the Order
Daily Prayer
Each day begins with a Morning Offering and, where possible, Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. At some point in the day, members pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows — fifteen Hail Marys with meditations on Mary's compassion. An evening examen closes the day: a brief, honest review of where God was present and where he was missed.
Monthly Fraternity
Once a month, members gather with their local fraternity — typically for two hours. A meeting follows a simple pattern: opening prayer, a formation session on the Rule or Servite spirituality, open sharing, and a closing Hail Mary. Fraternities are small by design, rarely more than fifteen people, so that genuine community is possible.
The Rule of Life
The OSSM Rule of Life, confirmed by the Holy See in 1995, sets out what every member commits to: daily prayer, monthly fraternity, ongoing formation, and a personal work of service. New members make an initial promise after a period of formation. That promise is renewed each year — not as a formality but as a conscious re-choosing of the life.
A Work of Service
Each member discerns one concrete act of mercy rooted in their own community — visiting the sick, accompanying refugees, supporting a food pantry, sitting with the dying. The specific work matters less than the consistency: showing up, staying present, and bringing Mary's compassion into a particular wound rather than a general good intention.
Patron Saints
The canonised sons and daughters of the Servite family — each a living icon of the Order's charism of prayer, fraternity, and compassionate service.
The Seven Holy Founders
Founders of the Servite Order
Seven wealthy Florentine laymen who withdrew from the world together to serve Our Lady, founding the Order in 1233. Canonised as one — the only collective canonisation in the Church.
St. Philip Benizi
Reformer & Fifth Prior General
Called the 'second founder,' Philip stabilised and expanded the Order through a critical period of growth, and was so venerated that he fled to avoid election as pope.
St. Peregrine Laziosi
Patron of the Sick & Suffering
Miraculously healed of cancer on the eve of amputation, Peregrine is the Order's great intercessor for the ill — bearing in his own body the compassion Mary showed at the Cross.
"Where sorrow is deepest, there Mary stands. There, too, the Servant of Mary is called to remain."
Servite Tradition
Events
Gather with us in prayer, retreat, and celebration — in person and online, throughout the year.
15
September
2026
Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
Chapel of St. Philip Benizi · Chicago
The Order's principal feast day — Mass, solemn procession, and evening prayer in honour of the Virgin of Sorrows. All are welcome.
07
October
2026
Servite Rosary Evening
Online · Zoom
A guided recitation of the Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, with reflections drawn from the writings of St. Philip Benizi.
29
November
2026
Advent Retreat Day
Mater Dolorosa Retreat Centre · Los Angeles
A day of silence, prayer, and formation — open to fraternity members and those discerning a call to Secular Servite life.
Reflections
Writings from within the Order — meditations on Mary, the sorrows, and the inner life of Servite prayer.
Br. Thomas M.
June 2026
Abiding at the Foot of the Cross
“In the silence beneath the cross, Mary did not turn away. She stayed — and in her staying, she teaches us that fidelity to suffering is itself a form of prayer.”
Read more →
Sr. Catherine O.
May 2026
The Seven Sorrows as a Path of Union
“Each sorrow is not merely a wound to be pitied but a door — an invitation to enter more deeply into the mystery of compassion that unites the Mother to her Son.”
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Fr. Jerome A.
April 2026
On Poverty of Spirit in Servite Life
“The founders of our Order left everything — not as a heroic gesture, but because they had glimpsed something so luminous that everything else became shadow.”
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"If your heart is drawn to Our Lady of Sorrows, walk with us."
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