​The Order of Friar Servants of Mary, commonly known as the Servites, is a religious family born in thirteenth-century Florence and rooted in the Gospel, fraternal communion, service, and a distinctive relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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The Order traces its beginnings to the Seven Holy Founders, who left behind their former way of life to seek God together in prayer, penance, fraternal communion, and service, cultivating a particular devotion to the Sorrows of Mary and contemplation of the Passion of Christ.

 

The Constitutions define the Order first of all as “a community of men gathered together in the name of Jesus the Lord.” The Servite vocation is therefore fundamentally Christ-centered.

 

Moved by the Holy Spirit and following the example of the First Fathers, the Servants commit themselves to witness to the Gospel in fraternal communion, to serve God and all people, and to draw continual inspiration from Mary, Mother and Servant of the Lord.

 

This vocation is lived in order to fulfill the evangelical commandment of love, through conformity to Christ, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for all.

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Servants because Christ came to serve

 

Service stands at the heart of Servite identity. A Servant of Mary seeks to become like Christ the Servant. For the friars, this means a life given to God and neighbor through prayer, community, apostolic ministry, hospitality, compassion and the works required by the needs of the Church and humanity.

The Order does not understand service merely as performing charitable works. It begins with the transformation of the person through the Gospel. The Servite learns to recognize every person as a brother or sister, to live in communion, to give himself for others and to make the commandment of love visible in daily life.

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This is why the Constitutions describe the Servites as living, in the spirit of the apostolic Church, “with one heart and one mind”: praying together, listening to the Word of God, sharing the Eucharistic bread and the bread earned through their labor, sharing their gifts and hopes, and discerning their life together. The Order explicitly identifies fraternity, mutual esteem, shared life and charity as essential characteristics of its vocation. The Constitutions themselves were intended to express the fundamental and inspirational norms of this Servite way of life.

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Of Mary — Mother and Servant of the Lord

 

Mary gives the Servite vocation its distinctive character. From its origins, the Order has dedicated itself to the Mother of God and has looked to her while journeying toward Christ and proclaiming him to the world.

 

The Constitutions identify two particularly important mysteries of Mary's life for Servite spirituality.

 

From Mary's Fiat, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” Servites learn to receive the Word of God and remain attentive to the Holy Spirit.

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From Mary's participation in the redemptive mission of her Son, the Suffering Servant of the Lord, Servites learn to understand and alleviate human suffering.

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This is why Mary is not simply an object of devotion for a Servite. She is the Mother, Lady, inspiration, companion and model of service who continually points her Servants toward Christ.

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The Order has historically understood this relationship with remarkable intensity. Its own constitutional tradition recalls that the early Servites regarded themselves as belonging to the, "religio Dominae nostrae," the religious family of Our Lady and used the image of the Order as the "plantatio Virginis," a planting or vine belonging to the Virgin.

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With Mary at the Foot of the Cross

 

The mystery of Our Lady of Sorrows occupies a privileged place within this Marian spirituality. The traditional Servite manual Behold Thy Mother describes the Order's particular vocation as meditating upon the Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin, sharing in compassionate remembrance of them and spreading this devotion among the faithful. The manual consequently directs the Christian toward Mary standing beside the Cross of Jesus, remembering what she suffered in her heart and responding through love, gratitude and compassion.

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The modern Constitutions express the same inheritance in a broader biblical and apostolic language. A particularly beautiful summary of Servite identity was renewed by the Order at Monte Senario: to be inspired by the life of Mary, offering her our service of love, welcoming the Word as she did, standing with her at the foot of her Son's Cross. 

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Standing with Mary beneath the Cross therefore becomes a Servite posture toward the suffering of the world. Contemplation must become compassion, and compassion must become service.