By Jacqueline Kelly –
In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. Religious Orders offer a unique way of living out one’s faith and contributing to the mission of the Church. People who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the service of God as either a monk or a nun can become a member of a religious order. There are different religious orders in a Church because each order has its own purpose and contribution to humanity. It is usually composed of lay people and in some orders, clergy. It is a holy order because it is set apart for a sacred purpose. As Christianity spread, a desire emerged to dedicate one’s life to God in a more counter cultural way.
The Superior General is the head of a religious order. A novice guides the formation of prospective new members.
The Church’s 5th Mendicant Order had its beginnings in Florence, Italy in the middle of the 13th century when the city was torn with political strife as well as the Cathari heresy, which proclaimed that good and evil each had a separate creator. Morals were at their lowest and religion had lost its relevance.
The Seven Fathers were born and grew up in the City of Florence. They were drawn together by friendship and devotion to the Blessed Virgin, they gave themselves to common prayer and works of charity. On the Feast of the Assumption- August 15, 1233, Our Blessed Mother appeared to these seven members of a Florentine Confraternity named “Laudesi” [the “Praisers” of Mary] when they were in prayer and bade them withdraw into solitude.
About the year 1245, these young noblemen [cloth merchants] of the city, two of whom were married and two others widowed, after having settled their personal affairs and made adequate provision for their dependants, established themselves several miles north of the city on the summit of a nearby mountain, Monte Senario, sometimes known as the “sounding mountain” where they followed a life of prayerful seclusion. On Friday, April 13, 1240, Mary appeared to them again. She held in her hand a black habit and desired them to wear in memory of her sorrow and desolation at the foot of the Cross and a nearby Angel bore a scroll reading:
“Servants of Mary”.
Mary told them: “You will found the “Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae” [Order of Friar Servants of Saint Mary] and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine of Hippo. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.”
They accepted the wisdom of Our Lady, wrote a Rule based on Saint Augustine and the Dominican Constitutions, adopted the black habit of an Augustian monk. They carried out these directives under the guidance of Saint Peter of Verona, O.P. devoting themselves to prayer, penance and silence on the one hand and teaching, preaching and various ministerial activities on the other. The men founded the Order of Servites which in 1304 received the approval of the Holy See whose members would be committed to the service of the Lord and others. They promised to follow Christ and witness His Gospel and thus they lived as Mendicant Friars.
Only one of the founders, Alexis Falconieri, a lay brother, lived to see the foundation raised to the dignity of a religious order by Pope Benedict XI in 1304. He died on February 17, 1310. The exact date of death of each of the rest i.e., Buonfiglio dei Monaldi [the first superior], Benedict dell’ Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Ricovero Uguccioni, Gerardino Sostegni and Giovanni Buonagiunta is uncertain. But in 1649, when the main altar of the Chapel at Monte Senario was being re-modelled, the remains of seven bodies were discovered. Having been moved several times, these now lie enshrined in the Chapel of the Seven Holy Founders at Monte Senario. All the seven were beatified on December 1, 1717 by Pope Clement XI canonized as a group in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII.
The new order grew with such astonishing rapidity that by the beginning of the 14th century the Servites numbered 10,000 housed in 100 monasteries and missions spread across all countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the sub-continent of India. A Second Order for cloistered nuns and a Third Order for active works of charity and education, were also founded towards the end the 13th century, the latter by Saint Juliana Falconieri.
The Servite Family- Presence in the World
Friars, Cloistered Nuns, Religious sisters, members of the Secular Institute, Secular Order and other lay groups and Diakonia. There are about 800 Friars in all the 5 continents, Cloistered Nuns in 12 Monasteries, Religious Sisters in 19 Congregations, 2 Secular Institutes and many other lay groups.
Mission:
Witnessing the Gospel through teaching and studying Mariology, serving in Marian Shrines, Parishes, Saint Peregrine Ministry, helping the poor and safeguarding the creation.
They commit themselves in a particular way to comfort those who suffer and are lonely, especially those burdened with cancer and other maladies. Empowering women and setting fire in the hearts of youth for the love of God.
They strive to heal the broken and reconcile with those in the world divided by age, nationality, race, religion, wealth and education.
Logo
It has seven points representing the seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order who were canonized as Saints by the Church in the 1800’s. The formal version of the Crest places the shield atop the Cross, recognizing the school’s commitment to Christ, the Cross and the Church.
Vows
The Servites make solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Their vision is to sanctify first its own members, and then all men through devotion to Mary, Mother and Servant of the Lord.
Rosary
The Servite Rosary is the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is also known as the Chaplet of Seven Sorrows or the Servite Rosary. It is composed of seven decades in memory of Mary’s Seven Sorrows.
India– Congregation of Mother of Sorrows Servants of Mary
The name of the Congregation at the time of its origin was the Congregation of Our Lady of Seven Dolours. When it got affiliated as a Congregation to the Order of Mary in 1927 it acquired the name of The Congregation of Servants of Mary Our Lady of Dolours. The word Servants of Mary was changed into Sorrows and prominence was given to its original name and so it became the Congregation of Mother of Sorrows Servants of Mary.
The foundation of the Congregation for women was founded by a young Tamil woman Maria Soosai Natchathiram in Tiruchy, Tamil Nadu. She was the sixth child from a pious family in Dharmalingapuram Parish, Tiruchy which was dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Dolours. Maria Soosai Natchathiram wanted to live for God alone like her brother Michael who joined the Congregation of the Sanyasis of Our Lady of Seven Dolours which was founded in 1850. Her parents disapproved of her joining the religious life. Maria shared her desire with her friends and they were drawn towards the life of total dedication to God. With great trust, in God they spent time in prayer. God touched the heart of their parents and finally they relented and gave them permission to live a religious life.
The six young women were overjoyed and met Fr. Peter Meccati and expressed to him their desire to live a religious life. On January 6, 1854 one of the six women named Muthamma died. So, the strength of the group was reduced to five. Finally in the year 1854, Msgr. Alexis Canoz placed the small groupof women under the leadership of Fr. Peter Meccatti and thus the religious Congregation was founded on December 8, 1854.
Initially, the Congregation was rather humble and full of trials and tribulations. But the Lord protected them against adversities and guided them. They slowly set up Kindergartens, Grade schools and High schools for the most underprivileged girls, also Creches for babies, Hostels and Vocational schools, found them jobs and finally settled them in marriage. Mother Maria Natchathiram stressed on building a strong base for the upliftment of women in the Indian Society through education. They also serve the socially underprivileged e.g. the Untouchables [lowest strata of Indian society], the “Biologically” underprivileged like the Blind and the Handicapped in Speech and Hearing. A Blind school was set up in Paravai, Madurai and a school for the Handicapped in Speech and Hearing in Ponmalaipatti, Trichy.
The Superior General is responsible for the formation of Sisters in the Congregation. Formation in all levels has the charism, spirit and the spirituality of the Congregation as the pivotal experience. Courses, Retreats, Exposure programmes and Recollections are organized in such a way that they deepen and strengthen this pivotal experience. The Formation aims at counter-cultural communities where life itself is a strong protest against patriarchal, oppressive and the consumerist culture. So, clarifying the Gospel vision and living the Christian values take priority in the formation at all stages of life.
There are three formation houses – Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and Bhopal and sixteen Apostolic Communities and many more spread all over North and South India.
In the year 1964, while The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican [Vatican II] was still in session, Fr. Stani [Stanislaus] Santhu Manickam, the would be First Indian Servite found himself in Gallarate, VA, Italy. He was a Jesuit Scholastic at that time. He had been sent there by the Madurai Jesuit Province, to study Philosophy at the International Jesuit Faculty of Philosophy. Fr. Luigi Sabbadin OSM, then Provincial gave Fr. Stani the faculty to exercise his Priestly ministry in India and sent him on his way to explore the possibility of starting a Servite Mission. Fr. Stani arrived in Chennai in December, 1973 and settled in Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram or Seven Pagodas and thus the foundations for Jegan Matha Priory and that of Jyothi Matha Alayam were laid.
The friars arrived in India in 1974. They first established their presence in Mamallapuram. Later, they opted to establish themselves in Trichy. They arrived in Trichy in 1978. The residence was built in 1984 and further developments took place in course of time. The friars are now present in Chennai, Mamallapuram, Muppaiyur in Sivagangai district, Thanjavur, Siluvaipurm in Chidambaram, Kilnatur in Tiruvannamalai and in Bangalore.
Saints of the Servite Order
Saint Peregrine – [1260-1345]
Saint Clelia Barbieri – [1847-1870]
Saint Juliana Falconieri – [1270-1341]
Saint Philip Benizi – [1285]
Saint Anthony Pucci – [1819-1892]
Blessed James the Almsgiver- [1270-1304]
Blessed Joachim of Siena – [1258-1305]
Blessed Elizabeth Picenardi- [1428-1468]
Blessed Benincasa – [1375-1426]
Blessed Francis of Siena – [1266-1328]
Blessed James Philip Bertoni – [1454-1483]
Blessed Thomas of Orvieto
Blessed Ferdinand Maria Baccilieri – [1821-1893]
Blessed Ubald of Borgo – [1315]
Blessed Andrew of Borgo Sansepolcro – [1256 – 1315]
Blessed Joan of Florence
Blessed Mary Magdalene Starace – [1845-1921]
Blessed Bonaventure of Forli – [1410-1491]
Blessed Maria Guadalupe Ricart Olmos – [1881-1936]
Blessed Cecilia Eusepi – [1910-1928]
Blessed John Angelo Porro- [1451-1505]
Blessed Jerome of Sant’Angelo in Vado – [1410-1468]
Blessed Bonaventure of Pistoia – [1250-1315]