St Mary Source of Our Joy OSSM Community

How often we as Catholics cry out to Our Mother Mary petitioning her prayers on our behalf, praying the Hail Mary, the Angelus, the Magnificat, the Memorare, the Salve Regina, the Rosary and more! To her, our Queen of Heaven, we fervently pray knowing Jesus had given us His Blessed Mother to be wholly ours, a heavenly advocate in our search for salvation fully realizing God’s everlasting love. Since a child, I have known in my heart this to be true; I could pray to my Blessed Mother who would always be there for me. So, it was only natural that when I heard about the Secular Order of the Servants of Mary (OSSM) I had to learn more. After a time of formation and discernment, I made my Promise and embraced my new vocation. Today I serve as the Prioress of the St Mary Source of Our Joy OSSM community affiliated with the Assumption Church, Chicago, Il.

As Secular Servites, we are laymen and laywomen who seek to integrate the principles and spirituality of the Servite religious Order into our ordinary lives, wherever and however our individual lives may take us, supporting one another and others in our families and communities in our spiritual journey. Integral to our charism is fostering a deeper relationship with God and Mary, woman of faith and the Mother of Jesus. We move quietly throughout the parish, serving as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, members of the choir and parish committees, imitating St Philip Benizi handing out blessed bread to the congregation on his feast day, collecting toiletries and personal items for distribution to the needy and refugees, donating to the Child Jesus School which educates poor children in Petit-Goave, Haiti at the Servants of Mary Center, and volunteering at The Chicago Help Initiative which provides meals and social services to the homeless and underprivileged. Meeting monthly, we pray together especially for the many intentions submitted for prayer by others.

Our community’s most recent outreach endeavor is the development of a digital presentation (eBook and Video) of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, consisting of gospel readings, reflections/meditations and prayers. Each sorrow can find expression in the painful experiences of today: getting bad news, fleeing one’s home due to war and persecution and living as refugees, losing a child, sharing the suffering of loved ones, and experiencing grief at the death and burial of those we love.

We invite you to enter this meditation and contemplation with hearts open to our compassionate God, and to Mary, who knows our pain and who walks with us as our Mother, in hope that we may find the strength to bear our own sorrows. To participate in this reflection, please click on one of the following links:

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Mary Ann distributing St Philip's Bread at Masses

To learn more about the Secular Order, to inquire about becoming a Secular Servite, and to submit your comments and personal reflections on the Seven Sorrows of Mary presentation, please email me at maandersen.ossm@gmail.com.Thank you for joining us on this journey. Many blessings, Mary Ann Andersen OSSM www.secularservites.org