Rooted in a life of prayer, as Servants of Mary we are sent to serve God by serving our brothers, preferably the poor and the little ones, to proclaim the Good News and to reveal the face of Mary "as a sign of hope for peoples".
In Father Cestac's footsteps, today we are continuing the social, educational, spiritual mission differently. Also, by the creation of associations and foundations, the spirit of the Good Father continues to restore the taste for life, to the women and men of our time.
At Konoor (Kerala, India), we have started a new mission on 2nd of October 2019: the Pakalveedu day care centre for senior citizens.
Many aged men and women sitting at home lonely, not listened and not cared for, will be able to find a listening heart and a helping hand in us through this mission.
Men and women irrespective of cast and religion, come and spend their time with us during the day. It is in collaboration with the laity.
The house is given by a charitable society called "Mercy Home", where we are free to use the house according to the need of the mission. Every day 20 t0 25 persons are present.
The Foundation Gizaide is founded in the year 1997 by the Servants of Mary of Anglet, the Caritas of the diocese of Saint Sebastian and the Congregation of Salesians, with the aim of supporting the persons with mental sickness, having difficulties and give counselling to their near ones.
Restore the will to live
"We accompany those who suffer in body and heart, bringing them concrete fraternal help, hope in friendship and faith; we want to be a sign of hope and a service of communion between men."
The Maria Deepthi dispensary is located in the same place as the college and the Sisters' house in Panakahalli, a village in the state of Tamil Nadu, in southern India. It serves the most vulnerable and needy population (elderly, women, children).
Deeply committed to this mission, the Servants of Mary offer constant listening and support to the people who come to them, doing everything in their power to "give them back their zest for life".
The center provides preventive and basic health care, treats cases that do not require hospitalization, and administers medication as needed. It provides follow-up care for patients and home visits for those unable to travel.
The Foundation María de Belen, functions for more of 25 years, in Goya city (a region of Corrientes), in Argentina. It is an organization of civil society, who toil to promote respect for rights and to improve the quality of the life of children, of adolescents and of families which undergo divers social and vulnerable situations, by carrying out a global work based on taking into consideration, prevention, promotion and the participation of the agents involved.
The Congregation of Servants of Mary is very much involved in the Foundation: Sr. Nidia, the president, is present daily wise and in direct contact with the team (general coordinator, coordinator of workshops, psychologist, social worker, instructor of the workshops, accountant). She is also responsible to find out funds for the Foundation, the most difficult job sometimes…
In Gudalur (Tamil Nadu, India), Maria Nikethan is a day center where we welcome children and young people of all ages with mental or physical disabilities.
We entertain them with physical activities such as gymnastics and yoga, and also technical training, such as candle and cover making… or also mushroom cultivation, an activity in which the children are very interested and actively involved.
These different learning methods give them the opportunity to develop the mental and physical skills they feel capable of. It is also an outing for them too, and they enjoy their life mingling with one another.
We are supported and encouraged by the local people, who express their gratitude and solidarity, and rejoice in the service we provide to these poor, struggling children.
Opened in 2006 in Santhigiri (Kerala, India) in the diocese of Palai, Maria Bhavan is a home for aged women or women in distress, with a capacity of 15 places.
In the year 1867, a community of Servants of Mary was established in Bapaume, in the north of France, to welcome the orphans. They remained there till 2005 for the service of the children. In 1972, they merged with the Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers of Sainte-Agnès. Together they would work, to fulfill the vision of their founders under new forms.
In 1994, they created the Association "Accueil et Relais", having the objective "to bring support and to be a link between the Congregation of Servants of Mary and the institutions and the service for the children and adults in difficulty, created or to be created in the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais and administered by them". By way of agreement, this association sees to delegate the responsibility of three institutions: home for the children of Bapaume, home for the children of "La Charmille" at Saint Catherine and the maternal centre "La Marelle" at Achicourt.
In the month of May 1998, the objective of the Association is modified. "Accueil et Relais" becomes administrator animator and founder of the institutions and services in the social and medico-social sector in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. In the middle of these structures, it attends to the promotion of political and pedagogical orientations of the Congregation of Servants of Mary. Simultaneously, "Accueil et Relais" becomes administrator of "Foyer Saint-Nicolas", home for the aged at Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem.
In the year 2003, the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence of Arras entrust to "Accueil et Relais" the administration of the home for the aged "Saint-Landelin" at Vaulx-Vraucourt ; in 2012, at the request of the Congregation of the Sisters of Sainte-Marie of Paris, the home for the aged "Saint-Pierre" at Villecresnes joint the Association, then the children’s home "Asermines", join in its turn, the Association "Accueil et Relais".
Today, the Servants of Mary sit always at the office, this Association of solidarity of which the mission is to create, to animate, to administer the institutions and services in the social and medico-social sector, according to the principals of its Chart of Values.
At the Refuge of Toupah, the Servants of Mary, welcome mothers and their malnourished children, as well as the young school dropout girls.
In the Women's Center, care, general training, sewing, cooking courses are provided... and many common activities punctuate the daily life of this Community in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.
In 2005, the Congrgation of Servants of Mary wishes to hand over and administer the creation of the Association "Missions Père Cestac", said MPC.
It is born of the good will of persons sharing the common values and decided to join to put into action in favor of persons in vulnerable situation. "Missions Père Cestac" is a lay association. The Association presents itself through its Associative Project, which is the expression of its personality and the inspiration for its actions.
It administers 7 establishments and social services, medico social and sanitary:
at Our Lady of Refuge, Anglet (Pyrenees Atlantic)
and at Buglose (Landes)
Since its creation in 1905, La Milagrosa Institute bears the imprint of the charism of Blessed Louis-Edouard Cestac, founder in 1842 of the Congregation of the Servants of Mary, which forms the Ideology that enlightens and guides the whole educational task based on three pillars: love of Mary, love of the poor (justice) and love of work, in accordance with the Christian values left by Jesus and in a climate of freedom and charity.
Today, the Servants of Mary continue their social, educational and spiritual mission in a different way, but always in the footsteps of Father Cestac...
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At Notre Dame center, the Servants of Mary welcome young girls, as well as mothers and their children.
If the boarding school is dedicated to middle and high school girls, many common activities punctuate the daily life of this Community of Ivory Coast.
Most of the mothers and their children come from the neighboring villages, while the pupils come from different parts of the country to benefit from a setting that is not only conducive to their studies, but also to their education, in a spirit of family and work.
Education is an important part of our mission. In the words of Father Cestac: "In your classes, each of those dear little ones sitting on your benches holds a whole future, and sometimes a great future".
The Saint Foy School was founded by the Congregation of Servants of Mary.
Though, the religious are not physically present in the school since few years, the congregation remains active and present, so that the spirit in which the school was founded continue. The objective is to keep up the spirit, define and render live our essential values, and taking into account the realities of our world.
The school buildings are the property of the congregation, who participate in decision making regarding maintenance and renovation, in close collaboration with the OGEC and the director of the institution.
Learning by doing
"The child is like a plant that must one day bear great fruits, but its development requires wise, intelligent and constant care."
Stella Maris was opened in the year 1871: At the request of the families who wanted to entrust the education of their little girls to the Servants of Mary, we transformed for them, the novitiates house, into boarding, in the place where the actual school building is.
The school functioned for few years under the name of Our Lady Boarding, giving education of that epoch, arts and language study had been given more importance. The Institution Stella Maris, private institution of catholic education under agreement of association with the State was then founded in 1939.
Since, Stella Maris, continue its educative mission, according to the norms of all the private educational institutions, signing with simple agreements with the State, and then agreements of associations appointing lay teachers, admitting boys and girls, updating the teaching methods to the needs of the time. Open to all, Stella Maris welcomes children from the age of two in pre-nursery class, from primary to Higher Secondary, without any distinction of social origin or religious opinions.
The Congregation of Servants of Mary ensure the guardianship of the school. The spirit that animates, founded on the Gospel, is a "Spirit of service that wants to allow each one to become the master of his/her own development".
The Institution Nuestra Senora de Monte Grande was founded in 1958 by Sr. Redentor, of the Congregation of Servants of Mary, who came from France.
The class started with 8 students. In 1976, Nuestra Senora School, stood with tens of Higher Secondary out going students. It was a period of strict discipline, uniform and performance.
The school developed fast and since then, never stopped development, so much so, in the level of buildings, the number of students and the quality of its teaching.
Educational establishment with boarding-school (English language)
Community of Betania in Llavallol (prov. Buenos Aires)
Community Madre del Taragüi in Goya (prov. Corrientes)
Community Nuestra Señora del Refugio in Florencio-Varela (prov. Buenos Aires)
Sentries of Hope,
the Bernardines unite with Mary on Holy Saturday,
in silence, prayer and solitude.
Tea, coffee, pepper and mushroom plantations
The farm between city and nature.
Covering 25 hectares in the heart of the city, the Jardins du Refuge have perpetuated Anglet's market gardening tradition since 1839, preserving an island of healthy greenery in a residential ocean.
Direct sale of vegetables, eggs and poultry from our social and solidarity project.
Hours
Closed on Mondays, Sundays and holidays.
05 59 52 81 32 - 102 avenue de l'Abbé Cestac - ANGLET