FRANCESCANE SERVE DI MARIA. – Founded at Blois in 1852 by Mother Virginia Vaslin with the assistance of Bishop Pallu du Parc and the priest Vénot, in 1864 the sisters professed the rule of the Third Order. They are dedicated to caring for domestic servants and the sick; they also maintain night shelters for women.
In 23 houses, 275 sisters live.
BIBL.: P. Norbert, Les religieuses franciscaines, Parini 1897, pp. 180–91; anon., Les Soeurs franciscaines servants de Marie, Blois 1935.
Cesario van Hulst