MANTELLATE OF THE THIRD ORDER OF THE SERVANTS OF MARY. - In the parish of Treppio, diocese of Pistoia, in 1861, three young women, Marianna Ferrari, Maria Mattioli, and Elena Rossi, wishing to devote themselves to the service of Mary Most Holy of Sorrows, received the habit of the Servants of Mary, from the Servite Fathers, in the church of the Most Holy Annunciation in Florence, and founded a hermitage with the intention of leading a contemplative life there.
Subsequently convinced that the times also required works of social benefit, they opened schools with Sunday oratories and pious associations of Daughters of Mary; in 1868 they were aggregated to the Order of the Servants of Mary. The decree of praise dates from 11 February 1909. The Constitutions were approved for the first time on 8 June 1913 and definitively on 28 February 1920. To this Institute were united several convents of Mantellate: that of Ladysmith (U. S. A.), those of Bologna, and that of Ascoli Piceno, founded in 1742.
The purpose of the Institute is the education and instruction of young women through boarding schools, workhouses, schools, kindergartens, oratories, etc.
In 1948 the sisters numbered 764 and the novices 71, distributed among 104 houses.
BIBL. Arch. S. Congr. dei Rel., P. 62.