The Sons of Mary: History
The Sons of Mary are a missionary congregation of Brothers, founded in the Archdiocese of Boston
in 1952. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, we seek out the poor and the marginalized of society
and joyfully announce with them the coming of the Kingdom of God. Dedicated to Our Lady, Health of
the Sick, we trust in her maternal love and prayer to sustain and nourish our patient hope for a
world where justice and peace will reign.
Our beloved founder, Fr. Edward Garesché, urged us, "to do the work of Jesus and only the work of Jesus,"
promising that our healing ministry, "would be a blessing for the whole world." Since that time,
we have celebrated our medical, catechetical and social apostolates from the Andes mountains of Perú
to the jungles of Venezuela to the inner city streets of Manila. We are engaged in a full range of
the church's ministries, some are called to be ordained while others place their professional skills
at the service of God's people, opening our hearts in mission by evangelizing and, in that process,
being converted again and again by the image of Christ crucified we so clearly see in the faces of the
poor.
Our Founder
In his gospel account, the physician Saint Luke describes our Lord Jesus as "going about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed." Edward F. Garesché, born in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27,
1876, was a man whom the Divine Physician invited to follow in His footsteps.
He obtained a law degree from Washington University and practiced before the bar for two years before
entering the Society of Jesus. Although a prolific writer, whose books and pamphlets sold in the
millions, Father Garesché's claim to a place in American Church history lay in the many services
he rendered in the medical missions. He founded the International Catholic Guild of Nurses, two
missionary communities and is especially remembered for the vast amount of medical supplies he was
able to send to the missions through various organizations he founded or worked for.
Fr. Garesché was a priest blessed with great spiritual strength. "God tries us with disappointments,
obstacles, difficulties of all kinds," he would say, "to see how we will bear the cross and preserve.
Let us pray frequently: Truthful God, we believe in You, Faithful God, we hope in You, Lovable God,
we love You and therefore, we sorrow for all sin."
Speaking of the medical missions, Pope Pius XII once said, "These are to our mind the fairest flowers
of missionary endeavor; they give us, as it were, a vision of the Divine Redeemer Himself." Inspired
by these words, Father Garesche founded the Sons of Mary Missionaries in 1952 and dedicated us to Our
Lady, Health of the Sick.
Our founder sought out, in his own words, "young men of strength, constancy and sacrificial spirit who
love God and His Blessed Mother and are zealous for the healing of bodies and souls to such an extent
that they will forget themselves and work with untiring devotion."
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Fr. Edward Garesché
Founder of the Sons of Mary
Fr. Garesché leads the outdoor rosary processin: 1952
An early shot of the Brothers at breakfast, with
Fr. Garesché at head of table.
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Sons of Mary Missionary Society
