In 1976, a group of five young men from Don Bosco Technical College Mandaluyong in the Philippines formed a group to inspire devotion to the Blessed Mother and to strengthen the moral and spiritual welfare of their peers. The group expanded by recruiting young men from various high schools and, as is usual in religious movements, the group underwent several periods of purification and renewal, until in 1990, the Religious Community of the Alagad ni Maria (Disciples of Mary) was founded by Bishop Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD, DD, bishop emeritus of the Prelature of Infanta. Fr. Peter Edward M. Lavin, AM, the Moderator of the Alagad ni Maria Religious Community, is the only founding member who remains with the Community; the other founding members joined different religious communities.
At the present time, the Alagad ni Maria (Disciples of Mary) has nineteen priests and four community houses - one house in each of the Prelature of Infanta, the Diocese of Novaliches, the Dioceses of San Pablo in Laguna Provine and the Diocese of Antipolo in Rizal Province. Nine priests maintain the community houses and are responsible for the growth and formation of the seminarians assigned to a house based on their level of formation to the priesthood. Eight priests oversee mission parishes.
The Alagad ni Maria (Disciples of Mary) Religious Community seeks to continue Jesus’ mission of salvation with the aid of Mary, the model disciple, in her special intercessory role with God, by building the Church and transforming the world through ministering to and enlightening youth. The Community, as God’s human instruments, strives, in a spirit of love and joy, to imitate Mary’s close participationwith her Son in His mission of redemption, in her docility to the Holy Spirit, and in her compassion, life of prayer and penance.
Followers of the Disciples of Mary are united by the bonds of love and fellowship wherein each member commits himself to help build up a fraternal, praying, apostolic Christian community. In practicing vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, members promise to love God above all human beings including themselves, renounce marriage, reject the exclusive use and ownership of material possessions for the common good of their Community, and imitate the obedience of Christ in doing God’s Will. A personal life of prayer is the heart of their spiritual life so that each member disciple can strive to consciously give his whole life to God in order to discern God’s Will and to grow in faithful and loving union with Him.