Oblates of the Virgin Mary

The Oblates of the Virgin Mary (Italian: Oblati di Maria Vergine[1]) is a religious institute of priests and brothers founded by Bruno Lanteri (1759–1830) in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early 19th century.

Subsequently, after a five-year hiatus, some of the original members re-established themselves as "The Oblates of the Virgin Mary" (Congregatio Oblatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis), and received papal approval from Pope Leo XII on 1 September 1826, about four years before Lanteri's death.

Since the initial foundation, the Oblates have worked throughout Italy and its islands, and in France, Austria, Myanmar (Burma), Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, the Philippines, and Nigeria.

Despite some initial setbacks, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary were approved by Pope Leo XII on September 1, 1826,[3] with the papal brief, Etsi Dei Filius, almost four years before Lanteri's death.

[3] The charism of the institute draws from its founder's childhood experience of a strongly religious household and love for the Virgin Mary, which especially grew from the time of his mother's death, when he was four years old.