They were founded in 1845 in Lviv, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in Ukraine, the first such organization of religious women in this Eastern Catholic Church.
From his experiences with the Polish Roman Catholics, Lomnytskyj conceived the idea of establishing communities of active Religious Sisters to assist the Basilian Fathers in answering the great social needs of the people, as had emerged throughout Western Europe during that era.
Lomnytskyj was invited in 1891 by Father Cyril Sielecki, a widowed priest, to give a mission at the parish of Zhuzhel (now called Zhuzheliany) where he was leaving as pastor.
Two days later, she was formally given this habit and the religious name Josaphata, in honor of the revered Ukrainian Catholic martyr, Saint Josaphat.
Unfortunately, severe divisions arose within the Congregation, driving Hordashevka to submit her resignation soon afterwards to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv, the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., who accepted it and appointed a new Superior General.
The Sisters Servants had been founded to minister to the spiritual, moral, intellectual and social needs of the Ukrainian people.
As many of them emigrated to other countries over the years, in search of a better life, the Sisters branched out from western Ukraine to Canada, Yugoslavia, Brazil, the United States, Poland, Slovakia, Italy, Great Britain, France, Argentina, Germany, Australia and Kazakhstan.
In 1992 the Congregation celebrated the centennial of its founding with Sisters Servants from thirteen countries participating in a Divine Liturgy of Thanksgiving and a special Jubilee program held in Ukraine.
On 6 April 1998, Pope John Paul II issued the decree acknowledging Mother Josaphata's heroic virtues, and the occurrence of a miracle effected through intercession to her.
She was beatified on 27 June 2001, during a visit by that Pope to her native city of Lviv, along with another member of the Congregation who had been murdered by a Soviet soldier and over twenty other martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.