Rev.Msgr.John Kottaram, diocesan priest of Madras Mylapore and the great visionary, on realizing the need of making Christ known and the villages of Ponneri Taluk, began his missionary work in the year 1968 together with some Legion of Mary members. With three of them, namely, Ms . Mary Sebastian, Ms.Arokiamary and Ms.Victoria Peter, he formed a community at Minjur in 1970. Such was the humble inception of the ‘Seva Missionary Institute’, founded on 1974 with the Charism “Evangelization in villages” and the motto “Go and Teach Ye All Nations". This ‘pious  Union’ was later raised to a Religious Congregation of Diocesan Rite. “The Congregation of the Seva Missionary Sisters of Mary”, with it’s constitutions, Rules and Regulations, was approved by the Most Rev. Dr. Arul Das James, Archbishop of Madras – Mylapore, on 8th December 1996 with the sanction of the Holy Father. It spouted from a tiny seed of three members and spread its branches. At present it has 43 convents with 200 professed Sisters working in the 18 dioceses.

The Congregation’s Charism of evangelization is carried out through variety of ministries, such as Social Work ,Schools, Medical centers’, Old Age Homes, Orphanage, Hostels for Girls and Working Women, Vocational Training Centers, Evening Coaching Centers while at the same time focusing on family visits, family counseling and parish activities, all obligatory or ever member .