Seven Founders of the Order of Servites

Seven wealthy councilors in Florence, members of the laymen Laudesi (Praisers). They individually and collectively felt a call to a deeper religious life, and on the Feast of the Assumption, 1233, they decided to form a new society devoted to prayer and solitude. This was not an easy move - two were married and two were widowers, so several of them had dependants for whom to provide. However, they each made provision for their families, and with the approval of their bishop, they withdrew from the world 23 days later.

At first they lived just outside the gates of La Camarzia under obedience to the bishop of Florence. As word of their holiness spread, they attracted would-be followers, and withdrew to the hills around Monte Sennario where they built a church and hermitage. They lived in for seven years, spending their time in prayer and meditation, and turning away all potential followers. In 1240 Cardinal Castiglione visited; he praised their holiness and devotion, but warned them that their severe austerities was more life-denying and spiritual. Bishop Ardingo explained a vision he had had of a vine that blossomed on a cold March day. The cardinal, bishop and the seven men took this as a sign that they should "branch out", and allow others into their life.

On Good Friday, 13 April 1240, the hermits received a vision of Our Lady. She held in her hand the black habit, and a nearby angel bore a scroll reading Servants of Mary, Mary told them:

You will found a new order, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.

They accepted the wisdom of Our Lady, wrote a Rule based on Saint Augustine and the Dominican Constitutions, adopted the black habit of an Augustinian monk, and lived as mendicant friars. The men became known as the Servites, and were known for meditating on the sorrows of Mary; they fostered the devotion known as the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a counterpart to the older devotion known as the Seven Joys of Mary. Six of them were ordained and took new names, they took Saint Peter of Verona as their spiritual director, and they all went to work with new members. The congregation grew quickly, and soon had groups in Siena, Pistoia, Arezzo, Carfaggio, and Lucca. They built the church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence in 1250, and their Order is still there today. The Servites were solemnly approved by Blessed Pope Benedict XI in 1304, and have since spread around the world.

Alexis Falconieri
Bartholomew degli Amidei
Benedict dell'Antella
Buonfiglio Monaldi
Gherardino Sostegni
Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni
John Buonagiunta Monetti

Servants of Mary, bless all laypeople on their spiritual journey. Help us look to Mary for examples of faith, service, and humility. And help us to remember that God calls us to love him in his children and our neighbors. Remind us that it is more important to live for eternity than to die to time. Amen.

Collect:
Lord, fill us with the love which inspired the seven holy brothers to honor the mother of God with special devotion and to lead your people to you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Activities:

» Spirit of Lent, The
» Teaching Self-Denial

Prayers:

February 17, 2005

Optional Memorial of Seven Founders of the Order of Servites

Today the liturgy honors seven noble Florentines who in the thirteenth century, at a time when Florence and all Italy was torn by civil strife, banded together to found, not far from Florence on Monte Senario, the Order of Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially dedicated to penance and meditation on the sorrows of our Lady in the passion of our Savior. This order was approved by the Holy See in 1304. One of the seven, Alexis Falconieri, died on this date in 1310. Before the reform of the Roman Calendar this feast was celebrated on February 12.

The Station today is at St. Lawrence in Panisperna. The church stands on the site of St Lawrence's martyrdom. The appellation refers to the name of the street, which in turn most likely refers to the tradition of the Poor Clares in the adjacent convent of distributing bread and ham (pane e perna) on August 10th, the feast day of St Lawrence. The is done in remembrance of St Lawrence distributing funds from the church to the poor.

Seven Founders of the Orders of Servites
These seven men were the founders of the Servite Order, a community instituted for the special purpose of cultivating the spirit of penance and contemplating the passion of Christ and Mary's Seven Sorrows. Due to the spirit of humility cherished by the members of the Order, their accomplishments are not too widely known. But in the field of home missions great things are to their credit, and certainly they have benefited millions by arousing devotion to the Mother of Sorrows.

The Breviary tells us that in the midst of the party strife current during the thirteenth century, God called seven men from the nobility of Florence. In the year 1233 they met and prayed together most fervently. The Blessed Mother appeared to each of them individually and urged them to begin a more perfect life. Disregarding birth and wealth, in sackcloth under shabby and well-worn clothing they withdrew to a small building in the country. It was September 8, selected so that they might begin to live a more holy life on the very day when the Mother of God began to live her holy life.

Soon after, when the seven were begging alms from door to door in the streets of Florence, they suddenly heard children's voices calling to them, "Servants of holy Mary." Among these children was St. Philip Benizi, then just five months old. Hereafter they were known by this name, first heard from the lips of children. In the course of time they retired into solitude on Monte Senario and gave themselves wholly to contemplation and penance. Leo XIII canonized the Holy Founders and introduced today's feast in 1888. — The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Things to Do:

With the aid of the Gospels, meditate on the Seven Sorrows of Mary: the prophecy of Simeon; the flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple; the meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross; the Crucifixion; the taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross; the burial of Jesus.

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

February 17, 2005

Seven Founders of the Order of Servites

(13th century)

Can you imagine seven prominent men of Boston or Denver banding together, leaving their homes and professions, and going into solitude for a life directly given to God? That is what happened in the cultured and prosperous city of Florence in the middle of the thirteenth century. The city was torn with political strife as well as the heresy of the Cathari. Morals were low and religion seemed meaningless.

In 1240 seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw from the city to a solitary place for prayer and direct service of God. Their initial difficulty was providing for their dependents, since two were still married and two were widowers.

Their aim was to lead a life of penance and prayer, but they soon found themselves disturbed by constant visitors from Florence. They next withdrew to the deserted slopes of Monte Senario.

In 1244, under the direction of St. Peter of Verona, O.P., this small group adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine and adopting the name of the Servants of Mary. The new Order took a form more like that of the mendicant friars than that of the older monastic Orders.

Members of the community came to the United States from Austria in 1852 and settled in New York and later in Philadelphia. The two American provinces developed from the foundation made by Father Austin Morini in 1870 in Wisconsin.

Community members combined monastic life and active ministry. In the monastery, they led a life of prayer, work and silence while in the active apostolate they engaged in parochial work, teaching, preaching and other ministerial activities.

Comment:

The time in which the seven Servite founders lived is very easily comparable to the situation in which we find ourselves today. It is “the best of times and the worst of times,” as Dickens said. Some, perhaps many, feel called to a countercultural life, even in religion. All of us are faced in a new and urgent way with the challenge to make our lives decisively centered in Christ.

Quote:

“Let all religious therefore spread throughout the whole world the good news of Christ by the integrity of their faith, their love for God and neighbor, their devotion to the Cross and their hope of future glory.... Thus, too, with the prayerful aid of that most loving Virgin Mary, God’s Mother, ‘Whose life is a rule of life for all,’ religious communities will experience a daily growth in number, and will yield a richer harvest of fruits that bring salvation” (Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life, 25).

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