Thought for the Day – 17 February – The Memorial of the Seven Founders of Servants of Mary
“Here I am, the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.”
On this day we celebrate the feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order- Sts Bonfilius, Bonajuncta, Manettus, Amadeus, Hugh, Sostene and Alexis.
“About the year 1240, while the struggle between Emperor Frederick II and the Apostolic See left Italian cities torn by rival factions, seven Florentine merchants decided to retire in solitude to [live] a common life marked by penance and prayer. They were already members of a lay group, called Servants of Saint Mary and were noted for their special devotion to Our Lady and for a close adherence to the gospel ideal of fraternal love and service to one another and to others, especially the poor and the sick.
“Consequently, they put aside their commercial activities, left their homes and distributed their personal possessions among the churches and the poor. The grey cloth commonly worn by penitents became their regular dress. They moved into a small house outside the city walls where they continued to minister to the spiritual and material needs of those who came to them for help.”
“. . . in the year 1304, Pope Benedict XI definitively approved the Order of Servants of Saint Mary with the Bull ‘Dum levamus.’ He wrote concerning the original spirit of the Order: ‘Because of the devotion you have for the glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, you have taken her name, humbly calling yourselves her Servants.'”
–from the Office of Readings “for the Solemnity of the Seven Holy Fathers of Our Order”
Their names in the world were Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius), Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta), Amadeus de Amidei (Bartolomeus), Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni (Hugh), Benedetto dell’ Antella (Manettus), Gherardino di Sostegno (Sostene), and Alessio de’ Falconieri (Alexius).
St Alexius lived to be a hundred years old. He died on 17 February 1310. The Seven Holy Founders share a common feast, just as they share a common grave.
It took great courage for these men to leave their prosperous businesses and live a life of prayer and penance. They had been leaders in society, so their decision to change their way of living caused a stir and inspired others to rethink their values and make some changes in their lives.
Good companions are one of the most powerful helps toward a holy life, for all of us are faced, in a new and urgent way, with the challenge to make our lives decisively centred in Christ. In this new day, we often find those ‘good companions’ online, let us too band together and live a holy life amidst the dangers around us!
Seven Holy Founders, Pray for Us!
P.S. – In case you are interested in the Secular Servites, go here: https://secularservites.org/
AnaStpaul 