Feast of the 7 Holy Founders

The Seven Holy Founders, also called Seven Servite Founders, were priests who spread the devotion to the Blessed Mother in the 13th century throughout Italy. They were saints Bonfilius, Alexis Falconieri, Giovanni Bonagiunta, Benedict dell’Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, and Ricoverus Uguccione, who together founded the Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae (“Order of Friar Servants of St. Mary”). Popularly called Servites, the order is a Roman Catholic congregation of mendicant friars dedicated to apostolic work. According to the 14th-century early writing, the men were Florentine merchants. They joined together, living a penitential life, and were members of the Society of St Mary at a time when Florence was in political upheaval. Led by Bonfilius, they became closely knit and devoted themselves to the Virgin Mary, who, according to tradition, appeared to the seven in a vision and encouraged them to withdraw into solitude and a life of prayer. With the approval of their bishop, Ardingus, they moved, in 1233, outside the gates of Florence to a neighbouring area called Cafaggio, into a house dedicated to Mary. Seeking stricter isolation, they departed for Monte Senario, about 12 miles from Florence, where they built a hermitage, continued their penitential life without distraction, and laid the foundation for what was to become their order, adopting the Rule of St. Augustine. They returned to Florence, where they built a church called St. Mary of Cafaggio. The Seven Founders were canonized in 1888.