17 Feb – Memorial for The Seven Holy Founders of the Order of Servites
The Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites) was named the fifth mendicant order by Pope Martin V. It was founded in 1233 by Sts. Alexis Falconieri, Bartholomew degli Amidei, Benedict dell’Antella, Buonfiglio Monaldi, Gherardino Sostegni, Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni, and John Buonagiunta Monetti.
They were beatified on 1 December 1717, and canonized on 1887 as The Seven Holy Founders. On the Feast of the Assumption in 1240, the Founders received a vision of Our Lady. She held in her hand a 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 St. Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.”
From their first establishment at La Camarzia, near Florence, they moved to the more secluded Monte Senario where the Blessed Virgin herself conferred on them their habit, instructing them to follow the Rule of St. Augustine and to admit associates. The official approval for the order was obtained in 1249, confirmed in 1256, suppressed in 1276, definitely approved in 1304, and again by Brief in 1928. The order was so rapidly diffused that by 1285, there were 10,000 members with houses in Germany, France, Italy and Spain; and, early in the 14th century, it numbered 100 convents, besides missions in Crete and India.
The Reformation reduced the order in Germany, but it flourished elsewhere. Again meeting with political reverses in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it nevertheless prospered, being established in England in 1867, and in America in 1870.
The Servites take solemn vows and venerate in a special manner the ‘Seven Dolours of Our Lady’. They cultivate both the interior and the active life, giving missions and teaching. An affiliation, professing exclusively the contemplative life is that of the ‘Hermits of Monte Senario’. It was reinstated in France in 1922.
Cloistered nuns, forming a Second Order, have been affiliated with the Servites since 1619 when Blessed Benedicta di Rossi called the nuns of her community ‘Servite Hermitesses’. They have been established in England, Spain, Italy, the Tyrol, and Germany.
A Third Order, the Mantellate, founded by St. Juliana Falconieri under St. Philip Benizi (c. 1284) has houses in Italy, France, Spain, England, Canada and the United States. Secular tertiaries and a confraternity of the Seven Dolours are other branches.
- Patron Saint Index
Gen 4:1-15,25
Mk 8:11-13
“God has granted me other offspring… in place of Abel, since Cain has killed him.”
There are certain seasons in life when we desperately yearn for sweetness and sense-making. In the midst of great disappointments, grave losses and sorrows, we may try our best to connect the dots, to spot the silver linings, or hope for an oasis in the wilderness. Each of these efforts are a natural tendency to search for signs, to rely on past promises and to seek for indication that our faith in God has not been in vain…. or has it?
We are at the head of the new year still and so we begin in the book of Genesis. We stand at the beginning of the first family to emerge from the Garden of Eden. Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel… and we witness the emergence of sins that now spring forth from the hearts of men.
God was displeased with Cain’s first offering but looked with favour on Abel’s offering (Gen 4:4-5) not merely because Abel gave a blood sacrifice (the first-born of his flock and some animal fat) and Cain gave only ‘some produce of the soil’. God, knowing all, was able to see beyond and look into the state of their souls and the motivations by which these offerings sprang from. He chastised Cain (Gen 4:7): “Why are you angry and downcast? If you are well disposed, ought you not to lift up your head? But if you are ill disposed, is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering for you, which you must master?”
It is a call for us as we begin our new year, to start with cleansed hearts and souls. The past few years have been tumultuous for many while we had all struggled through various challenges. Many have suffered greatly and may have made many sacrifices that could have caused trauma, fear, resentment, hatred, envy, anger, and faithlessness in God.
Might you be walking through a difficult time yourself? Are you praying for a justice that only God can effect? Could you be losing patience and faith in trusting that He will uphold you with His rod and staff?
The readings today in Genesis of ‘The mark of Cain’ and the Gospel passage about Jesus’ disappointment on the faithless generation that demands signs may sound dismal and harsh upon those of us who may have borne the brunt of unfairness, betrayal, years of unanswered petitions, or ever-increasing tragedies — Why? Why me? Why again? Why now? Why this?
Perhaps, this might be your hearts’ cry… as did Cain, as he felt ashamed and rejected by God… as did Abel, as he bled to death from Cain’s blow… as did Eve and Adam, as they beheld the dying body of their second-born.
Yet, God is merciful. God does not cease in His protection, or anointing us with His beautiful promises. God blessed Adam and Eve with a third offspring, whom Eve named Seth. After a period of mourning, the first parents were able to welcome joy again. We don’t know how long any of us might have to wait for our prayers, but the Scriptures today are a poignant reminder that pride can murder our faith in God.
Let us harden not our hearts with a conditional faith in our generous Father. Let us lay down our search for outward signs and to turn our eyes inward to our own hearts where Jesus dwells, to say, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer: Merciful and ever generous God, we pray for the grace to have a child-like trust and faith in your goodness.
Thanksgiving: Lord, I thank you for the reminders that your promises are firm and they are eternal. Thank you for giving me these moments of realisation through the people around me, especially my own child who reveals your love for me always.
OXYGEN 
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