Readings & Reflections: Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time & The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, February 17,2020

The seven men who are honored on this date entered the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin in Florence from 1225 to 1227 A.D. On the feast of the Assumption, they shared a vision of Mary that led them to seek solitude together in a house outside the city. A second vision of Mary holding black robes, and an angel with a scroll emblazoned with the words “Servants of Mary,” gave them their habit and title. The Rule of Saint Augustine was adopted, and ecclesiastical approval was given in 1304. The Servites, as they came to be called, are especially devoted to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are one of the five original mendicant orders.

Jesus sighs, “Why does this generation seek a sign?” The verifying sign that the Pharisees seek  is found in the certainty of Christ’s believers who “consider it all joy” to encounter trials for the faith. They sing, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” Perseverance generates perfection.

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, By the time you had encountered the Pharisees as described in today’s gospel, You had already performed various miracles and works of power. Yet the Pharisees were not satisfied, but seemed to want something more, something on a grander scale.  Lord today, we have, at times, given You the same response to all the goodness You have blessed our lives. We continue to reject You with our unbelief and our repeated sinfulness. Lord, forgive us for our ambivalent and weakened faith and bless us with a heart like Yours which is overflowing with unconditional love and commitment. Allow us to respond only with total faith and belief in the Good News.  Enable us to repent, and believe in the gospel. We know Lord that even in the face of your rejection, Your heart will not rest in drawing us closer to the Father and His flock and until we all positively respond to the love You continue to gives us. In Your Name, we pray. Amen.

Reading 1
Jas 1:1-11

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters,
when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect,
so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
and he will be given it.
But he should ask in faith, not doubting,
for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea
that is driven and tossed about by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

The brother in lowly circumstances
should take pride in high standing,
and the rich one in his lowliness,
for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”
For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass,
its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes.
So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119: 67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76

R. (77a) Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I hold to your promise.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
You are good and bountiful;
teach me your statutes.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,
and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.

Gospel
Mk 8:11-13

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – Seeking a sign

“Why does this generation seek a sign?”

This was the question posed by Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees in today’s gospel. Amidst what Jesus has taught the people of His time and the countless miracles He allowed them to experience while in His midst, the people of who opposed Jesus still had the courage to ask for more signs.

Today, most of us ask this question from God whenever we are in a fix and have to make up our minds on issues affecting our daily lives. “Give me some signs that this is from You. Otherwise I will have to seriously think about it, even drop it.”  This is a very typical response of someone who does not want to believe or does not have faith.  This is a response of someone who has difficulty in following the will of our Lord especially if it means some adjustments in life, when it means giving up our comfort zones in order to be with our Lord. Quite often we have likened God to a friend, an acquaintance or a co-worker, even a close or distant relations. We require that He proves Himself otherwise we will not follow.

This is God’s reality among His people. Even after giving up His divinity, coming to be one of us and dying for our sins on the cross, we still require Him to prove His point. We have actually made a slave out of our God, sad and painful as it may be to accept. As a parent, as a spouse and as a sibling we all know how it painful it is when those close to us lose faith in the goodness that flows from within us.  A lot of times we risk our name and all we got just to show those close to us how much we love them and how good our intentions are. We always try to give our loved ones a sign to live by.

The problem with the Pharisees was they chose to be blind to Jesus. Showing them signs would be like showing the blind more pictures. Have we realized how our God feels whenever we require Him to prove His point and His will for us?

In our brokenness and in our bruised state, our vision becomes not only hazy but blinded. Our hearts are hardened and we become so stubborn in our ways.  Although we say, we are all Christian disciples we find it hard to accept the will of our Lord.  We turn away from Him and opt to go with what is convenient, what passes away, what is momentary and even lustful.

God message for us today is never to look for signs for He has given enough signs.  He has His Word for us to stand, to live by and guide us. He has given us His life, His love and all that we need to reach our true home. God has all the answers inscribed in our hearts if we only open up to the Spirit.  Jesus is the ANSWER and He more than satisfies what our hearts need.

Let us be reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 12: 39-42:  “An evil and unfaithful age is eager for a sign! No sign will be given. At judgment everyone will rise with the present generation and be the ones to condemn the world.  At the preaching of Jonah, people reformed their lives. People came from the farthest corner of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. Yet we have ONE Who is greater than Jonah and Solomon here.”

Isn’t this enough assurance, enough sign, enough answer from our GOD?
Isn’t Jesus nailed on the Cross more than sufficient? Believe and live!!!

Direction
Allow the Spirit to lead us in life.  Total and unconditional surrender to God and His will is the way of every disciple.

Prayer
Heavenly father, perfect my faith so that when my circumstances become difficult I may continue to hang on be your loyal follower. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – No sign shall be given to this generation

Are you good at reading signs? Signs tell us what is coming ahead. The people of Jesus’ time expected that the coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by extraordinary signs and wonders. The religious leaders tested Jesus to see if he had a genuine sign from heaven to back his claim to be the Messiah. False messiahs in the past had made extraordinary claims to attract their followers, such as claiming that they could cleave the Jordan River in two or cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall.

What makes us blind-sighted to God’s presence and power in our lives?
Jesus knew the hearts of those who came to test him. They were more interested in seeking signs to prove that they were right and Jesus was wrong. Jesus revealed the true intention of their heart – they came to argue with him and to test him (Mark 8:11) because they did not believe that he spoke in the name of his Father in heaven. They wanted to discredit his claim to be the true Messiah and Savior. They unfortunately were blind-sighted to the truth of Jesus’ message that the Father had sent him, the only begotten Son, to set them free from sin, Satan, and death. No miracle of Jesus would convince them because their hearts were full of self-seeking pride and glory for themselves.

Simeon had prophesied at Jesus’ birth that he was “destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that inner thoughts of many will be revealed”(Luke 2:34-35). Jesus gave the Pharisees no sign except himself and the ultimate proof of his divinity when he overcame death and rose victorious from the tomb on the third day.We also need no further proof than the witness of Jesus who fulfilled what Moses and the prophets had foretold would take place when the Messiah came to redeem his people.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who came from the Father in heaven to set us free from the power of sin, Satan, and death. His death on the cross atones for all of our sins and opens for us the floodgates of God’s merciful love and healing forgiveness. He alone can set us free from guilt, condemnation, pride, and fear. He alone can give us abundant life, peace, and joy through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gives us “listening ears” and “eyes of faith” to recognize his presence in our lives 
The Lord reveals himself and makes his presence known to us in many ways – in his “word” (the good news he came to give us) and in the “breaking of the bread” in the Eucharist (he is theBread of Life), in his church – the Body of Christ, and in his creation (he is the Word who created all things). And even in the daily circumstances of our lives the Lord Jesus continues to speak to us and guide us. If we seek the Lord Jesus, we will surely find him. And we can be confident that he will give us whatever we need to carry out his will for our lives. Most of all the Lord Jesus assures us of his daily presence with us and the promise that he will never leave us. Theresa of Avila’s prayer book contained a bookmark which she wrote: Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; All things pass: God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing, God alone suffices. Is God enough for you?

“Lord Jesus, may I always recognize your saving presence in my life and never forget your promises when I encounter trials and difficulties. Give me a faith that never wavers, a hope that never fades, and a love that never grows cold.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/feb17.htm

Reflection 3 – Sailing away from arguments

“O God most loving, who are Love itself, how we wound you if we trust not in you with all our hearts! If, after the favors you have shown us, and more than all, after having died for us, we do not feel confidence in you, we must be worse that the very brutes. After all you have given us in the past, can we doubt your loving kindness in the future, or think that you will cease to protect those you have saved from hell? Will you leave your adopted sons to die of hunger, or cease to guide them aright in the path in which you do set them when they had wandered away? When we were estranged from you, you did give us many graces – will you then refuse them now when our only desire is to serve you? While we offended against you, you did follow after us when we fled from you; you did draw us to yourself, did cleanse us from our guilt, and giving to us your Holy Spirit, did fill our souls with joy, and bestow on us the kiss of peace.

“And wherefore did you do all this? Surely it was that we might believe that as for Christ’s sake you did reconcile us to yourself when we were among your enemies, much more surely, will you keep us for his sake, now that we are in the number of your friends.

“O my God and my mercy! After the countless favors you have shown us, permit not that we distrust you and question whether you do love us and intend to save us. More evident than the sun at midday is the witness borne by your works that you do cherish us and give us the hope of salvation. Let our hearts rely confidently on God even though we feel not the sweetness of his consolations” (Source: St. John of Avila, +1569, Magnificat, Vol. 16, No. 12, February 2015, pp. 255-256).

Reflection 5 – How to remain steady in the faith

The Letter of Saint James (1:1-11) is a good summary of how to handle adversity as a Christian. The warning about the dangers of doubt is very important: “Ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.” Such waves are so erratic, you never know which one’s going to swamp you. It’s the kind of water that Peter began to walk on and then sank into.

When we doubt God’s love or his desire to intervene during our trials, we’re double-minded. We believe, we don’t believe, we trust, we don’t trust, we hope, we don’t hope. Having two minds makes us very unstable and we soon fall over. We must not suppose that we’ll receive anything from the Lord; although he gives it, we won’t notice! All we see are the waves.

What challenges the steadiness of your faith? What tosses you like the surf and drives you like the wind?

Probably your answer is the same as mine: people. Yeah, those people who seem to be in our face just to undermine our joy, those people who are difficult to deal with, those people who criticize us or ridicule us, and those people who are on the road of destruction and we worry about them and we try to help them but they won’t stop to seek God’s healing and peace.

Those people who cause the various trials we’re encountering — they challenge our patience, our ability to love unconditionally, our quickness to forgive, our endurance, our hopefulness, etc. In other words, they challenge the steadiness of our faith. The more vulnerable we are to these challenges, the more easily our faith is tossed around by doubts and other destructive forces.

Are these people really to blame, though? No, we can only blame ourselves, for we are responsible for how we react to the trials. Others might limit the possible outcomes of the trials, but we don’t have to let them control our faith, too, or our moods. Our response is always our choice, and if we fail to take ownership of this, we let others toss us around like wind-driven waves on the sea, and we let their behavior make us doubt God’s goodness and his love and his desire to help.

James says that we are to be joyful about our trials. This seemingly impossible joy comes from knowing that no one can control our faith but us; it’s ours and God alone has access to it.

As James reminds us, we should ask God for wisdom, and he will respond by teaching us how to endure our trials. That’s not a bad way to live! As long as we choose to believe him and act upon his wisdom, rather than react to the troublemakers, we’ll enjoy a steady faith that calms the waters even while the storms continue to rage. –Read the source: https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2020-02-17

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Reflection 6 – Seven Founders of the Servite Order (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 13th century. The city was torn with political strife as well as the heresy of the Cathari, who believed that physical reality was inherently evil. 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 once wrote. 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” (Vatican II, Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life, 25).

Read the source:   http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1294

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servite_Order

Order of the Servants of Mary

ABBREVIATION	OSM
FORMATION	1233
TYPE	Mendicant order Marian devotional society
HEADQUARTERS	Santissima Annunziata Basilica, Florence, Italy
WEBSITE	http://www.servidimaria.net/sitoosm/en/index.htm

The Servite Order is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. Its objects are the sanctification of its members, preaching the Gospel, and the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows. The members of the Order use O.S.M. (for OrdoServorum Beatae Mariae Virginis) as their post-nominal letters. The male members are known asServite Friars or Servants of Mary.

The Order of Servants of Mary (The Servites) is a religious family that embraces a membership of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nuns, a congregation of active sisters and lay groups.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1History
  • 1.1Foundation
  • 1.2Suppression and expansion
  • 1.3Twentieth century
• 2Devotions, manner of life
• 3Affiliated associations
  • 3.1Mariology and the Marianum
• 4Servites of distinction
• 5Institutions and schools
• 6Gallery of Servite churches
• 7See also
• 8References
• 9External links

History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

Amadeus of the Amidei (d. 1266), one of the seven founders of the Servite Order.

The Servites lead a community life in the tradition of the mendicant orders (such as the Dominicans and Franciscans). The Servite Order was founded in 1233 AD, when a group of cloth merchants of Florence, Italy, left their city, families and professions to retire outside the city on a mountain known as Monte Senario for a life of poverty and penance. These men are known as the Seven Holy Founders; they were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.^[1]

These seven were: Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius), Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta), Amadeus of the Amidei(Bartolomeus), Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni (Hugh), Benedetto dell’ Antella (Manettus), Gherardino di Sostegno (Sostene), and Alessio de’ Falconieri (Alexius). They belonged to seven patrician families of that city. As a reflection of the penitential spirit of the times, it had been the custom of these men to meet regularly as members of a religious society established in honor of Mary, the Mother of God.^[2]

Alexis Falconieri (d. 1310), one of the seven founders of the Servite Order.

From the beginning, the members of the Order dedicated themselves to Mary under her title of Mother of Sorrows.^[1] Dedicating their devotion to the mother of Jesus, they adopted Mary’s virtues of hospitality and compassion as the order’s hallmarks.^[3] The distinctive spirit of the order is the sanctification of its members by meditation on the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary, and spreading abroad this devotion.^[4]

The bishop of Florence approved the Friar Servants of Mary as a religious Order sometime between the years 1240 and 1247. The Servants decided to live by the Rule of St. Augustine, and added to the Rule their own expression of Marian devotion and dedication. By 1250 there were a number of Servants who were ordained to the priesthood, thus creating an Order with priests as well as brothers.^[5]

Pope Alexander IV, favored a plan for the amalgamation of all institutes following the Rule of St. Augustine. This was accomplished in March 1256, and about the same time a Rescript was issued confirming the Order of the Servites as a separate body with power to elect a general. Four years later a general chapter was convened at which the order was divided into two provinces, Tuscany and Umbria, the former of which St. Manettus directed, while the latter was given into the care of St. Sostene. Within five years two new provinces were added: Romagna and Lombardy.^[6]

Suppression and expansion[edit]

Philip Benizi de Damiani(1233-1285)

St. Philip Benizi was elected general on June 5, 1267, and afterwards became the great propagator of the order.^[4] The Second Council of Lyons in 1274 put into execution the ordinance of the Fourth Lateran Council, forbidding the foundation of new religious orders, and suppressed all mendicant institutions not yet approved by the Holy See. In the year 1276 Pope Innocent V in a letter to St. Philip declared the order suppressed. St. Philip proceeded to Rome, but before his arrival there Innocent V had died. His successor lived but five weeks. Finally Pope John XXI, decided that the order should continue as before. It was not definitively approved until Pope Benedict XI issued the Bull “Dum levamus” (February 11, 1304). Of the seven founders, St. Alexis alone lived to see their foundation raised to the dignity of an order. He died in 1310.

Pope Boniface IX granted the Servites the power to confer theological degrees on January 30, 1398, and the order established theMarianum in Rome.^[7]

Servite church in Innsbruck,Austria

The new foundation enjoyed considerable growth in the following decades. Even in the thirteenth century there were houses of the order in Germany, France, and Spain. Early in the fourteenth century the order had more than one hundred convents including branch houses in Hungary,Bohemia, Austria, Poland, and Belgium; there were also missions in Crete, the Philippines (St. Peregrine-Philippine Vicariate) and India.

The disturbances during the Protestant Reformation caused the loss of many Servite convents in Germany, but in the south of France the order met with much success. The Convent of Santa Maria in Via(1563) was the second house of the order established in Rome; San Marcello al Corso had been founded in 1369. Early in the eighteenth century the order sustained losses and confiscations from which it has scarcely yet recovered. The flourishing Province of Narbonnewas almost totally destroyed by the plague which swept Marseillesin 1720. In 1783 the Servites were expelled from Prague and in 1785 EmperorJoseph II desecrated the shrine of Maria Waldrast. Ten monasteries were suppressed in Spain in 1835. A new foundation was made at Brussels in 1891.

After the Risorgimento in 1870, the government of Italy closed the Marianum along with many other papal institutions. The institute was re-founded as the College of Sant Alessio Falcioneri in 1895.

At this period the order was introduced into England and America, chiefly through the efforts of Fathers Bosio and Morini. The latter, having gone to London in 1864 as director of the affiliated Sisters of Compassion, obtained charge of a parish from Archbishop Manningin 1867. His work prospered; besides St. Mary’s Priory at London, convents were opened at Bognor Regis (1882) and Begbroke (1886). In 1870 Fathers Morini, Ventura, Giribaldi, and Brother Joseph Camera, at the request of Bishop Joseph Melcher of Green Bay, Wisconsin, took up a mission in America, at Neenah. Father Morini founded atChicago (1874) the monastery of Our Lady of Sorrows. A novitiate was opened at Granville, Wisconsin, in 1892. The American province was formally established in 1908.

Twentieth century[edit]

The order continued to expand geographically throughout the twentieth century, taking responsibility for missions in Swaziland in 1913, Acre in Brazil in 1919, Aisén, Chile in 1937, and Zululand in South Africa. It also made foundations in Argentina from 1914 and more solidly since 1921; Transvaal in South Africa since 1935,Uruguay1939, Bolivia 1946, Mexico 1948, Australia 1951,^[8][9] Venezuela1952, Colombia 1953, India 1974, Mozambique 1984, Philippines1985, Uganda, Albania1993, and also the refoundations in Hungary(Eger) and the Czech Republic.^[10]

Pope Pius XII, through the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities, elevated the Marianum to a pontifical theological faculty on 30 November 1950.

After the Second Vatican Council, the order renewed its Constitutions starting with its 1968 general chapter at Majadahonda, Madrid, a process which was concluded in 1987. In the same year, Prior General Michael M. Sincerny oversaw the creation of the International Union of the Servite Family (UNIFAS).^[10]

The twentieth century also saw the beatification (1952) and the canonization of Friar Antonio Maria Pucci, the canonization of Clelia Barbieri (d. 1870), foundress of the Minime dell’Addolorata, the beatification of Ferdinando M. Baccilieri of the Servite Secular Order (1997), and the beatification of Sr. Maria Guadalupe Ricart Olmos(2001), a Spanish cloistered nun who was martyred during the Spanish Civil War, the beatification of Cecelia Eusepi of the Servite Secular Order .

Through the centuries, the Servite Order has spread throughout the world, including all of Europe, parts of Africa, Australia, the Americas, India and the Philippines. The general headquarters of the Servite Order is in Rome, while many provinces and motherhouses represent the Order throughout the world. In the United States there is one province of friars with headquarters in Chicago; there are four provinces of sisters with motherhouses in Wisconsin, Nebraska and two in Illinois.^[1]

Devotions, manner of life[edit]

Ceiling in the Servite mother church, Santissima Annunziata, Florence

In common with all religious orders strictly so called, the Servites make solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The particular object of the order is to sanctify first its own members, and then all men through devotion to the Mother of God, especially in her desolation during the Passion of her Divine Son.

The Servites give missions, have the care of souls, or teach in higher institutions of learning. The Rosary of the Seven Dolors is one of their devotions, as is also the Via Matris.

The fasts of the order are Advent, Lent, and the vigils of certain feasts.

All offices in the order are elective and continue for three years, except that of general and assistant-generals which are for six years.

Canonized Servite saints are: St. Philip Benizi (feast day on August 23), St. Peregrine Laziosi (May 4), St. Juliana Falconieri(June 19). The seven founders of the order were canonized in 1888, and have a common feast day on 17 February. The date first assigned to this feast day was 11 February, the anniversary of the canonical approval of the order in 1304. In 1907 this date was assigned to the celebration ofOur Lady of Lourdes and the feast day of the Seven Holy Founders was moved to 12 February. In accordance with liturgical tradition, the date was changed in 1969 to the anniversary of the death of one of them, Alexis Falconieri, which occurred on 17 February 1310.^[11]

Affiliated associations[edit]

Connected with the first order of men are the cloistered nuns of the second order, which originated with converts of St. Philip Benizi. These sisters have monasteries in Spain, Italy, England, the Tyrol, and Germany.

The Mantellate, is a third order of women founded by Juliana Falconieri, to whom St. Philip gave the habit in 1284. From Italy it spread into other countries of Europe. The Venerable Anna Juliana, Archduchess of Austria, founded several houses and became a Mantellate herself. In 1844 it was introduced into France, and was thence extended into England in 1850. The sisters were the first to wear the religious habit publicly in that country after the so-called Reformation and were active missionaries under Father Faber and the Oratorians for many years. This branch occupies itself with active works. They devote themselves principally to the education of youth, managing academies and taking charge of parochial schools and workrooms. They also undertake works of mercy, such as the care of orphans, visiting the sick, and instructing converts, etc.^[4]They have houses in Italy, France, Spain, England, and Canada. In the United States they are to be found in the dioceses of Sioux City, Omaha, and Belville, NC, and Blue Island, IL.
There is also a confraternity of the Seven Dolours, branches of which may be erected in any church.

The Secular Order of the Servants of Mary (Servite Secular Order) is a Catholic organization of lay men and women plus diocesan priests living their Christian faith in the context of the world. They strive toward holiness according to the spirituality of the Servite Order, following the directives of their Rule of Life. Secular Servites are asked to do the following each day: live the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love; pray and try to read Sacred Scripture each day, and/or the Liturgy of the Hours; practice acts of reverence for the Mother of God daily, especially by praying the Servite prayer “The Vigil of Our Lady” and/or the Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.^[2]

Mariology and the Marianum[edit]

The Pontifical institute Marianum which is now one of the leading centers of Mariology traces its roots to the Servite Order. In 1398 Pope Boniface IX, granted the order the right to confer theological degrees and in 1895 the school reopened under the name Sant Alessio Falcioneri.

In 1939 Father Gabriel Roschini OSM founded the journal Marianumand directed it for thirty years. In 1950, he founded the Marianum Theological Faculty, which, on December 8, 1955 became a Pontifical faculty by Decree Coelesti Honorandae Reginae of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities under the authority of Pope Pius XII.^[12]

Servites of distinction[edit]

Antonio Maria Pucci (1819-1892).

Ten members have been canonized and several beatified.

• Amadeus of the Amidei, one of the seven founders, was canonized January 1888 by Pope Leo XIII.
• Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius)
• Hugh dei Lippi Uggucioni
• Philip Benizi de Damiani, general superior, was canonized 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X.
• St. Peregrine Laziosi founded a monastery in his native Forlì, where he devoted all his energies to the restoration of peace. Renowned for his humility and patience, he died in 1345. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726, and his feast is celebrated on April 30.^[6]
• St. Anthony Mary Pucci
• Blessed James da Villa
• Blessed Joachim of Siena
• Blessed Benincasa
• Blessed Francis of Siena
• Blessed James Philip Bertoni
• Blessed Thomas of Orvieto

A few of the most distinguished members are here grouped under the heading of that particular subject to which they were especially devoted; the dates are those of their death.

Sacred Scripture: Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli (1600), commentary in five volumes.

Theology: Gabriel Roschini (1924).

History and Hagiography. Raphael Maffei (1577); Paolo Sarpi(1623); Philip Ferrari (1626);

Painters; Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli (Angelus Montursius) (1563), architect and sculptor, among whose works are the Neptune of Messina, the arm of Laocoon in the Vatican, and the Angels on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo.

Institutions and schools[edit]

• Collège Servite, Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec, Canada
• Our Lady’s Convent RC High School, London, United Kingdom
• Servite College, Perth, Australia
• Servite High School, Anaheim, California, United States
• Seven Holy Founders School, Affton, Missouri, United States
• Marianum College, Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, Philippines

Gallery of Servite churches[edit]

• 

  Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, Chicago, 1874

• 

  Santa Maria dei Servi,Bologna, Italy

• 

  Chiesa dei Servi,Venice, Italy

• 

  San Carlo al Corso (Milan), Italy

• 

  Basilica Santuario della Beata Vergine delle Grazie, Udine, Italy

• 

  Santissima Annunziata Basilica, Florence, the mother church of the Servite Order

See also[edit]

• Annunciade
• Our Lady of Sorrows
• Servite Rite
• Servites of the Immaculate Conception

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b c “History of the Servite Order”, The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b “Servite Secular Order”, Friar Servants of Mary -USA Province
3. Jump up^ Owen, Mary. “West Side basilica celebrates Servite order’s 775th Anniversary”, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2008
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b c “Servants of Mary (Order of Servites).” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 20 Aug. 2013
5. Jump up^ “The Servite Order”, The Servite Seculat Institute
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Griffin, Patrick. “Order of Servites.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 19 Aug. 2013
7. Jump up^ “The Marianum Pontifical Theological Faculty”. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009.
8. Jump up^ Christopher M. Ross OSM (2001-01-12), Servites in Australia – Part One (PDF), retrieved 2014-10-25
9. Jump up^ Of Dreams and Realities, A history of the origins and development of Servite College (1958-1983). p. 1.
10. ^ Jump up to:^a b “A Brief History of the Servite Order: From the Canonization of the Holy Founders 1888 to 2000”.