Seven Holy Founders

Seven Holy Founders (flourished 13th century, Compartimento of Tuscany, Italy; canonized 1888; feast day February 17) were the seven Italian saints who founded the Servite order in 1233. The Seven Holy Founders are Saints Bonfilius, Alexis Falconieri, John Bonagiunta, Benedict dell’Antella, Bartholomew Amidei, Gerard Sostegni, and Ricoverus Uguccione. Formally Ordo Fratrum Servorum Sanctae Mariae (“Order of Friar Servants of St. Mary”), the order is a Roman Catholic congregation of mendicant friars dedicated to apostolic work.

According to the earliest writing to mention the seven, the 14th-century Legenda de origine (ascribed to Peter of Todi, Servite prior general from 1314 to 1344), the Seven Holy Founders were originally 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 and was being further disrupted by the Cathari (heretical Christians proclaiming that good and evil have two separate creators). Led by Bonfilius, the men became closely knit and devoted themselves to the Virgin Mary, who, according to tradition, appeared to the seven in a vision and bade them withdraw into solitude.

With the approval of their bishop, Ardingus (Ardingo), they moved, in 1233, outside the gates of Florence to a neighbouring area called Cafaggio, into a house dedicated to Mary. There they lived a life of poverty, fellowship, and witness based on a literal interpretation of the Gospel. Seeking stricter isolation, they departed, at an unstated date, for Monte Senario, about 19 km (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. According to 15th–16th-century legends, on April 13, 1240, a second vision of Mary disclosed her wishes that they serve her, wear a black habit, and adopt the Rule of St. Augustine of Hippo; thenceforward they were known as the Servants of St. Mary (or Servites). They returned to Florence, where they built a church called St. Mary of Cafaggio (later, Santissima Annunziata). Bonfilius was chosen superior, and Ardingus approved their community.

According to the Legenda, however, in 1244, after prayer and with the advice of St. Peter Martyr, the Dominican preacher who was then preaching in Florence and who was later murdered by the Cathari, they adopted Augustine’s Rule and the black habit, which became distinctive of the Servites; at this time also, they decided to retain the name of Servants of St. Mary, which they had earlier been called by the people.

Pope Alexander IV formally approved the Servites on March 23, 1256. The exact date of birth and death and place of death of each founder is uncertain. At the beginning of the 16th century, however, it was recorded that the bodies of Bonfilius, Benedict dell’Antella, and Alexis Falconieri were buried on Monte Senario. In 1649, when the main altar of the chapel at Monte Senario was being remodeled, the remains of seven bodies were found, and, after being moved several times, they are now enshrined in the Chapel of the Seven Holy Founders, Monte Senario.