The Seven Holy Founders were seven wealthy merchants of Florence who, around 1233, left their businesses and families to live together in poverty and prayer as “Servants of Mary,” and founded the Order of the Servants of Mary, the Servites, who have spread devotion to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin throughout the world. They are honored together, a rare example of a group of founders canonized as one. Their feast day is February 17. Below are their story, the prayer of their feast and links to the Seven Sorrows devotions.
A short prayer to the Seven Holy Founders, written for this page:
Holy Founders, you left everything to serve Mary and to share her sorrows at the foot of the Cross.
Pray that I may stand with Mary beside all who suffer,
and grow in love for Jesus through her compassion. Amen.
Who were the Seven Holy Founders?
In the early thirteenth century Florence was a rich city torn by factions. Seven men from leading merchant families, members of a lay confraternity devoted to the Blessed Virgin, Bonfilius, Bonajuncta, Manettus, Amideus, Hugh, Sostene and Alexis, felt called, according to tradition on the feast of the Assumption in 1233, to leave the world and serve God through Mary. They gave away their goods, lived together outside the city and then withdrew to Monte Senario, a mountain north of Florence, to pray and do penance.
Many came to join them, and they adopted the Rule of St. Augustine and a black habit in memory of Mary’s sorrows, taking the name Servants of Mary. Several became priests and preached throughout Italy; the order received final papal approval in 1304. The youngest, Alexis Falconieri, a lay brother who refused ordination out of humility, outlived the others and died at a great age on February 17, 1310. The Servites spread the devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows, the Seven Sorrows Rosary and the Way of Mary (Via Matris). Pope Leo XIII canonized the seven together in 1888.
The prayer of their feast from the 1916 daily missal:
O Lord Jesus Christ, who through the seven Holy Fathers didst enrich thy Church with the new Order of Servants to keep alive the memory of the sorrows of thy most holy Mother, mercifully grant us to share in their compassion that we may also have part in their rejoicing. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
The Seven Sorrows
The Servites honor Mary’s seven sorrows: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of Jesus in the Temple, meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the taking down from the Cross, and the burial. See the Seven Sorrows Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows.
Feast day
The optional memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order is February 17, the day of St. Alexis Falconieri’s death. Before 1969 it was kept on February 12.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded the Servites?
Seven merchants of Florence, the Seven Holy Founders, around 1233.
What devotion did the Servites spread?
Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, including the Seven Sorrows Rosary.
When is their feast day?
February 17.
More
- Seven Sorrows Rosary
- Our Lady of Sorrows
- St. Peregrine prayer
- Catholic prayers to Mary
- Feast of St. Francis
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), The Seven Holy Founders (February 12), Collect, public domain (archive.org).