February 17 is the feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, the seven Florentine merchants who founded the Order of the Servants of Mary in 1233. According to the tradition, they were members of the Florentine confraternitas of laymen who gathered for prayer, and on the feast of the Assumption in 1233 they received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who called them to leave the city and live as hermits. They retired to Monte Senario, north of Florence, and in 1240 adopted the Rule of St. Augustine as the Servants of Mary.
The seven were Bonfilius Monaldi, Bonajunta Manetti, Manettus dell'Antella, Amadeus de'Amidei, Sostenes de'Sostegni, Hugh dei Ricoveri Uguccione, and Alexis Falconieri — the last the only one to live to see the order fully established. They are venerated at the Sanctuary of Monte Senario, the mother house of the Servites, and at the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence, the great Servite church of the city.
The seven were canonized together in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. From Florence, where they founded the order, to Monte Senario, where they lived as hermits, the February 17 feast is the feast of the seven merchants who left the city for the mountain and became the servants of Mary.
