It’s the Feast of The Seven Holy Founders, 3rd Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: “The Good Earth”, today’s news from the Church: “Our Lady of Guadalupe: A Hoax?”, a preview of the Sermon: “Glory in Our Weakness”, and today’s thought from the Archbishop.

• “The Good Earth” – From Epiphany to Lent
  • https://angeluspress.org/products/epiphany-to-lent
  
  

• https://fsspx.news/en/news/our-lady-guadalupe-hoax-57101

• SSPX YouTube: Sermons Playlist
• Listen & Subscribe: SSPX Sermons Podcast

• https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop

The Seven Holy Founders were not martyrs, bishops, or scholars, but wealthy laymen who chose to step away from influence in order to rebuild Christian life through humility. They lived in thirteenth century Florence, a city marked by commercial success, political rivalry, and growing tension between factions. Each of the seven belonged to a prominent family and to a confraternity devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yet despite comfort and social standing, they sensed that God was asking something more radical than civic devotion.

Tradition tells that in 1233, during a time of unrest in Florence, these men experienced a shared interior call to leave the world and embrace a life of penance and prayer. They withdrew first to a modest house outside the city and later to Monte Senario, a rugged hillside overlooking Florence. There they embraced poverty, silence, fasting, and manual labor. Their life was not shaped by a detailed program, but by simplicity and Marian devotion. They sought to live as brothers, united in prayer and charity, offering reparation for division and sin in their city.

What began as a hidden experiment gradually drew others. The small community grew, and the Church eventually recognized their way of life as a new religious order: the Servants of Mary, or Servites. Unlike some founders who were strong personalities, the seven Holy Founders left few individual marks. Their sanctity was communal. They governed together, prayed together, and gradually surrendered leadership to younger members. Even their names are often remembered collectively rather than separately, emphasizing unity over prominence.

Their spirituality centered on contemplation of the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin and union with Christ’s Passion. In a city fractured by rivalry, their common life became a sign that reconciliation begins in shared humility. They did not attempt to reform Florence through politics. They reformed it through prayer.

Over time, devotion to the Seven Holy Founders spread wherever the Servite Order established communities. Their feast on February 17 was observed especially within the order as a reminder that charism is born from fidelity rather than ambition. They became patrons of communal harmony and perseverance in religious life.

Seven Holy Founders show that holiness can arise not from dramatic conversion or public confrontation, but from a shared decision to seek God together. Their legacy teaches that unity itself can be a form of witness, and that communities shaped by prayer and penance can quietly reshape the world around them.

Seven Holy Founders, servants of Mary and brothers in charity, pray for us.

• Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
• Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
• Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
• FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
• Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/