Can you imagine seven prominent men from some cultured, prosperous city, like New York or Washington D.C. banding together, leaving their homes and professions, and going into solitude for a life devoutly given to God?
That is precisely what happened in the prosperous city of Florence in the year 1240.
The seven holy founders of the servite order withdrew to the deserted slopes of Monte Senario where they built a church and hermitage and lived a life of incredible austerity. It is written that Our Lady appeared to them while they prayed. She told them that she had chosen them to be her servants and that she wished them to wear the black habit and follow the rule of St. Augustine. So they donned the habit and became The Order of Friar Servants of Mary, also known as the Servites. From that mountain top, the order spread throughout Italy.
Community members combined monastic life and active ministry. In the monastery they led a life of silence and prayer, but also engaged in parish ministry, preaching and teaching.
The Servites came to the United States from Austria in 1852, settling in New York and Philadelphia. The seven founders were canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII.
The Church is in perennial need of men and women with the courage to leave their former lives behind in order to serve and witness.
Now, not all of us are called to leave our jobs and go live up on a mountain. Rather, we are all called to consider what we do need to leave behind in order to engage more deeply in prayer and service. None of us are exempt from this call, none of us so prominent or so important to society that we shouldn’t be considering what we need to withdraw from, in order to draw more closely to Christ.
In the Gospel, the Lord promises, “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” May we learn to trust the Lord more and more in this call to detach from the world, in order to follow him wholeheartedly and grow in communion with the Divine, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
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Though his actual birthday is on February 22, today is the federal observance of the birthday of our nation’s first president George Washington.
And, as our first petition this morning, I’d like to read one of the prayers Archbishop Carroll offered at George Washington’s presidential inauguration.
We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let us pray to the Lord.
For the Church: That all her members may courageously follow Christ’s call to deeper prayer and service, leaving behind whatever distracts from the Gospel
For those discerning religious life and vocations of special consecration: That, inspired by the example of those who have given up worldly honors to serve God, they may respond boldly and trustingly to the promptings of the Holy Spirit
For the sick, the lonely, and those in need: That they may encounter Christ’s healing love through the compassionate support of others
For our beloved dead: That they may inherit the eternal life promised to those who follow Christ wholeheartedly.
Almighty God, you call us to lives of prayer, detachment, and service. Hear our prayers, and grant us the grace to follow you ever more faithfully. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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