February 17
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
Feast shown for the year 2027; movable feasts can vary from year to year.
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order are commemorated today for their remarkable response to God’s call amid the turbulence of 13th-century Florence. Amidst a divided and wealthy city struggling with social unrest, these seven merchants were moved to dedicate their lives more radically to Christ and His Mother. Around 1233, they withdrew from their prosperous lives to live lives of prayer and penance on Monte Senario, just outside Florence. Together, they formed the groundwork of what would become the Order of Servants of Mary, or Servites, seeking to imitate the humility and compassion of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Servite Order quickly spread from Florence throughout Europe, emphasizing devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows—a central theme in their spirituality. Though biographical details about each founder remain somewhat uncertain, the Church celebrates them collectively, recognizing their shared commitment. Their legacy includes fostering Marian devotion, supporting the poor, and inspiring laypeople and religious to follow Christ in radical, communal ways. The memory of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order serves as a reminder that genuine conversion and unity in prayer can bear fruit for generations, even in times of widespread conflict and confusion.
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Liturgical texts of February 17, 2027
The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingJon 3, 1-10
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah:
“Get up, go to Nineveh, the great pagan city,
proclaim the message I give you about it.”
Jonah got up and went to Nineveh,
according to the word of the Lord.
Now, Nineveh was an extraordinarily large city:
it took three days to cross it.
Jonah had barely gone a day’s journey into the city
proclaiming:
“Forty more days, and Nineveh will be destroyed!”
Immediately, the people of Nineveh believed in God.
They proclaimed a fast,
and all, from the greatest to the least,
put on sackcloth.
The news reached the king of Nineveh.
He rose from his throne, took off his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Then he had this decree
proclaimed in Nineveh by command of the king and his nobles:
“People and animals, cattle large and small,
will not taste anything,
will not eat or drink.
People and animals shall be covered with sackcloth,
let them cry out to God with all their might,
each one must turn from his evil ways
and from acts of violence.
Who knows if God may not change his mind and relent,
if he may not turn away from his fierce anger?
And then we shall not perish!”
Seeing their reaction,
and how they turned from their evil ways,
God renounced the punishment with which he had threatened them.
– The word of the Lord.
Psalm50 (51), 3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Have mercy on me, my God, in your love,
according to your great mercy, wipe away my sin.
Wash me completely from my fault,
purify me from my offense.
Create in me a pure heart, O my God,
renew and strengthen deep within me my spirit.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
do not take from me your holy spirit.
If I offer a sacrifice, you do not want it,
you do not accept a burnt offering.
The sacrifice that pleases God is a broken spirit;
you do not reject, O my God, a broken and crushed heart.
GospelLc 11, 29-32
At that time,
as the crowds were gathering,
Jesus began to say:
“This generation is a wicked generation:
it is looking for a sign,
but no sign will be given to it
except the sign of Jonah.
For just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the Judgment, the queen of the South will rise
at the same time as the men of this generation,
and she will condemn them.
For she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and here there is something greater than Solomon.
At the Judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise up
at the same time as this generation,
and they will condemn it;
for they turned back to God
in response to the proclamation made by Jonah,
and here there is something greater than Jonah.”
– Let us acclaim the word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org