CONVENTS UNDER JURISDICTION OF THE GENERAL PRIOR
The Servites took up abode in the house attached to the parish church of S.
Marcello on 26 March 1369. Since then, the priory and church have been called,
in official documents, Venerabilis ecclesia et conventus S. Marcelli de Urbe
Fratrum Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis. The
parish of
S. Marcello,
suppressed on 10 March 1909, was one
the oldest and most important foundations
in Rome. The church of S. Marcello, destroyed by fire on the night of 22-23 May
1519, was very quickly rebuilt in the Renaissance style after a design by Jacopo Sansovino. The priory was also rebuilt from its foundations; work started in
1616 and completed a few
decades later. It belonged to the Roman Province of the Order until 1935, when it passed into the direct jurisdiction of the Prior
General. It had always, however, almost uninterruptedly been the residence of
the Procurator of the Order; shortly later, the Prior General and the General
Curia also took up abode there.
In the priory, up to the devastation sustained
after the suppression in the 19th century, there was a well-known and
richly endowed library and an important school of theology, named after
Henry of
Ghent, the historical spiritual ancestor of St. Alexis
Falconieri
International
College. Since 1873, the year of the suppression carried out by the Italian
government, the major part of the priory premises, with the exception of the
rooms specifically designated for the use of the rector of the church, is in the
ownership of the Italian State Property Office, and the Order has to
pay an a
mutually agreed and acceptable rent.
S. Marcello is the residence of the General Curia, the Procurator of the Order, the Secretariat of the Order and the Servite Communications Centre; it also house the section of the Historical Archive of the Order concerning the more recent past, the Office of the Postulator of Causes of the Servite Saints and Blessed and that of the General Treasurer, besides other departments.
The following publications are issued from this address: the Acta Ordinis Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis and the news magazine COSMO, which is published in four languages.
Piazza di San Marcello, 5
00187 ROMA RM
Tel. 06 699 30.1
Fax. 06 679 2131
ST. ALEXIS FALCONIERI FORMATION COMMUNITY
St. Alexis Falconieri International College was founded on 4 November 1895, as
the successor to the
“Henry of Ghent International College”, suppressed some
years
previously and which had been operating in S. Marcello Priory in Rome from
1669 to 1870. From its foundation
until 1928, St. Alexis College was housed in
premises rented from the Armenian College of St. Nicholas of Tolentino in Rome.
Since 1928, it has had its own purpose-built premises in Viale Trenta Aprile 6,
on the Janiculum Hill in Rome, inaugurated on 17 April 1929.
The first Rector of the newly founded International College was Fra Alessio M.
Lépicier, who remained in office until 1920. Its internal School of Theology was
re-opened in 1932/1933; in 1953, this was transformed into a Faculty of
Theology, and this in turn received definitive approval in 1955 as the
“Marianum” and, in 1971, was
recognised as a Pontifical Faculty of Theology. Up
until 11974, there was a single community at St. Alexis College, composed of
both teachers and Servite students; in that year, the teaching staff were made
into a juridically independent community: the Marianum Community of Study. The
International College thus houses the two communities and the Marianum
Pontifical Faculty with its Library, and also the Historical Section of the
Servite General Archives and the Servite Historical Institute. From here are
issued the Marianum academic journal and the Studi Storici dell’Ordine
dei Servi di Maria. Here too, is to be found the Centro Edizioni Marianum.
St. Alexis Falconieri Formation Community consists of students from every part
of the Order who come to Rome to study Philosophy and Theology at the Marianum
Faculty and other institutes.
The General Chapter, considering its responsibility towards the new generations of friars and aware of the value of St. Alexis International Formation Community in Rome, with over a century of life behind it and closely connected to the Marianum Faculty since 1950, reaffirmed its pre-eminence and importance for the formation of young friars and the furtherance of their awareness of their Servite identity. Because of its international character and its location in a city particularly rich in educational and religious experiences, friars coming from diverse jurisdictions make contact with their brothers and with institutes of different cultures, and form bonds of friendship that endure over time and prove to be of reciprocal benefit (cf. 2001 Gen. Chap., no. 36).
Collegio Internazionale Sant'Alessio Falconieri.
Viale XXX Aprile, 6
00153 Roma, (RM) ITALIA.
Tel. (06) 58.39.16.01
Fax. (06) 58.80.292
THE "MARIANUM" COMMUNITY OF STUDY
The Marianum Community of Study was established on 3 May 1974, on the
precise
instructions of
the 1971 General Chapter. The prime characteristic of the
Community of Study is to bring together the Servite friars who are at the
full-time
service of the Faculty as teachers and administrators of the same.
The Community of Study is a General house and, as such, its members are directly under the prior General. It brings together the Servite professors who teach at the Marianum Faculty. It also publishes the periodical Marianum Notizie/News.
Viale XXX Aprile, 6
00153, ROMA RM
Tel. 06 583916.01
Fax. 06 588 02 92
Cradle of the Order of the Servants of MaryLocality - Bivigliano
Via Montesenario 3474 A.
50030 VAGLIA FI
Italy
Tel. (+39) 055 406441
Fax (+39) 055 406554
All started in the city of Florence in the twelfth century that was a period of great religious ferment. An ancient document called “Legenda de Origin ordini” narrates us many important things.
"Our Lady wanted to give origin to her Order with seven men to show to everybody, with absolute clarity, that she wanted to adorn her Order, endowing it with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit" (cf. L.O.15).
“These same seven men founded the community of Monte Senario. After a few centuries, people called these holy men “Our Lady chose to begin with a group of seven. they were: Bonfiglio, Amadio, Buonagiunta, Manetto, Sostegno, Uguccione and Alessio. It was to convince everyone that she wished her Order endowed in a special way with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was to make clear that down through the ages she would keep it alive, as one generation followed another each with a number of men rich in these seven gifts of the spirit. Some of them decided to observe virginity or chastity for life and so remained unmarried; others were already were already married and the rest were widowers.” (cf. L.O. 16).
On the 12th of June1241, Giuliano from Bivigliano, who belonged to the family of the Ubaldinis, donated the third part of a certain forest situated on the Mount Asinario in order "to save his soul".
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this mountain was called in
various ways. “This mountain was called Sonario. This name comes from the
sonorous effect of the wind through some of its caves. At first it was calles
Monte Sonaio, although th eword was soon corrupted by many of the local people
into Asinario. It was this mountain that God inspired our fathers to seek” (L.O.
41). Around 1245, the Seven first Fathers went up the mountain in order to get
away from the political struggles and other distractions of secular life, under
the guidance of Bishop Ardingo († 1247).
By the grace of God, the Seven holy Fathers found Mount Senario with the help of bishop Ardingo. "This mountain is higher than the others around it and so even from far off they saw it as the mountain intended for them by God. When they went up to inspect it, they found at the top a delightful though small level area, a spring of very fine water off to one side and a surrounding grove of trees so well-arranged that it might have been planted by hand (L.O. 41).
This description points out an ecological sensibility. In fact, the Seven fathers and their successors in the history, had a great love for the nature.
“They went up the mountain and at the top immediately constructed a small
house suitable to live in. Abandoning the house they had previously had in
Florence, they moved up to the mountain to live there together.”(L.O. 41).
Such place was worthwhile to the Seven
Fathers:
"It was very appropriate, this Monte Soanio, as God’s choice of dwelling
place for our first fathers. The place itself matched their spiritual ascent and
the name the sound they effected. First, the place was a reflection of their own
spiritual ascent. In the beginning they had been in the valley of tears; there
they were cleansed through contrition, made clean and fit for the ascent. In
this valley they prepared their hearts to move up higher. After their
conversion, they came up to the plain of good morals, where the anointing of the
Holy Spirit taught them everything they needed to know. They became men of
meekness and walked this plain, this house of God, in integrity of heart. They
then came to reside in the hills of virtue, where they ate and were refreshed by
all kinds of spiritual food. Filled in this way with heavenly gifts, they could
say, “Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear” [Psalm
26(27).3]. And now, finally, it was fitting that they ascend the mountain to
stand watch in contemplation. There they would be enlightened,
filled with the
spirit of wisdom and understanding and surrounded by the sweet odor of heaven’s joy.”(L.O. 42).
As nobody had ever lived in the thick forest around the mountain, they faced many difficulties in climbing up the mountain. Climbing up the mountain, even though they were carrying with them the burden of their own weaknesses and the memories of their past life, they trusted in the Lord, remembering the word of God: “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Mt. 11:28-30). Having abandoned everything, offering themselves to do the will of God, they enjoyed the fruits of God’s gifts. And thus Monte Senario was indeed a mountain of virtues.
From the mountain in the cities...
After a certain period, they felt that Monte Senario was not large enough to
accept the new comers who wanted to live with them. So they were constrained to
acquire other places as residences suitable for their penitential way of life. 
"Our fathers were undoubtedly of the opinion that, out of reverence for God who had prepared it for them in the first place, Monte Senario should never be abandoned, either by themselves or by the friars who were to come later to our Order. Yet at the same time they could see that the place would never be large enough for themselves and the friars they had already accepted into the community; not to speak of the others they intended to take in later. Thus they were constrained to acquire other places as residences for themselves and the brothers present and future. This also entailed that they had to take up apostolic ministry” (L.O. 49)
In the year 1250, they went down again from Monte Senario to the city of Florence. There they became poor for the sake of Christ and they were not ashamed to stretch out their hands to ask for alms. Jesus said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too. Because that is what I was sent to do" (Lk. 4: 43). So, they started to disperse themselves in the province of Tuscany (Siena, Cittŕ di Castello, Borgo San Sepolchro, etc.), founding later on new convents all over Italy, preaching the Gospel not only by words but also by their way of life. They announced the Word of God by living out fraternity, service and special devotion to out Lady.
The rests of the seven fathers, collected again on the Monte Senario. In the year 1600 during the renovation of the Church, some documents to support the evidences of the presence of the seven fathers were found. The rests of the seven fathers were put in an urn of gilded bronze and they are still preserved in Monte Senario.
From time to time, wars, earthquakes and epidemics endangered the life of
Monte Senario but the loving providence of God has saved our friars so that they
could continue their life in this sacred place. The friars who were already in
good number were almost always engaged themselves in prayer and
work. Thus the
life-style of the friars continued in the following centuries. In the sixteenth
century, wars and natural calamities severely struck the life over there. But in
the year 1593, with the help of the Physicians, the religious life blossomed
again with such vigor that the Senario became once more a symbol of spiritual
resumption for the whole Order. The fame of the holiness of the friars spread in
various places (as in Austria). And they opened new priories. It is said that
the Pope, asked by Granduca in Tuscany, sent St. Giovanni Leonardi († 1609) to
Monte Senario as a visitor and after visiting the St. Giovanni Leonardi reported
to the Pope that Monte
Senario was a place of holiness the friars living there
were great example for the whole Church. The church of Mountain Senario damaged
by natural disasters underwent many restorations. On the 21st of
September 1621 the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary of Assumption; On the
4th of April 1717 the Church was consecrated and
devoted to Phillip Benizi and to the Virgin Mary of sorrows. By now the Church of Monte Senario had
reached the actual dimensions of today. In the period of the Napoleon, the
priory was suppressed (1808);
Valuable arts and precious books were removed. In
the year 1866 the suppression of the religious Orders by the Italian Government
again paralyzed the life of the priory. Monte Senario began to recover its
normal life in 1870. A few after this rebirth, the seven first fathers were
proclaimed saints in 1888. From then on the Priory at Monte Senario began to
flourish again with a new life. On the 15th of 1918 the Pope Benedict XV
announced the church of Monte Senario as a Minor Basilica.
The recent developments of the history, the new road of access opened in
1964, the necessary return to the original Charism of the Order as recommended
in the documents of post-conciliar revision of the Constitutions (1965-1987),
the various anniversaries, 750th anniversary of the foundation of
the Order (1233-1983), and the first centennial of the canonization of the seven
first fathers (1888-1988), have increased a special interest towards Monte
Senario, not only among the friars, but also among the secular servites, the
friends and various members of the servite family present in five continents.
On the 19th of June 1989, Fr. Pietro M. Papini, then prior provincial of the Province of Tuscany, requested the General Chapter(1989) to make it one among the priories that are under the jurisdiction of Prior General and also to make it international so that its role as a spirituality center may be paid more attention. The general Chapter of 1989 accepted this request and reaffirmed that Monte Senario as the cradle of the Order is a privileged place that enriches the spiritual life of the whole Order.
For the Servants of Mary, Monte Senario remains even today a center of monastic life where the friars strive to witness the evangelical values in their life of fraternity, contemplative prayer and work
“Every friar Servant of Mary considers Monte Senario a holy place and looks on
it as the birth place and spiritual home of the Order. The basilica, containing
the memory of the origins of the Order and the bodies of the Seven Founders,
demonstrates to all Servites what kind of life their should be; austere and
penitent, illustrious and prayerful, hospitable and fraternal, hidden in God and
solicitous of the needs of others. The basilica of Monte Senario and all the
churches dedicated to Saint Mary in the Order, remind Servites, by symbols and
images, of a number of things: first of all, that they dedicated to serve the
Mother of Christ and that their life and apostolic activity are placed under the
patronage of our Lady; that all servite churches should witness to the devotion
of the Church and the Order toward the Mother of God; finally, that Servites
should make of themselves a holy temple of God just as the Virgin Mary, in
accepting the Word of the Lord in her immaculate heart and virginal womb, was
made the exalted dwelling place of God.” (Liturgy of the Hours OSM, Dedication
of the Basilica of Monte Senario, Office of the Readings, second letter).
EGER: PRIORY OF ST. JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
The first Servites came to Eger on 8 September 1687. The church dates from
1731.
In the right-hand nave is the chapel of the Sorrowful Virgin. It has been a
parish church since 1943, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. From 1959 onwards,
as a result of the suppression of the Religious Orders, the church has been
almost always officiated by the secular clergy. The present priory was built in
the period 1728-1749 after a design of Fr. Hugo M. Hazael. One of the most
famous of the many friars who have served there was Fr. Szaicz Leó (1746-1792)
who defended the Hungarian language in his theological, linguistic and
historical writings. The priory has housed the novitiate and professory since
1904. The Order re-acquired the priory at Eger from the State on 28 April 1993;
Servite community life was re-established first in 1993 and then again in 1998.
The friars collaborate in the formation of candidates to the Order and also
practise hospitality, serve the fraternities of the Secular Order and work in
the parish.
The Servite friars first came to Hungary in 1687, almost immediately after the end of the Turkish domination of that country. The priories belonged to the Province of the Germanic Observance, whose Provincialate was in Innsbruck, until 1756. They then passed over to the Austro-Hungarian Province of the Germanic Observance.
The Germanic Observance came to an end in 1907. In 1927, the three priories, Budapest, Mária Remete and Eger, were erected into the Hungarian Rectorate. The first Provincial Chapter of the Hungarian Province was held on 15 January 1947. St. Ladislaus, King of Hungary, is the Patron of the Province.
On 7 September 1959, the Communist government issued the decree ordering the
suppression of the Religious Orders. At that time, the Hungarian Province
numbered 42 friars and 7 novices and candidates in its 7 communities: Budapest,
Mária Remete, Súr-Chatka, Makó, Törökszentmiklós and Makkos-Mária. The Province
also took care of the Third Order Secular and the confraternities of Our Lady of
Sorrows. Some friars were able to remain in pastoral work, serving in parishes,
others managed to reach
other priories of the Order outside the country, and
others still had to find work and lodgings or were able to retire to the Abbey
of Pannonhalma. Their names can be found in the liturgical calendar of the
Order.
The Hungarian Congregation of Sisters Servants of Mary, founded by Sr. Erzsébet Baitz and Fr. Cirillo M. Marchi, received approval from the Bishop of Vác in 1924 and was aggregated to the Order in 1925. In 1950, the Congregation had 110 sisters and 14 communities.
Fr. Agoston M. Csete, the Rector Provincial, was able to attend some General Chapters. Prior General Michel M. Sincerny visited the Servite Family in Budapest on 3 June 1987. The Conference of Priors and Vicars Provincial of Northern Europe met with the Hungarian friars in April 1989.
At the time of end of the Communist regime and the opening of the frontiers (1988-1989), there were still 3 Servite friars alive in Hungary: Agoston M. Csete, Elek M. Póka and Bonajunkta M. Váry. With them, after the 1989 General Chapter, a number of friars, under the guidance of the Priors General and their Councils, worked to re-establish community life: Philippe M. Van Dael, Thomas M. Connolly, Bertalan M. Bernáth and Paolo M. Erthler. The State has given formal official recognition to the Szervita Rend Magyar Tartomány (Hungarian Province) as a juridical entity.
At present, friars Roch M. Boulanger and Hubert M. Moons live in Eger.
The Servite Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows of Florence made a foundation in Hungary in 1991. The Hungarian Congregation of the Szervita Növérek was juridically united to them in 1999. Some 20 sisters are serving in 5 communities.
Up to the present, the Servite friars and sisters have been able to re-establish links with 7 fraternities of the Secular Order.
A priory of the Order, formerly belonging to the Hungarian Province, suppressed in 1950 by the Communist government and given back to the Order by the State in 1994.
Eger has become the centre of Servite presence in Hungary, with the friars and the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows of Florence who began a foundation in Hungary on 31 May 1991. The present community of 2 friars is working in vocation promotion with the assistance of the fraternities of the Secular Order that survived the Communist regime.
Szervita Rendház
Szaďcz Leó út. 7
H - 3300 EGER
Tel. 36. 312 185
Fax. 36. 417 621
