History of the Servite Friars

THE CALL TO SERVE

In August of 1233 seven men came together in the prosperous, bustling and arrogant Tuscan city of Florence. For a generation and more, Florence had been the scene of rapid and disturbing social change. The traditional aristocracy had looked on uneasily as a new breed of men came thrusting forward, full of self-confidence and anxious to grasp economic and political power. Growth of trade had given birth to a new class, driven like a wedge between landed aristocracy and peasantry. The latter came pouring into the city from the surrounding countryside, eager for a slice of the freshly-baked cake or, at the very least, a few of the crumbs scattered in the hectic scramble for wealth and status. Between 1180 and 1220 money and congregations had been found in Florence sufficient to provide forty new and magnificent churches. Among the increasing urban population interests became bound up with families or groupings of families. Each Florentine's home must needs also be quite literally his castle - a stronghold and refuge in the running battles fought along the streets and in the squares.

Florence was not alone in experiencing the advantages and the evils of massive readjustments within society. The whole of Europe was in ferment. It is well to remember that, in those days, to be a European was to be a Christian - for this helps us to weigh up the significance of protest-movements and cries for reform which characterised the age. Public speakers and private writers demanded a return to the simplicity and brotherly spirit of the Gospel in face of the struggle for wealth and power which was producing shocking divisions between the haves and have-nots. On the lips of some so-called reformers, the slogan "Back to the Gospel" cloaked nothing more noble than jealousy. In other quarters, the same apparently Christian phrases concealed a more sinister meaning: masses of people were being won over to the view that ownership itself was a deadly evil. What sounded like a call for reform, turned out to be an invitation to anarchy and the destruction of European society.

It is not without significance that the genuinely Christian response to the evil by-products of social change came from within the new mercantile class itself. One Francis of Assisi - a cloth-merchant's son - had been inspired by God's Spirit to look at events around him in the light of a fresh understanding of the Gospel. His response arose out of solid faith and terrible self-honesty. It took shape as a little group of men, determined to live together in poverty and brotherly love; honouring God and serving their contemporaries in a manner which reminded everyone of the life which Jesus had lived with His Apostles. This truly Christlike response to the needs of the age spread across Europe and touched society at every level.

It is against this backdrop that we must view the meeting of seven merchants of Florence in 1233. It was by no means the first time that they had met. For some years a firm friendship, based upon Christian ideals, had been growing up among them and they had come to see what Francis of Assisi had seen. It had been their custom, during those years, to meet regularly as members of a society established in honour of the Mother of God. Gradually they had been drawing further and further away from the values and concerns of their fellow-citizens: the thirst for wealth, for status, for family prestige - with their concomitants of bitter hatred and open violence. Instead, they had been busily shaping their lives on the pattern displayed in the Gospel.

Tradition has it that the Lady - whom they served by living in Christian love for one another and for the poor - showed herself to them at that meeting of their society in August, 1233. History attests to a radical decision having been made on that occasion. For the Seven Merchants traded in their business interests, left their comfortable family homes, put off the finery which announced a man's standing among his fellows, and went to live in a derelict building. This final transaction proved to be the best business they ever did. Wealth, power and prestige were a very reasonable price to pay for what they gained: a life shared as brothers in search of God.
Although such happenings were not uncommon in those days, one suspects that news of seven prominent men of the City taking up residence together in a shack by the cemetery was more than a nine-days' wonder. Indeed, the persistence of visitors, (some of whom were little more than sensation-seekers), probably had a good deal to do with their later decision to move out of the city altogether. For, by 1240 they had gone to live on the summit of a wooded hill - known as Monte Senario - some miles outside Florence. They went there - quite simply - to live the Gospel as intensely and as honestly as could be. An old author, writing about these events, fixes upon the name of the hill and builds metaphors upon it. Its correct title, he insists, is "Sounding Mountain": and what a sound went down from that high place when the Seven Men took it for their home! The pure sound of God's word echoed around: the clear note of faith, of self-effacement, of brotherly love. The life of those Seven Men - sharing their service of God as brothers - went out like a clarion-call that reached the city. Francis of Assisi - in the knightly tradition of the age - had dedicated himself to service of Lady Poverty. Our old author tells us how the people of Florence saw the brotherly life of the Seven Men as service done to the Lady above all others - Mary, the Mother of Christ. So it was that they came to be known as "the brothers Servants of Mary".

As the years passed, men came up the hill to join the Seven in their efforts to live the Gospel. Before long, as the number of brethren increased, it became clear that the time had come to seek other places where this way of living might be carried on - places in the bustling towns and cities round about. What began as a decision involving seven men had grown into the seed of a new religious Order.

. Joseph M. Colella OSM