Every August 23 the Church celebrates San Felipe Benizi (Filippo Benizzi), holy of the thirteenth century, general superior of the order of the servants of Mary (The order of slaves of Mary), whose members are known as “Servitas”.
San Felipe Benizi de Damiani was responsible for the expansion and strengthening of the Order, founded in Florence in 1233 by the “Seven Saints Founders”. The Servitas are one of the five original Mendicant Orders of the Catholic Church.
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Filippo Benizzi was born within a noble family of the kingdom of Florence (Italy) on August 15, 1233.
In search of his “place”
Being very young – it is said that with only 13 years – he moved to Paris to study medicine. From Paris he went to Padua, where at 19 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy. At 20 he returned to his hometown and exercised his profession for a year. During that time, he dedicated himself to studying the Holy Scriptures already pray regularly. He used to do it in front of a crucifix of the Litesole’s abbatial temple. In the face of Crucified Christ, Felipe asked the Lord to the light necessary to discover his vocation.
His prayers were fruitful, and being a day praying in the temple of Fiésole, he heard a voice that came from the crucifix and invited him to put himself under the protection of the Blessed Virgin in the order of the Servitas.
Servant of Mary
Felipe asked to be admitted in Monte Senario – Monastio Servita – and received from San Bonfilio the habit of LEGO brother. The superiors ordered him to work in the garden, ask for alms and perform some hard and difficult tasks of the field. The saint was completely delivered to these tasks, praying incessantly while performing them.
In 1258 he was sent with other Servitas to the Siena convent. The long journey became a propitious occasion for some discussions around faith. Interestingly, even among men of God, there is always clarity and certainty about the depths of theology.
Felipe intervened in each of the issues brilliantly, leaving several questions. Two of those who traveled with him realized what happened to the prior general, who, when verifying the wisdom and simplicity of Felipe, asked him to prepare for the priesthood.
Friar and presbyter
That was the beginning of the itinerary that would lead him to surrender to God in 1262 definitively. Shortly after, Felipe would be appointed novices of the convent of Siena and Vicar Assistant of the Prior General.
In 1267, by unanimous vote, Felipe was chosen a prior of the Servitas. As a first work, he visited the convents of the Order located in northern Italy, inviting everyone to become and undergo the protection of the Mother of God. Some time later, San Felipe would begin another round of visits to the convents of Germany and France.
Negative to papacy and suspension of their order
In 1269, during Viterbo’s conclave, gathered to choose the successor of Pope Clemente IV, Benizi’s name circulated strongly as probable potato. Felipe, who knew about his fragilities, was not considered worthy of such a position, so he fled the city and took refuge in a cave (the famous Grotta di San Filippo Benizi) on Mount Amiata. In 1274 he intervened in the second council of Lyón that, following the guidelines of the IV Lateran Council, prohibited the foundation of new religious orders and abolished the Mendicant Orders that had not yet been approved by the Holy See.
In 1276 Pope Innocent V declared his order suppressed. Felipe then went to Rome, but before his arrival, Pope Innocent died. The restoration of the order would only come with Pope John XXI. From then on a rebirth of the Servitas would begin.
The rebirth of the Servitas
In 1284, San Alejo put his niece Santa Juliana under the direction of San Felipe, who founded the third order of Maria’s servants. The Florentine saint was also in charge of sending the first Servitas missionaries to the East. Some of them even spill their blood on distant lands for fidelity to Christ.
In 1285, San Felipe decided to retire from public life, after years of generous delivery as the apostle of Christ and the Church’s servant. His last days spent them in the convent of Todi, praying prostrated in front of the image of the Immaculate Virgin.
God called him to his presence on August 22, 1285; He was canonized in 1761 and his party was extended to the entire Western Church in 1694.
Central writing
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