Saint Zita 13th Century Italian who is Often Appealed to Find Lost Keys

Saint Zita was born in 1218 and died on April 27, 1278. She is an Italian saint, the patroness of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys. Saint Zita entered domestic service when she was just 12, and she served the same family for almost 50 years! As a servant, she was diligent and hard-working. She did several extraordinary things.  Saint Zita shows the value of doing even menial work well. Zita was known for her kindness and generosity to the poor. Do you think she shows the value of service?

Saint Zina Biography

We know very little about Saint Zita’s birth and family. When she was twelve, she became a servant in the household of the Fatinellis, a wealthy family of silk merchants. The Fatinellis allowed for her schooling. Because of her meekness and humble self-restraint, Saint Zita overcame the malice of her fellow servants. She gave a third of her wages to her parents, kept a third, and gave the rest to the poor.

One of the amazing things about Saint Zita is that she would go out in the evenings and invite poor homeless women to supper. She was given a room in the large house. The room, which had a bed, was offered as a safe shelter for the night. She always rose hours before the rest of the family and took care to hear Mass every morning before she began work. She attended to her tasks with diligence and fidelity, and studied, when possible, to anticipate what needed to be done.

There are several legends associated with Saint Zita. Sometimes she is pictured in art carrying bread for the poor in her cloak.  The same type of story is told of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. She gave away her own food during a famine, and then gave away food belonging to those she worked for. When he confronted her, the pantry was discovered to be miraculously fully stocked.

There are several versions of the miracle of the loaves. One morning, Zita left her chore of baking bread, and one day got help from angels. She frequently left to tend to someone in need or to pray.  On that morning, she returned to find loaves all ready set, and prepared.  Neither the other servants nor the mistress knew who had prepared the bread, so it was commonly attributed to angels.

On a different occasion, Saint Zita returned from distributing alms, and she met a beggar. She had nothing to give him, so she went to the town well with him. She made the sign of the cross over the water, praying that this drink might be blessed to the poor wayfarer. As he drank the water, he found that it had turned into wine.

Saint Zita Vernation

Saint Zita died peacefully in the Fatinelli house on April 27, 1272, aged 60. She served them for 50 years. When she died, a star appeared above the place she slept.  In all, 150 miracles had been attributed to her intercession. They have been recognized by the church; she was canonized in 1696. Soon after her death, a popular cult grew up around her. Each year on April 27, the people of the town bake bread and bring flowers to San Frediano in celebration of her feast day.

Saint Zita was exhumed in 1580 and discovered her body was incorrupt. Her body can be viewed to this day in the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca. Various guilds were established in St Zita’s honor to provide homes for unemployed servants, to care for those aged or incurably ill, and to provide terms of long service.

She is the patron saint of maids and domestic workers. Pope Leo X sanctioned a liturgical cult within the church in the early 16th century, which was confirmed upon her canonization in 1696 by Pope Innocent XII. In 1748, Pope Benedict XIV added her name to the Roman Martyrology. In 2022, Zita was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 27 April.

Conclusion

Saint Zita shows us that meekly serving, even in a hired capacity, can be great, if done well, and can lead to becoming a saint. There is a story about President Kennedy walking the halls of the Kennedy Space Center just before the Moon landing in the middle of the night. He encountered a custodian, mopping the floor. Kennedy asked the man what he was doing, and the man said,’sending people to the moon. That is the right attitude.