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Zita
was born in Italy in the thirteenth century. At age twelve,
she was sent to work as a maid for a wealthy weaver and his
family in Lucca. She was initially disliked by her fellow employees
because her fastidiousness made them look lazy and because she
seemed a bit dim-witted. Mr. Fatinelli, the master of the house,
was also disconcerted by Zita’s generosity with his food,
which she would often give to the poor. She soon learned how
to manage her boss' rages with help from her guardian angels,
who turned the stolen bread hidden in her apron into roses before
her suspecting employer’s eyes. One time an angel knocked
on the door of the Fatinelli household to return a fur coat
the good-hearted servant had given to a beggar. (Incidentally,
that very door is now known as “the Angels Door.”)
Zita also had divine assistance in more practical matters: angels
would spread their wings forming a cherubic umbrella to protect
her during storms. Once the Virgin herself led the distracted
woman home after she'd become lost returning from a pilgrimage.
Her angelic friends would often step in and finish her household
chores for her so she could stay in a state of ecstasy. They
turned a pitcher of water into wine, and bread baked by the
cherubim was said to have been particularly sweet and delectable.
For forty-eight years Zita served the Fatinelli family who made
room for her goodness by allowing her indulgences like giving
up her bed for beggars while she slept on the floor, or by giving
her time off for catering to the sick and poor and tending to
the spiritual needs of the condemned on death row. When she
died at the age of sixty, a star shone so brightly from her
attic bedroom window that it lit the entire town of Lucca. Zita
is also the patron of housewives and domestic workers. Her feast
day is April 27. |
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Zita
Patron St. of
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