Zita

2025-10-22T22:51:39Z

2601:CD:D002:1CC0:A043:1202:4DAB:E08:

{{Use British English|date=May 2024}}
{{Short description|Italian saint}}
{{About|the Italian saint}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Osgyth|St. Osyth]] or Ositha, an English saint}}

{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
|name=Zita of Lucca
|birth_date= {{circa}} 1218
|death_date= April 27, {{death year and age|1278|1218}}
|feast_day= 27 April
|venerated_in= [[Roman Catholic Church]]
|image=Lille Hospice comt Vuez Ste Zite.JPG
|caption=[[Arnould de Vuez]], ''Sainte Zite'' (1696), [[Hospice Comtesse]]
|birth_place= Monte Sagrati, near [[Lucca]], [[Italy]]
|death_place= [[Lucca]], [[Italy]]
|titles=Virgin
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=5 September 1696 (confirmation of cult)
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=[[Pope Innocent XII]]
|attributes= depicted with a bag, [[key (lock)|keys]]
|patronage= [[Maid|Domestic servants]], homemakers, lost keys, people ridiculed for their piety, single laywomen, [[waiter]]s, waitresses, [[Lucca]]
|major_shrine= [[Basilica di San Frediano]], Lucca
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

'''Zita''' ({{circa|1218}}{{snd}}27 April 1278), also known as '''Sitha''' or '''Citha''', is an Italian saint, the [[patroness saint]] of [[maid]]s and [[Domestic worker|domestic servants]]. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost [[Key (lock)|keys]].

Zita entered domestic service at the age of 12, and served the same family for almost 50 years. Through her diligence and fidelity, she became a trusted and valued servant. She spent her days doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. Zita was known for her kindness and generosity to the poor.

== Life ==
Zita was born in [[Tuscany]] in Monte Sagrati, a village not far from [[Lucca]]. Her parents were Giovanni and Buonissima Lombardo. Her maternal uncle, Graziano, was a [[hermit]] who dwelt on a neighbouring mountain where he had built a church and a shelter for travellers.<ref name="Van">{{cite journal |last1=Vansittart |first1=E.C. |title=A Lowly Saint |journal=The Rosary Magazine |date=4 August 1905 |volume=26 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheRosaryMagazineV26/page/369/mode/2up?view=theater |publisher=Rosary Press |location=Somerset, Ohio}}</ref>

At the age of 12, Zita became a servant in the household of the Fatinellis, a well-to-do family of silk merchants.<ref name=cna/> Signora Fatinelli allowed Zita to attend school for a year and then put her to be trained under an older maid. The other servants did not care for Zita. They interpreted her piety as posturing, her submissiveness as stupidity.<ref name="Cra"/>

By her meek and humble self-restraint, Zita succeeded in overcoming 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. The mistress of the house placed Zita in charge of the household [[almsgiving]], and allowed her to visit the sick poor in their own homes and tend to their needs. A small room isolated from the rest of the house was put at Zita's disposal. She would venture out in the evenings and invite poor homeless women to supper. The room, which had a bed, was offered as safe shelter for the night.<ref name=Van/>

She always rose hours before the rest of the family and took care to hear [[Mass (liturgy)|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. Signora Fatinelli's dying wish was that Zita be placed in charge of the household. She continued to serve the family after the death of Guglielmo Fatinelli in 1260, when his son Pagano became the head of the family.<ref name=Van/>

== Legends associated with the saint==
[[File:Leon Biedroński - Święta Zyta 1889.jpg|thumb|{{Ill|Leon Biedroński|pl}}, ''Saint Zita'' (1889), [[St. Anne's Church, Warsaw]]]]
Zita is sometimes depicted in art carrying bread for the poor in her cloak. Jealous servants reported this to the master, who confronted her. Upon opening the cloak, however, it was found to be full of flowers. A similar tale is told of [[Elizabeth of Hungary]].<ref>Montalembert, Charles Forbes René de. ''Histoire de sainte Élisabeth, reine de Hongrie'', (1836)</ref> Zita gave away her own food during a famine, and then gave away food belonging to her master. When he remonstrated with her, the pantry was discovered to be fully stocked.<ref name="Cra">{{cite web |last1=Craughwell |first1=Thomas |title=St. Zita: A Patron Saint for Housekeepers |url=https://www.catholicherald.com/news/st__zita__a_patron_saint_for_housekeepers/ |publisher=Arlington Catholic Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908145011/https://www.catholicherald.com/news/st__zita__a_patron_saint_for_housekeepers/ |archive-date=8 September 2018 |date=21 April 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

There are various versions of the miracle of the loaves. On one morning, Zita left her chore of baking bread either to tend to someone in need (or was deep in prayer in her room). She returned to find loaves all ready set and prepared in the [[kneading]]-trough (or already baked). Neither the other servants nor the mistress knew who had prepared the bread, so it was commonly attributed to [[angel]]s.<ref name=Cra/>

On another occasion, Zita was returning from distributing alms when she encountered a beggar. Having nothing left to give him, she accompanied him to the village well to draw him a cool drink. She let a copper jug down into the well, and in the act of holding it out to him, made the sign of the cross over the water, praying that this drink might be blessed to the poor wayfarer. As he made to drink, he found that the water had turned into wine.<ref name=villa/>

== Death and veneration==
[[File:Lucca Zita San Frediano.jpg|thumb|left|The [[mummified body]] of Zita, kept in the [[Basilica di San Frediano]] in [[Lucca]]]]
Zita died peacefully in the Fatinelli house on April 27, 1272, aged 60. It is said that a star appeared above the attic where she slept at the moment of her death. She had served and edified the family for 48 years, and had become practically venerated by the family. After 150 miracles had been attributed to Zita's [[intercession]] and recognized by the church, she was [[canonization|canonized]] in 1696.{{sfn|Doyno|2019|p=165}} Soon after Zita's death a popular [[cult]] grew up around her, centering on the [[Basilica of San Frediano]] in Lucca.<ref name=cna/>Each year on April 27, the people of Lucca bake bread and bring flowers to San Frediano in celebration of her feast day.<ref name=villa>[https://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2022-04/dcm-004/saint-zita-the-unservile-servant.html Villa, Gracia. "Saint Zita, the unservile servant", ''L'Osservatore, Romano'', April 2, 2022]</ref><ref>[https://austindiocese.news/st-zita-was-diligent-and-faithful-servant Gibson, Mary Lou. "St. Zita was a diligent and faithful servant", ''Catholic Spirit'', April 1, 2023, Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin]</ref>

Zita was [[Burial#Exhumation|exhumed]] in 1580, and discovered to be [[incorrupt]]. The body is on display for public veneration in the [[Basilica di San Frediano]] in Lucca.<ref name="Bla">{{cite web |last1=Black |first1=Annetta |title=The Incorruptible St. Zita |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/incorruptible-st-zita |publisher=Atlas Obscura |access-date=20 November 2020 |date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

[[Guilds]] were established in St Zita's honour to provide homes for servants who were temporarily out of work, to care for those aged or incurably ill, and to provide terms of long service.<ref name=Van/>

During the late [[medieval]] era, St Zita's popular cult had grown throughout Europe. In [[England]] she was known as ''Sitha'', and was popularly invoked by maidservants and housewives, particularly in event of having lost keys, or when crossing rivers or bridges. Images of St Zita exist in churches across southern England. However, despite the gaining popularity, especially amongst women at this time, the cult was not an official one.{{sfn|Farmer|1997|pp=525{{ndash}}526}}

[[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]].{{sfn|Farmer|1997|pp=525{{ndash}}526}}

In 2022, Zita was officially added to the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church liturgical calendar]] with a feast day on 27 April.<ref name="Vir">{{cite web |title=A007 Authorize Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022 |url=https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |website=Virtual Binder |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913143652/https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |archive-date=13 September 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Patronage and legacy ==
Zita is the patroness saint of domestic workers, housekeepers, waitresses, and household chores. Her feast day in the [[Roman Catholic Church]] is 27 April.<ref name=cna>[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-zita-of-lucca-446 "St. Zita of Lucca", CNA]</ref> From 1890 to 2000 [[St. Zita's Home for Friendless Women]] in Manhattan provided food, clothing, shelter, and job training for destitute women.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Pollak |title=A Place for the Friendless |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/nyregion/thecity/04fyi.html |work=The New York Times |date= September 4, 2005 |access-date=2008-07-31 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Doyno |first1=Mary Harvey |title=The Lay Saint: Charity and Charismatic Authority in Medieval Italy, 1150–1350 |date=2019 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-15017-4-021-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3A2QDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Farmer |first1=David Hugh |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Saints |date=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-280058-9 |page=|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000farm_d3u1/page/n3/mode/2up}}

== Further reading ==
{{commons}}
* {{cite book | last = Butler | first = Rev. Alban | year = 1864| title = The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints |volume=4 | chapter = Life of Zita | chapter-url = http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/zita.htm | publisher = D. & J. Sadlier, & Company |ref=none}}
* {{cite book
| last = Shea
| first = John Gilmary
| year = 1894
| location = New York
| title = Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints
| chapter = SAINT ZITA
| chapter-url = http://magnificat.ca/cal/engl/04-27.htm
| publisher = Benziger Brothers
| access-date = 2006-04-27
| archive-date = 2006-02-12
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060212041335/http://magnificat.ca/cal/engl/04-27.htm
| url-status = dead |ref=none
}} (Online edition hosted by [http://magnificat.ca/english/index.html The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210114134/http://magnificat.ca/english/index.html |date=2009-02-10 }} from the Monastery of the Apostles, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.) This book for children is a “compilation based on Butler’s ''Lives of the Saints'' and other sources.”
* Guerra, Almerico (1875) ''Istoria della vita di Santa Zita, … narrata secondo i documenti contemporanei''. Lucca

{{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Catholicism |portal4= Italy}}
{{Authority control|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1212 births]]
[[Category:1272 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:13th-century Italian people]]
[[Category:13th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Canonizations by Pope Innocent XII]]
[[Category:Female saints of medieval Italy]]
[[Category:Incorrupt saints]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Medieval Italian saints]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Lucca]]

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