St. Zita
Feast 04-27 · Canonized 1696
Patron of
About
Zita was born around 1212 in the village of Monsagrati near Lucca, Italy, into a poor but devout family. At the age of twelve she became a servant in the household of the Fatinelli family in Lucca, where she remained for the rest of her life.
Zita saw her work as a form of prayer, rising early to attend Mass before beginning her duties and giving away her own food and clothing to the poor. Legend says that when she gave bread from the household to the hungry, her apron filled with flowers instead. She endured the jealousy of fellow servants with patience and eventually won the respect of the whole household.
She died on April 27, 1272, and was canonized in 1696. Zita is venerated as the patron saint of domestic workers and housekeepers, and her body remains incorrupt in the Basilica of San Frediano in Lucca.
Suggested prayer
O God, who turned the bread Zita gave to the poor into flowers, grant through her intercession that housekeepers and domestic workers may be honored and their service become a prayer. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.