Saint
Saint Zita
- Country / origin
- Italy
- Life
- c. 1212–1272
- Feast
- 27 April (traditional date)
- Canonised
- 1696
Awaiting theological review
Who was this?
At twelve she went to work as a servant for a family in Lucca and stayed with them for the rest of her life. At first she was misunderstood and mistreated, but her patience, honesty and generosity to the poor won the household over. Her body is kept in the basilica of San Frediano in Lucca.
Patron of
- domestic workers
- housekeepers
- people who have lost their keys
When to ask for intercession
- work in other people's homes
- an unfair employer
- patience at work
- when you lose your keys
A short prayer
Saint Zita, intercede for me, that I may do my daily work with patience and love, and see Jesus in the people I serve.
Written for cento53 as a simple personal prayer of intercession — not a liturgical text.
What we know — and how
Historians debate
She is not in the General Roman Calendar; 27 April, the day she died, is her traditional date.
Tradition holds
A story says that the bread she was taking to the poor in her apron turned into flowers when her employer stopped her; the same legend is told of several saints.
A saint for what you are living
- Work and jobs
The next question