The Story of Santa Zita

St Zita, the patron saint of domestic servants, is also the patron saint of Lucca.  She was born in around 1212 in a village near the city and from an early age worked in Lucca as a housemaid for a large family here.  The house she worked in was pointed out to us on our guided walk of the city after our first day at school.  Zita was mistreated by the family and her fellow servants but it seems she was always forgiving and respectful.  She was also kind to the poor of the town and would secretly gather up the leftovers from her master’s table to provide them with food.  The story goes that one day she gathered left over bread in her apron and headed out to distribute it but she was seen by her master who stopped her.  When asked what she had gathered in her apron she replied it was only flowers and, when she opened her apron, the bread had indeed been transformed by a miracle into flowers thereby preventing her from getting into trouble and allowing her to continue helping the needy.

St Zita’s body mummified body is on display in one of the local Lucca churches and her Saint’s Day is 27 April at which time Lucca will be decked in flowers, a little seen relic will be on display in the church and the town should be partying hard.  We are looking forward to it…….

The Miracle of S. Zita by Bernardo Strozzi