St. Zita of Lucca

St. Zita was born about 1212 at Monsagrati near Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, of a poor but devout family. At the age of twelve she entered the service of a prosperous household in Lucca, the Fatinelli family, as a domestic servant, and she remained in that same service for some forty-eight years until her death, sanctifying the whole of her humble and laborious life through faith and charity.

Rising before dawn to attend Mass each day, she performed her duties with such diligence, honesty, and devotion that she came to be trusted above all the household, though at first her fellow servants resented her piety. She gave freely to the poor from her own portion, and many charming stories of her charity were told, such as that angels were seen doing her baking while she prayed. Patient under hardship and misunderstanding, she was revered for holiness even in her lifetime. She died at Lucca on 27 April 1272, and her body is venerated there incorrupt. Canonized in 1696, she is the patroness of domestic servants and household workers, and her memory is kept on 27 April.