(C.D. Stampley Enterprises, Charlotte, NC 2001). Used with permission.

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When stressed by household chores

St. Zita (1212-1272)

Feast day: April 27

Housework is tedious, time-consuming drudgery. In St. Zita, however, we have a model of someone who saw in boring, repetitive tasks an opportunity to grow in holiness.

Zita was born in the village of Montsegradi outside the city of Lucca. Holiness was a family traitÑone of Zita's sisters became a Cistercian nun; her uncle Graziano lived as a hermit and was regarded by the local people as a saint. Zita's devout mother taught her that everything in life fell under one of two categories: what was pleasing to God, and what was not pleasing to God.

At age 12 Zita left home to work as a servant in the household of the Fatinelli family in Lucca. The Fatinellis were well-to-do silk merchants who lived in a fine house near the Church of St. Frediano. There were other servants in the house, of course, and within days of her arrival Zita knew that none of them liked her. Her fellow servants took her piety for posturing, her submissiveness for stupidity, her diligence for a mean-spirited way to make them look like slackers.

One would think that Zita's employers would have been thrilled to find a girl who was honest, religious, quiet, and hardworking. The case was exactly the opposite. Zita was too good to be true. Signora Fatinelli, who had a lifetime of experience with servants, suspected that Zita had to be up to something dishonest, and treated her coldly, sometimes even cruelly. It drove Signor Fatinelli, a man notorious for his short temper, nearly mad that he could not discover what mischief Zita was up to. Entirely convinced that in some secret way this little servant girl was cheating him, Fatinelli often flew into a rage just at the sight of her. Yet for some inexplicable reason the Fatinellis never dismissed Zita from their service.

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As the new girl, Zita would have been given all the dirtiest and most tedious household tasks. She did them all well, but when she felt the drudgery of her work getting to her, she would say a very short prayer and remind herself that she wasn't doing this unpleasant Job to win praise from the Fatinellis but out of her love for God.

Prayer sustained Zita. She went to Mass daily at the Church of St. Frediano. If she had any spare time during her work day, she would slip away to a corner of the attic to pray. One story says that once, after she had put bread in the oven, Zita found she had some free time so she hurried up to her "chapel" in the attic. Her prayers became so intense and the sweetness of being in conversation with God so delightful that Zita lost all track of the time. When she came to her senses, she rushed back to the kitchen, certain that the loaves of bread must be burned. Instead of a kitchen filled with acrid smoke, she found beautiful, fragrant loaves laid out on the table. While Zita talked with God, angels watched her baking.

With the passage of time Zita's fellow servants and the Fatinellis came to realize that she was not a hypocrite or a cheat but a genuine saint. The family made her mistress of the household, and eventually governess of the Fatinelli children.

Her new authority revealed Zita's one flaw: her zeal for helping the poor often lead her to give away property that belonged to someone else. She was a soft touch, and the beggars and the poor in and around Lucca knew it. She shared her own food with whoever came to the door, and when she had given away her portion, she dipped into the Fatinellis' pantry. During a famine an endless procession of hungry people came to Zita for help. She wound up giving away the Fatinellis' entire store of dried beansÑthe one thing the household was counting on to get them through the crisis. It was too much. Signor Fatinelli indulged in one of his famous rages and dragged Zita into the storeroom to impress upon her what she had done. But when Zita and Fatinelli arrived in the pantry they found to their surprise (and Zita's relief) that the stores of dried beans were undiminished.

One bitterly cold Christmas morning, as Zita was about to set out for Mass, Fatinelli stopped her and wrapped his fine fur mantle around her. Savvy even when he was being softhearted, Fatinelli reminded Zita, "Remember! I want the coat back. It would be just like you to give it away."

Zita promised to return with the fur, and set off for church. At the church door she saw a poor man shivering in thin rags. She never could walk away from a beggar, so she took off the fur and gave it to the poor man. "This will keep you warm for now," she said. "But when I come out of church you must return the coat to me. It's not mine to give away."

After Mass Zita returned to the spot where she had left the beggar. He was gone, and Signor Fatinelli's valuable fur mantle with him. Zita did not know what was worse, the humiliation of having abused her master's kindness, or the sharp disappointment of having been played for a fool by someone she had tried to help.

One can imagine the scene back at the Fatinelli house when Zita returned without the fur. Yet the story does not end there. The day after Christmas, a stranger came to the door with the fine coat, as good as new. The Fatinellis' neighbors agreed among themselves that it was no beggar Zita had met outside the church but an angel come to test the compassion of Christians on Christmas morning. To this day, the portal where Zita met the beggar is known as the Angel Door.

And so the years passed, with Zita exasperating Signor Fatinelli with her works of charity, only to be bailed out at the last moment by divine intervention.

Zita died peacefully on April 27, 1272, in the Fatinelli house. She was 60 years old, and had served and edified the family for 48 years.

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Prayer to the saints is a powerful thing.

Now, with Saints for Every Occasion, readers can quickly find help for any challenge they face – no matter how large or small. Author Thomas J. Craughwell profiles 101 patron saints from various continents, cultures and times – from saints who were contemporaries of Christ, to modern patrons like Padre Pio and Faustina Kowalska. Each saint lived heroically in difficult times and circumstances, providing powerful examples of how to turn almost any obstacle into a source of grace. Along with old favorites such as St. Anthony and St. Jude, Craughwell offers patrons for specifically modern concerns, including, for example, saints to watch over astronauts, internet users and environmental activists. Beautifully illustrated and entertainingly told, Saints for Every Occasion features 101 patron saints readers will seek out time and again.

“An excellent resource for home and classroom use.” – Publisher’s Weekly {/tabs}