Together on the Journey: A Weekly Word from Archbishop Hebda
Happy St. Zita’s Day!
I often think that candidates for confirmation have made it a game to try to stump me with obscure saint names but I still haven’t encountered a “Zita” here in the Archdiocese. As the patron saint for those searching for lost keys, she’s one of my favorites. She’s so good that I’ve expanded her responsibilities to include lost fobs and even forgotten computer passwords…and she always comes through.
But if you go to her hometown of Lucca in Tuscany, Zita is most closely associated with bread.
I can vouch that the people of Lucca know a thing or two about bread. I’ve mentioned before that the neighborhood where I spent my first years in Pittsburgh was an olfactory hazard. My family lived in the shadow of the J & L Mill on the South Side and the exhaust from the blast furnace was horrendous (think rotten eggs). When the wind came from the other direction, I would be overcome by the smell of brewing hops from the Duquesne Brewery. I don’t know which was worse. But on the rare day when the breeze would come from the south, there would be a reprieve: all that we could smell was the heavenly aroma of Barsotti’s Italian bread, with a recipe that came straight from the family’s home in Lucca. It would have made Zita proud.
Born in the 1200’s, Zita spent most of her life working as a domestic in a noble household, where she was responsible for baking the family’s bread. A very devout Catholic, Zita always tried to respond to the needs of the poor, taking seriously the Lord’s affirmation that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do for him. She also did all that she could to make it to Mass every morning, which the noble family allowed only to the extent that it didn’t interfere with her work.
To this day, the faithful of Lucca speak of two miracles involving St. Zita and her bread. On one occasion, a long homily at the earliest daily Mass (might there have been an Archbishop in Lucca that morning?) was responsible for Zita being delayed in getting back in time to bake the morning bread for the family she served. As the story is told, however, when she arrived in the kitchen she discovered that she had nothing to worry about: she found that angels had taken care of all of the prep work and had lined up the loaves to be baked.
On another occasion, she was reported by a jealous fellow servant for distributing to the poor a portion of the bread she had baked. When confronted, she opened up her bulging cloak, only to discover that where she had once placed some loaves only flowers were to be found!
To this day, the folks of Lucca bake bread on her feast day and take it to the bishop to be blessed. While we’re too far away to determine whether the Lucca Cathedral smells this day like the Barsotti’s of my childhood, we would all do well to take inspiration from the humble life of St. Zita, trying to serve the Lord in the midst of our everyday responsibilities, working with patience and generosity. If we put the Lord first and remember to love our neighbor, everything else will fall into place. While Saint Zita is the patron saint of domestic workers and all those who take care of the home, her good example is for all of us. St. Zita, pray for us!
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