You probably already know Saint Anthony of Padua is a powerful intercessor for lost things.
But did you know there’s a patron saint specifically for lost keys? Saint Zita!
She was born around 1212 to a poor but pious family in Tuscany. To support her family, she became a maid at the age of 12 to a family of well-off Silk merchants, the Fatinellis.
As a lay Franciscan, she considered her domestic service a duty assigned to her by God. She famously said her work was holy, because being busy was a sign of holiness because lazy people have fake holiness.
She would rise several hours before the Fatinellis, starting each day in prayer while they slept and always attending Mass before starting work. Her skills in housekeeping were so great she made the other maids jealous and it took years of humble self restraint to earn their friendship.
She gave one-third of her wages to her family and one-third to the poor. Signora Fatinelli placed her in charge of almsgiving, allowing her to visit the sick and poor to tend to their needs. She also was given a room to give the homeless safe shelter and food for the night.
Pious legends abound telling tales of miraculous charity by Saint Zita.
One morning, Zita left to bake bread for someone who needed it. A few of the other servants told the Fatinellis about what she did. They went to check out the house and said they saw angels in the kitchen baking the bread for her.
Another time, Zita gave away the family’s beans to the people during a famine. When the Fatinellis suspected this, they checked the cupboards and found them filled with food.
One dramatic tale tells the time when on Christmas Eve, Zita gave away a prized and treasured family cloak to a shivering man at Saint Frediano, the local church. Although Signor Fatinelli was furious, a different elderly man came back to return the heirloom. After the townspeople heard about the event, they decided the man must have been a angel. Since then, the doorway of the Saint Frediano church in Lucca has become known as the Angel Portal.
In her nearly fifty years of service to the Fatinellis, she was famously known for her works of charity and joyful disposition. By the time of her death, she was practically venerated by the family.
It is said at the moment of her passing at age 60, a star appeared above the attic where she slept. Soon afterwards, a cultus grew up around her. She was popularly invoked by maids, servants, and housekeepers particularly when looking for keys they had misplaced.
By 1696, she was canonized after 150 miracles had been recognized by the Church as being attributed to her intercession.
Her body was found incorrupt in 1580, currently on display for public veneration at the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca, Italy.
🙏 Saint Zita, pray for us!
Zita, Zita, please,
would you help me find my missing keys.
