Lynn’s new family! Hen’s including Zita. Photo by Lynn Hurry

I was chatting today with my friend Lynn who has retired from full-time parish ministry recently.
Naturally we talked about how she was filling her time. “I’ve just bought four hens.”
Fresh free-range eggs are now the order of the day!
The Hens have all been named and one is called Zita.

This is not a name I know well and it was even more intriguing to discover that Zita is a popular saint originating in Lucca, a city in Tuscany, Italy.
She came from a poor family and, by the time she was 12 she had entered domestic service with the Fontinelli family, who were weavers. She served them for 48 years and was deeply attentive and caring of their needs. She also became devoted to our Lord Jesus though not everyone around her was enthusiastic about her faith. She suffered teasing and ridicule from some of her fellow servants but perhaps this was out of jealousy because nothing got in the way of her devotions. She would rise very early each morning to say her prayers and go to the daily mass, but her work never suffered and she was known both for her piety and exemplary service. Her love for God was so strong that she gradually won people over by her kindness and patience. The household came to respect her faith and many joined her in seeking Jesus for their own life.

The Master and Mistress of the household came to realize how special she was and made her chief of the household and nurse to their children. It had not been easy for her to reach such a position of trust. Sometimes, particularly in times of famine and need, she would quietly give food to the poor and destitute. This nearly led to her undoing by her Master who realizing the worth of his bean store in a time of want, decided to sell it for a large profit. Zeta was terrified that her generosity with her Master’s belongings would lead her into deep trouble. She prayed to God. When her Master looked into his store he found the stock had not diminished at all.
This and other signs she received told her how God and his angels were watching over her. As she grew older, she took to visiting the poor, the sick and prisoners. She became much loved and her witness to God brought others to deeper faith.
Zita died in Lucca on April 27^th, 1271. At the moment of her death, it is said that the bells of the church pealed out of their own volition!
It wasn’t long before she was thought of as a saint and a channel for the peoples’ prayers. She was eventually declared a saint by Pope Benedict XIV.

Not surprisingly she was adopted by some as patron saint of housekeepers, servants, maids and servants. Later this was to include waiters and waitresses. For reasons linked perhaps to her role as keeper of the house, she also became one who was sought for prayerful assistance when they lost their keys! Less surprisingly, her life and example became an encouragement to those who are ridiculed for their faith.

St. Zita’s cult became  popular in London, because of the trading links with Lucca. Various chapels and altars were dedicated to her. This included a chapel of St. Zita in the church of St Benet Shereog, a church that was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Such devotion was paid to her that the church became known  as  St Sithe’s / Sitha (Zita) by  the 14^th century.
After the Great Fire, it was never rebuilt and the parish was amalgamated with St Stephen, Wallbrook.

St Zita’s popularity may be more localized than many Saints but in the week when we approach All Saints’ Day, there is room for our devotion and inspiration to come from all manner of holy people. Every one of God’s Holy Ones has something to show us of the love of God working through their lives and helping to inspire us in our own life of faith.
St Zita found her faith in the ordinary domestic life. It was rarely an easy existence but Zita’s faith shone and triumphed in the midst of its ordinariness.  She shows us what later St Teresa of Avila was to point us to, that God walks among the Pots and Pans.
Heaven is found in the ordinary where most of us try to work out our own faith.
For some that surely includes the keeping of hens! Not only reminding us of new life but also of taking care of each other, animals and humans together.

Oh, and of course, had I not been introduced to Zita the hen, I would probably not have met her saintly namesake!

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Zita,
as an example of virtue.
Help us to imitate the holiness she showed in offering her hard work to You
throughout her many years as a domestic servant.

[Mr G. 26^th October 2026 …
with thanks to Lynn Hurry for her contribution to this article]

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