Santa Zita and the miracle of the pulses

In Italy there is a Saint to protect the workers of every profession. Santa Zita, one of the most beloved characters of Lucca, is the protector of housewives, maids and bakers. She is celebrated every year on April 27th, the day of her death in 1272. Who was Santa Zita and what made her a saint?

Zita was born in 1218 and from the age of 12 worked as a maid for the Fatinelli family. The girl had a gentle soul and was also a hard worker, a combination that made her beloved by all the members of the families where she worked, but also by the poor inhabitants of her city that she was always very kind towards with her merciful actions. It is precisely one of these charitable actions that relates to the miracle which made her a saint: the miracle of the pulses.

The master of the family where she worked kept stocks of pulses in some boxes in a warehouse in the attic of the building. Zita, worried about the hunger the poor and the needy suffered from, had slowly gone through the entire stock by giving them to those who had nothing else to eat. What about the master? He hadn’t noticed anything. But one day, he announced that he had found someone who would buy all his supplies, and was looking forward to earning some good money. Zita was naturally not so enthusiastic. Hers was a Robin Hood-style robbery, but it would still make her master very angry once he found out. Enthused by her great faith, she spent the night praying, also because, all in all, what else could she have done?

Imagine the anxiety and fear when she saw the buyers arrive the following morning. She was ready to be loudly reprimanded when, to her great surprise, the owner told her that there were 50 kg more pulses in the crates than what he thought! A miracle? It would seem so! Her body now is kept inside the Church of San Frediano where it can be observed from a shrine. Are you curious? Do you want to go and find out if there are other inexplicable facts about her? Book our tour of Lucca from Florence, and our guides will tell you everything you need to know about her!