Saint Zita

There is nothing more attractive to me than a person who is content. Content with their life whatever it might be, content with the people they meet - not wishing to change or compete with them. Content with duties large or small. A contented person exudes a solid sort of holiness that you want to follow around or sit next to. Discontent, on the other hand is restless, shifting, and hard to be around. It causes problems for others. It can't be trusted. But content creates a wide circle of peace for anyone who comes into its orbit. It is always simple and uncomplicated.

Today's saint is that to me. St. Zita. She was born to a poor family who lived in Sagrati, Italy during the early 1200's. Her parents were loving, prayerful, and trusting of God's providence. Perhaps that is where Zita got her contentment. In the ordered days of prayer and work mirrored to her by her mother and father. They were poor but they loved what they were about and that kind of love seeps into work, into meals, into children. Contentment.

It was the custom among couples of that time, to send their teen aged daughters to wealthier families, who could afford servants, to help with the domestic work. At the age of twelve, Zita had her turn. She was sent to the Fatinelli family, who were good and just with their servants. She was happy to go. She was happy to contribute to the happiness of her family.

Zita didn't groan or feel cheated by life. She was content to be who she was and did not waste any energy wondering what life would be if things were different. She loved who she was.

My saint book says she was diligent in her work. “She felt it was part of her very self". As soon as she got to the Fatinelli family and looked at her scheduled day, she set up a prayer time that would fit in to it. She didn't long for stretches of quiet and contemplation, she didn't lament that she could not grow in holiness with so little time to pray. She was content with her day, and she gave God all the nicks and tucks within the hours she had.

But of course, contentment somehow seems to annoy people who are discontented. They have this weird need to mess with someone else's peace. The other workers did this to Zita. They didn't like her diligence, as they were not diligent themselves. They made fun of her and tried to trip her up in her work, they made fun of her, they tried to take credit for her hard work. She saw all this and was saddened by it. But she had a habit of contentment and was able to keep going with what she was given to do and the times she was given to pray - they were her rock in the waves of discontented malice that surrounded her. She held on to those things. And she never told on those servants who hurt her so much. Until one of them tried to corner her and kiss her. Then she drew the line.

Mr Fatinelli found out the whole thing and questioned Zita. So, Zita told the truth. A contented person knows that eventually truth will win. And so it did for her. Mr. Fatinelli made her his head housekeeper. All the other workers began to look at her differently. She had never told on them, and now she accepted them with equal grace and forgiveness. They began to want her contentment, and they imitated it.

Zita did nothing grandiose for the Church. Many saints do, but she was not called to that. She did not set out on any pilgrimages, was not sent to convert massive crowds with words of power. She was sent to a house to do the housework. And in that house, she influenced a kind family and their servants. She made life easier and happier for perhaps a handful of people. That was her vocation. She saw it and was content.

Let's pray for contentment. Not for fame, fortune, power. Contentment is something so precious to have. To let go of discontent and suddenly see the world you have been given to change. It will be small, but mighty, like Zita's world.