Today is the Feast Day of the patron Saint of this blog, Saint Zita! In honour of her day, I will continue with my reflections on her life…
Her master and mistress discovered the treasure which their family possessed in the fidelity and example of the humble saint, and the other servants gave due praise to her virtue. Zita feared this prosperity more than adversity, and trembled lest it should be a snare to her soul. But sincere humility preserved her from its dangers; and her behaviour, amidst the caresses and respect shown her, continued the same as when she was ill-treated and held in derision; she was no less affable, meek, and modest; no less devout, nor less diligent or ready to serve everyone.
From: St. Zita
From this passage, we see that eventually, Saint Zita was regarded as a treasure by the family she worked for, and her virtue, rather than being maligned, was praised by her fellow servants. Her perseverance in diligently following God’s will in a spirit of penance and humility was thus rewarded by God. We too may find, that after going through times of trial and suffering, or of being disregarded and even badly treated by others, God provides us with an oasis of blessing and refreshment. There is a sense of all our hard work finally bearing fruit, and the praise and respect of others is a juicy fruit indeed.
But there is also a down-side, a danger here; we can all too easily be flattered by the praise of others, and so make that our aim and our goal, instead of consistently working to please God, and God alone ~ our audience of one. When family and friends see and acknowledge the work we do, it is good that they give us their affirmation, but it is not so good if we use that to puff ourselves up, and begin to believe in our own goodness. It is better to humbly say thank you, whilst all the time recognising that nothing good comes from us that is not of the Holy Spirit, and God-given. The credit belongs to Him!
It wold have been easy for St. Zita to bask in the light of her new-found popularity, and an entirely human response. We are conditioned to respond to positive affirmation, and it is entirely counter-culture to let such things pass over our heads as it were. But St. Zita’s behaviour did not change. She displayed the same humility and meekness as she had done when she was being derided and ill-treated. This was a sign of her true servant heart, which we too can emulate, treating others with the same loving attitude whatever theirs might be towards us. This can mean biting our tongue instead of speaking a harsh word or retort, or keeping a smiling face when things are not going well. It can also mean not allowing ourselves to get carried away with excitement when things are going well! In many ways, it sums up very well the Benedictine vow of Stability…not to be swayed this way and that by the winds of our and others’ emotions.
St. Zita rightly feared prosperity more than adversity, because it is during times of prosperity that we can become lazy and slothful in matters of faith, and begin to take our blessings for granted. How many of us pray far more in times of crisis than during those times when all is plain sailing? Like St. Zita, it is important to maintain our devotions during all circumstances.
So, on this Feast day of this humble saint, who God chose to exalt after her death as a sign of virtue and servanthood, may we develop a true servant heart and not be elevated by the praise of others…
