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310 810 ST. ZLATA respect. She was as discreet as she was charitable, and her master seeing iihat she brought a blessing on his property, gave her a free hand and often allowed her to mollify his anger against any one who offended him. While she had the care of everything in the house, Lucca was visited by a dreadful famine, and as she was allowed to give in modera- tion, she went to a great chest full of beans, and gave some handfuls to the poor who came to the door ; there were so many and their need was so urgent that she gave, and gave, and before she realized what she was doing, she found she had emptied the chest. She was much alarmed, but went at once to con- fess her fault to her master, expecting him to be in a towering rage; fortu- nately, however, before striking or even scolding her, he looked into the chest, and lo I it was full to the brim of excel- lent beans. Once, when she had stayed too long in the church of San Fridiano, she remembered that this was the day of the weekly baking and that she ought to have put the dough ready in the tub ; she hurried home in great concern, and found, to her comfort, that her work had been done for her by an unknown hand. Once, as she was fetching water from the fountain, a poor man begged her to give him some ; she filled her jug and handed it to him, but what he drank was deli- cious wine. The story generally told of St. Eliza- beth (11), of a lapful of bread and meat being changed into roses, and back again to food for the poor, is also a part of the legend of St. Zita. One very cold Christmas day, when she was going to church, hor master made her put on his own fur cloak, de- siring her to return it to him when she came home again, At the door of the church she saw a beggar looking so very ill and so cold, that she put the cloak round him, intending to get it back from him after service, but he instantly dis- appeared. The service ended, she again sought him in vain, and went home trembling, to encounter a storm of abuse. But a little later, when her master was sitting at dinner with several guests, the door of the room suddenly opened and an unknown man entered, handed the missing cloak to Pagano, and disappeared. From that time the church door where Zita had given the doak to the beggar, was called by the people of Lucca, ike AngeVs door. As her mistress* children grew up, she loved and advised and helped them all, and was beloved and sought in affliction by everybody. At the time of her death a splendid star arose over Lucca, shining luightly amid the sunlight. The cottage where she was bom was converted into a chapel, and many wonderful answers were obtained by those who sought her inter- cession. Her worship soon spread to Portugal, England, and other countries. Her grave was opened in the loth, 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, and on each occasion her body was found as fresh as in life. She was canonized by Innooent XH. in 161)G. In the B.M. she is called Blessed; she is called Saint by Dante, Ivfemo, zxi. 38; and was already accounted a patron of Lucca in his time, although the office in her hononr was only granted long afterwards by Leo X. in the IGth century. A contemporary life is given by Pape- broch in AA,SS, Diario di Boma^ May 1, 1819. Butler. Stadler. Montalem- bert, " St. Elizabeth." St. Zlata or Chbysa, V. M. 1795, the beautiful daughter of poor parents in the village of Zlatina, in the diocese of Meglin, in Bulgaria. A Turk carried her off by force and kept her for some time in his house, leaving no means untried to induce her to give np her religion and her innocence. At last in- censed at her persistence, in October, 1 795, he put her to death by means too horrible to be described, as recorded by her confessor, Timothy, abbot of Stau- ronicete in Mount Athos. Martinov, Annus Ecdesiasticus. St. Zoe (1) or ZoA, May 2, slave, M. in the reign of Hadrian (117-138). She was the wife of St. Hesperus, and mother of St. Cyriacus and St. Theodulus, MM. ; they were slaves of Catalus and his wife Tertia or Tetradia. Hesperus and Zoe brought their sons up as Christians, in the midst of a heathen household. The