sabato 25 aprile 2009

St. Zita

Every year from April 24 to 27, we have a plants exhibition in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro in Lucca. It takes place for the fest of St. Zita. The round square looks marvellous with all the colours of the flowers....


















Some beautiful stalls where it's possible to buy several kind of plants...































































































...a little bit of history...

Saint Zita is the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is also appealed to in order to help find lost keys.
She was born in the village of Monsagrati, not far from Lucca where, at the age of 12, she became a servant in the Fatinelli household. For a long time, she was unjustly despised, overburdened, reviled, and often beaten by her employers and fellow servants for her hard work and obvious goodness. Her faith had enabled her to persevere against their abuse, and her constant piety gradually moved the family to a religious awakening. One anecdote relates a story of Zita giving her own food or that of her master to the poor. On one morning, Zita left her chore of baking bread to tend to someone in need. Some of the other servants ensured the Fatinelli family was aware of what happened; when they went to investigate, they claimed to have found angels in the Fatinelli kitchen, baking the bread for her.

St. Zita died in the Fatinelli house on April 27, 1272. It is said that a star appeared above the attic where she slept at the moment of her death. She was 60 years old, and had served and edified the family for 48 years. By her death, she was practically venerated by the family. After one hundred and fifty miracles wrought in the behalf of such as had recourse to her intercession were juridically proven, she was canonized in 1696. She is buried in the Basilica di S.Frediano in Lucca and her mummified body is shown every year on April 27th.

27 commenti:

Welkom ha detto...

Hai Vale,
What a beautiful sight, all those flowers, and it must smell like heaven there in the piazza!
And what a story of Saint Zita!
Thanks for sharing my friend!!
Hugs Anita

Naija ha detto...

hi
whatlovely with all flowers
and thanks for sharing the story

Unknown ha detto...

wohh what a flowers,really beautiful..I wish you a lovely weekend.
hugs kari

manon 21 ha detto...

oh!!!j'adore aussi ces manifestations.
il y en a plein en provence en ce moment.
a bientôt Vale

manon

Mitt hvite hus ha detto...

Hello my friend..
What a lovely flowers sight... Lovely colors ..
I wish you a lovely weekend..
Hugs:O=)

My home is my Castle ha detto...

Wow...
Beautiful flowers...
I would love to be there :)

Hugs, Kari

.. ha detto...

Thank you for the explanation about St.Zita!
The flowers are so wonderful and what lovely colors!!!
Have a nice Sunday Vale, hugs...

Lilla huset på prärien ha detto...

Yes, yes, yes I love it!! I just love Italy with all the beautiful buildings and beautiful flowers. The pictures looks really marvellous!

Jenny

Två systrar ha detto...

Looovely flowers...to cold here in sweden yet but soon:-) Hugs from C&M

LillaFlisan ha detto...

For the first time this year we have summer temperatures and your beautiful pictures of the marvellous flowers makes me dream of those warm summerdays we long for so much....

Thanks for the inspiration!

Hugs

Flisan

Anonimo ha detto...

Hello my friend..

How beautiful pictures from Lucca.. and thanks for sharing this story..

Had to look back on your older posts.. ahhhh... wish I had been on that fleemarket!!!!!!! so much beautiful thing :o))

and thanks for your comments at my blog.. they makes me very happy :o)

Hugs from Bea in Denmark

Stina ha detto...

Oh, so much flowers. Very beautiful.:-) Hug Stina

Laura @ 52 FLEA ha detto...

Ah....those flowers are so beautiful....good for the soul! Thank you for the history lesson....your posts are always so interesting!
Be well my friend...
Laura

Fabiolablog ha detto...

excibicion that each of flowers conveys fotofrafia the beautiful colors, I live in the desert of chile, and there are no flowers, only in the south of my country, thanks friend for always being in my embrace peoples faby

Lotta "EnVilsenLoppa" ha detto...

Oh how beautiful isn´t that ! All the flowers and all the colours !
I can imagine that its a wonderful time now in Italy , springtime . I´ve been to Italy once , to Rimini but it was a long time ago and we were only at the beach there :-(
But when you are young , thats whats interest you :-)

Have a nice week !

Here i Sweden we´re celebrating the last day of april , with lightening fires outside .


Love/Lotta

Ali @ Betty and Violet ha detto...

What a wonderful display of colour! It all looks so pretty in the sunshine (something we are lacking in England today!)
I loved your story of St Zita...
Ali x

Maison Beldecor ha detto...

Dear Vale,
lovley picture from Lucca. On a journey to italy some years ago, we visit Lucca and the rest of the famos villages of the Toskana, i love it. You can count yourself lucky to life there.
Have a great week, hugs Bine

Marie-Nostalgi och Romantik ha detto...

Such beautiful pictures! It must be a joy to walk among those flowers...
Hugs
Marie

Tone ha detto...

ah.......lovely Vale!!!
What a story - and what a great flower show!! -
Is this the same weekend every year...? In that case, I`m coming next april :-)

hehe...

have a lovely week!
tone

Fotballmamma ha detto...

Lots of nice pictures in your blog, like it here. :)

me and alice ha detto...

Hello Vale!
Wow, I love Italy!!! It looks so nice with all the beautiful houses and all the coloured plants...
Have a nice day there in paradise!!
I don´t use any stencils when i´m writing. Just a pen... :D
Hugs from Susanne

Tine ha detto...

Hello Vale,

what for wonderful Pictures...and so much sunshine....;o)

I wish, i could be there too...

Thank you for you're nice words...i'm still ill, but not so much...it's a little bit better..

Heartly Hugs tine

Fifi Flowers ha detto...

Oh how FABULOUS that event looks and soooo GORGEOUS!!! Thanks for sharing!

Jeanette ha detto...

hi vale, beautiful pictures from lovely flowers!

hug jeanette...

Weißer Vintagezauber ha detto...

Hello Vale,
what for a nice day with many beautiful flowers.Your pictures are so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warm hugs,
Elke.

FEDERICA ha detto...

Ciao Vale, che meraviglia quel mercatino dei fior.Li comprerei tutti se fosse per me! Sono bellissimi anche i sacchettini che hai fatto, davvero deliziosi. Complimenti! Non ne sbagli una!
Ciao!

Ineke Original ha detto...

Wow! At this moment my husband is painting this square. It's beautiful!
greetings from Holland,
Ineke