Humility

      On the occasion of her funeral in Vienna, on April 1, 1989, the ceremonial chosen to inter her mortal remains in the Capuchin Crypt, is a reflection of the humility portrayed by the Servant of God throughout her life.
       The chamberlain struck three times on the heavy door of the church. From the inside, the voice of a monk was heard: “Who is asking to come in?”The chamberlain answered: “Her Majesty Zita, by the grace of God, Empress of Austria, Apostolic Queen of Hungary, Queen of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria and Illyria, Queen of Jerusalem… etc…Archduchess of Austria, Grand-Duchess of Tuscany and of Kracow; Duchess of Lorraine, of Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Bucovina; Grand-Princess of Transylvania, Margravine of Moravia; Duchess of Upper and Lower Silesia, Modena, Piacenza and Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen, Frioul, Ragusa and Zara; Princess-Countess of Habsburg and Tyrol,Kyburg, Goritz and Gradisca, Princess of Trento and Bressanone, Margravine of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Countess of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz and Sonnenberg… etc….; Sovereign of Trier, of Cattaro and in the Marches of Vendes; Princess Palatine of the Voivodship of Serbia…etc… ; née Princess of Royal Blood in the house of Bourbon, Princess of Parma, …etc.”
       The response was simple: “I know her not.” The door remained closed.
       A second time, the chamberlain struck three times. “Who is asking to come in?”
       “Her Majesty Zita, Empress and Queen.”
       “I know her not.”
       And for a third time three knocks were heard resounding on the door: “Who wishes to come in?”
       “Zita, a mortal and a sinner.”
       “Let her in.”

       With such high titles and high birth, the Servant of God could have felt a certain pride. Far from it: “This was expressed for example this way:once when I was asking her if I should order one of her favorite dishes from the kitchen, she humbly replied that she did not want to receive any special treatment, and she was very humble about it. She was always content with whatever came from the kitchen.” She knew that those who were from high lineage were destined to serve and minister to the people who were entrusted to them by God. All of the witnesses were unanimous about the extreme humility, as well as the great dignity, of the Servant of God.“Superb and unpretentious respect towards the little ones: novices and sisters.” She knew how to conduct herself with deference to whom it was proper to do so, such as with an abbess, but she also had a special fondness for those more unsophisticated, such as the lay sisters: “Her humility, yes, her sweet unpretentiousness in all circumstances really was the reflection of her profound humility – of which she was not aware. Her respect towards each person she met…She showed the same attitude toward the abbesses as with the lay sisters for whom she had a particular affection and exquisite delicacy. Her way of being grateful for the least attention or service to her reflected her kindness and charm.” “The Empress was always grateful for the little gestures and services that were rendered her. She always said ‘God in heaven will pay you back a thousand-fold.’”

       She disciplined controlled herself in order to master, through humility, her strong personality: “Once or twice, there was a hint of that authoritarian temper, which she was able to contain even before it was expressed. This was a new cause for our admiration.

       Faithful to her motto: “my heart for God, my hands at work,” this humility expressed itself in the small chores that most mortals would consider inappropriate or at least too lowly for such a high-born woman, a Majesty: “her silent humility while she participated in the common work [at the monastery of Sainte-Cécile]: peeling the beans, picking rocks, was edifying; or when she was reprimanded before all of us by Mother Scholastica.