Legend of Our Lady of Health

According to legend, in 1247, in the town of Algemesi, Valencia, on the site now occupied by a well called the Virgin of Health, in the garden at the outskirts of Berca there was a hollow mulberry tree. It was at that site that a resident of Alzira noted that within the trunk was the figure of a person, as he approached he realized that what he saw was an image of the Virgin Mary. Gazing upon her, he realized that she was sitting on a wooden bench and on her left thigh sat the child Jesus who was holding a lily in his right hand. According to tradition, the image was taken to the town of Alzira three times, and as many times was found again in the mulberry tree. For this reason the image stayed in the town of Algemesí.

In the first centuries after the discovery, no particular devotion was given to the image, as some called her the Mother of God and others the Virgin of Sorrows, but with the passing of the centuries the people decided to name a specific devotion. According to tradition three priests discussed what title to give to the devotion. They were torn between "Our Lady of Consolation," "Our Lady of the Assumption" and "Our Lady of Health". As they could not agree they decided to select the title by random draw with the title of "Our Lady of Health" coming up three times. A rhyme is still recited that mentions this event:

Tres vegades va insistir;

mossén Frasquet, cabut;

i tres vegades va sortir:

Mare de Deu de la Salut!

Three times he insisted;

Monsignor Frasquet, stubbornly;

and three times came out:

Our Lady of Health!

The image venerated in the town since the mid-twentieth century is a replica, since during the Spanish Civil War the original image of Our Lady of Health was destroyed, as was the chapel where the image was located.

Her feast day is September 8.