The Virgin of the Helpless (Valencian: Mare de Déu dels Desamparats, IPA: [ˈmaɾe ðe ˈðew ðeɫz ðezampaˈɾats]) is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. She is the patroness of Valencia, and one of the seven patterns of the Autonomous Communities of Spain. Is represented with a lily in one hand and the baby Jesus carrying the cross in his arms. The image is characterized by a slight forward tilt: that is why he is known affectionately as The Geperudeta (hunchback) of Valencia.
On February 24, 1409 father Jofré was going to the cathedral to deliver a sermon during Lent, when he witnessed the lynching of a mentally ill man on a street near Santa Catalina Valencia (now Martin Mengod, formerly known as Silver). This led him to take the decision to found a hospice for the mentally ill.
The brotherhood was founded under the invocation of Sancta dels Folls Dona Nostra i Desamparats Innocents (Our Lady of the insane and the innocent). The goal of the brotherhood was to address the insane, however, due to the famine of the period and the high rate of orphans due to the plague, the streets were many children homeless. The hospice was extended to pick up homeless children, foundlings and abandoned.
Two years later was named patron of the brotherhood of the Virgin as mother of the homeless welcomed there, renaming the title as Our Lady of the Forsaken. The year 1414 came three young men dressed as pilgrims, to the brotherhood. In receiving the brother brother who lived in the house, he said that in three days we could make an image of the Virgin if they were given a place to do it and board. They were taken to a place known as The Hermitage. After four days and not hearing himself no noise, they forced the door and found the image of the Virgin Mary. The mysterious pilgrims had disappeared shortly after he healed the wife of a member of the brotherhood, paralyzed and blind. The incident gave rise to the legend of "el feren els àngels" (the angels did). On April 21, 1885, Pope Leo XIII granted a Papal Bull named the patroness of Valencia to the Virgin of the Forsaken.
For many centuries the faithful have helped children, Ancion, blind, mentally ills
The feast of Our Virgin of the Helpless is held the second Sunday of May. This festival features the most anticipated moments of a day especially touching, in which thousands of Valencia are turning to pay tribute to their patron.