Traditionally invoked by the patient (as stated by the Padre António Vieira in his Sermon on the Birth of the Mother of God: "Ask to the sick for that is born in this heavenly Girl, will tell you that is born to the Lady of Health [...]"), became particularly worshipped from the end of the SIXTEENTH century, being attributed to the miraculous intervention that led to the demise of several outbreaks of plague occurred in Portugal. In his honor, in the villages freed from the scourge, were erected the churches, or devoted to old chapels pre-existing.
