By Larry Peterson, Aleteia - She is the patroness of the city of Valencia, Spain, and the statue dates back to a priest's desire to help the bullied... On Friday, February 24, 1409, Father Juan Gilberto-Jofre, a Mercedarian priest, was on his way to the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain, to say Mass. He heard a commotion in the street and saw a man on the ground covering his head with his arms as a gang of young people were taunting and mocking and hitting him.