La Rochelle slave ship Le Saphir ex-voto, 1741.

The collection of ex-votos in Abbey of St Maria del Monte, Cesena, Italy

An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. Ex-votos are placed in a church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. The destinations of pilgrimages often include shrines decorated with ex-votos.

Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the helping figure, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modeled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame. There are places where a very old tradition of depositing ex-votos existed, such as Abydos in ancient Egypt.^[1]

A few examples [link]

In the church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in Marseille, France, the site of a major local pilgrimage, the ex-votos include paintings, plaques, model boats, war medals and even football shirts given by players and supporters of Olympique de Marseille, the local team. The magnificent Lod mosaic is thought to be an ex-voto expressing gratitude for rescue from a shipwreck.^[2] In a corner of the basilica of Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal there is a tall wall with thousands of crutches and other supports from those who Brother André supposedly healed. Pope John Paul II recognized the authenticity of the miracles and beatified Brother André in 1982.

• 

  Votive tablets to Saint Mary in Himmerod Abbey, Germany

• 

  A model ship (probably thanking help during a storm) hanging in a Söderköping church.

• 

  Ex-votos in the Lady Chapel of Jasna Góra, Częstochowa

• 

  Several body parts in a Cypriot plaque from the Roman age.

• 

  Roadside Votivtafeln, Ganz, East Tirol

• 

  Ex voto in Gesù Nuovo, Naples

• 

  Modèle 1951 helmet of the French Army on display as an ex-voto at Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille. The back of the helmet is slightly bent, suggesting that it was hit by a shrapnel and saved its owner.

See also [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ex voto

• Votive deposit
• Retablo (Latin America)
• Milagro (votive)
• Votive candle
• Tama (votive)
• Pinax

References [link]

External links [link]

• Everyday Miracles: Medical Imagery in Ex-Votos National Library of Medicine.
• Marine french ex-voto of Marseille (France)