Ex Voto Offerings - Symbols of Gratitude

     In moments of extreme tension, terror, or pain, faced with extreme disaster, man cries out to God and His saints. "Save me!" Sometimes he even makes a pact, or promise. When he is saved, he cries for joy. Someone has understood; someone has cared. A miracle has occurred. He prepares to offer thanks, but he also wishes to leave a trace of his story. Some material expression of his devotion tells his gratitude to all who see it. Hence the idea of the ex voto, a symbol of his gratitude.

     Throughout history, our Catholic churches and shrines have been decorated with many and varied kinds of ex voto offerings. The tradition of presenting material goods as symbols of our gratitude continues, although perhaps not as strongly as in the past in many places. The tradition has never been as strong in America as it is in other parts of the world. Today's frenzied lifestyle does not allow time for reflection, so in many places, gratitude often comes only in the form of a check or cash donation. Artists willing to create individualized ex voto are lacking and tastes and iconography have evolved. Still, the practice of placing ex votos in churches continues.

     Stemming from the Latin word "votum" meaning a "vow", ex votos are the signs of gratitude or acts of veneration offered to God and the saints. To make offerings is one of the universal natural religious instincts of mankind. Thus, ex voto offerings have their place in the worship of the Catholic Church.

     Although ex votos can be either things or acts, we are most familiar with those varied objects set up in shrines and churches throughout the world that are offered in discharge of a vow or promise. The may be any object from a valuable jewel to a penny candle.

     The candles lighted by the faithful and burning before the Blessed Sacrament, relics, or images of the saints in any church are ex votos. The origin of the use of votive candles is obscure, but from earliest times there was a symbolism attached to their use. As the incense sending up its cloud of fragrance was a symbol of prayer, so the candle consuming itself was a type of sacrifice. Grateful clients in the Middle Ages "measured themselves" to a particular saint by setting up a candle the same height or weight as the person who had received or desired some favor. Although ex voto candles are burned in almost all Catholic churches and shrines, some are more noted for this than others. At the shrine of the Virgin of San Juan in San Juan, Texas, so many votive candles are lit by the pilgrims that a shrine employee is kept constantly busy removing these from in front of the altar and taking them on a little cart to a large room set aside for them where they can finish burning. Simply standing near the door of this large room, an observer is almost overwhelmed by the heat.

     Some shrines, churches, or saints become known for the particular type of ex voto given by their grateful clients. The crutches and medical instruments at Lourdes, the silver hearts of the church of the Assumption in London, the wedding rings on the tabernacle-veil of Westminster Cathedral, and the model ships at Notre Dame de Boulogne are examples. Other examples are the money pinned to the trees at the hillside shrine of St. Michael in Albania, handmade crosses at Siauliai Lithuania, baby shoes at the shrine of Chimayo, New Mexico, and the watches and jewelry presented to Maria Niña in Mexico City. The Madonna della Guardia in the church on Monte Figogna near Genoa also receives jeweled tokens. The miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin known as Comforter of the Afflicted in Kevalaer Germany is surrounded by ex votos of gold: roses, angels, medals, and jeweled ornaments. 

     Photographs and locks of hair are found in many places, as are the needles of silver and gold in some Italian shrines, and the Hispanic milagros - small figures of gold, silver or tin. These little milagros, or promesas, can be purchased in many shapes, ready for presentation to a favorite image of Christ or the Virgin or to hang on the statue of a particular saint. Most common are arms, legs, eyes, cattle, horses, praying children, and hearts, both plain and pierced by a sword.

     A rose - real, jeweled, gold, paper or made of other material - is a common gift to Our Lady. Coins or paper money are sometimes placed near depictions of the child Jesus, manger scenes, or images of the three kings.

     Perhaps one of the more unusual ex voto customs is found at the Mexican pilgrimage centers of Chalma, which has a crucifix venerated as miraculous, and at Sacromonte, where there is a famous representation of Christ in the Sepulchre. Here, parents traditionally bring the umbilical cords of their newborns, contained in cloth bags.

     Ex votos are testimonials of suffering replaced by joy. Many of them are creative expressions, the fruit of a collaboration between the person who has received the blessing and master craftsmen, capable of aesthetically translating the miraculous event. Less often are these the products of the manual activity of the devotee.

     The basic scheme of the pictorial ex voto has these elements: the event in the course of which the blessing was sought, the image of Jesus, Mary, or the saint which was petitioned, the figure of the devotee, and the inscription which clarifies the details of the event or adds the formulas of thanks.

     The majority of pictorial ex votos are paintings on wood, metal and paper. Some are crafted by artisans; others are executed by untrained folk artists. Some have become the subject of museum quality collections such as the Mexican retablos painted on tin. A new way of realizing pictorial ex votos is the retouched photo montage.

     Subjects vary, but there are many common themes: the sick person, the sinking ship, the train wreck, war, storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

     The inscriptions may be standard words or initials. The Latin inscription VFGA or "Votum Fecit Gratiam Accepit" stands for "Vow made, blessing received." In Italian, the initials PGR stand for "Per Grazia Ricevuta" or "for blessing received." Words such as "Por un favor," meaning "for a favor" in Spanish, or "given in gratitude by ..." in English are common. The inscription may also detail the miraculous event. "Gravely ill of fever for twenty-two days, Señora Eduviges G. was restored to health by her husband's prayers to the Lord of Lightening." "Held by her husband and another individual on the train, Señora Jesús D¡az was unable to alight safely. Because she might fall under the wheels of the train, the Child of the Atocha was besought to help her."

     Over the years goldsmiths, silversmiths, decorators, embroiderers, ceramists, painters and in recent times photographers and graphic artists as well as the humble folk artists have been involved in the making of ex voto offerings. These gifts for God and His saints are part of the historic and devotional memory of the people. Each object where feelings are made concrete echoes the words, "Thank you. I am no longer suffering." •