The Ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity, given in fulfillment of a vow. The term, in Latin, is short for ex voto suscepto “from the vow made”, further translated to mean “in gratitude or devotion”. Ex-votos are placed in a church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. The Pilgrimage abbey of Mariehilfe in Passau has such many such ex-votos,  mounted on the walls of this church. In the adjoining sanctuary there are many paintings of this type, all filled with images of gratitude. The church is a destination for pilgrimages even today, and the ex-voto images serve as a testimony to visitors, each ex-voto painting relating the story and circumstances around the help received by the worshipper from offering prayers to a saint, in this case Mary, Mother of God. The church became a site of pilgrimage under the aegis of the Capucin monks from the nearby hospice and monastery in Passau. It became a major center of pilgrimage for Central and South-East Europe, expecially after the deliverance of Vienna from the Turks in 1683, when Turkish weapons fell into the hands of the Imperial Army of Austria during the liberation of Vienna. Over four centuries, many ex-voto images and the church treasure attest to the donations and the trust of the faithful  who have visited Mariahilf to ask the touching image of the Mother of God with the Christ Jesus to intervene on their behalf.

PHOTOS: Clockwise, beginning with the top left: A wall in Wallfahrtskirke Mariahilfe, filled with ex-votos, paintings attesting to miracles and answered prayers.  The remainder are painted renderings of such incidents of which the worshiper attests to  help received after praying to the image of Mary, Mother of God with the Christ Jesus, who has spiritually intervened on their behalf.

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                   BACK TO MAP  PAGE