Voting offerings as signs of popular religiosity in the Alentejo region: the Hermitage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Azaruja, and the Sanctuary of Lord Jesus of Piety, in Elvas

In Alentejo, a region in Portugal, there are two especially relevant religious sites. Pilgrims gather in the Hermitage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Azaruja, and in the Sanctuary of Lord Jesus of Piety, in Elvas, since their foundation up to the current time, in order to ask for grace and to give thanks. A notable form of gratitude is thousands of ex-votos, i.e., votive offerings, located in these churches. The ex-votos are offered to different patrons, related to diverse maladies, and they are produced in unique forms and dimensions. They are used as material signs of human recognition once people receive the graces provided by a spiritual entity. Our interest in ex-votos goes beyond the preservation of these objects of popular devotion; we also work with them in our doctoral research, investigating them as a linguistic and cultural source from the 18th and 19th centuries.