Devotion to the medal of St. Benedict spread rapidly throughout Catholic Europe, and the faithful considered it a tremendous defense against infernal attacks.
Newsroom (02/05/2025 21:40, Gaudium Press) ‘We could do nothing against that place!’ confessed some sorceresses imprisoned by the public authorities in Nattremberg, Bavaria, in 1647, on charges of having done evil to the inhabitants of the region. In the trial that followed their arrest, they stated that their wicked machinations were unsuccessful in places where the Holy Cross of Christ was suspended or even hidden in the ground. This was certainly the case with the invulnerable Abbey of Metten.
Researchers then visited the Benedictine monastery to consult the monks about this particularity. After careful observation, the
authorities noticed many representations of the Holy Cross on the walls of the abbey, always accompanied by enigmatic characters whose meaning was lost in the mists of the past, and which no one else knew how to decipher.
Consulting the monastic library, they found an old evangeliary, dating from 1415, where pen-and-ink drawings by an anonymous monk depicted St. Benedict clad in his monastic head covering, carrying a staff topped by a cross in his left hand and a banner in his right, on which were depicted those mysterious characters: ‘Crux sacra sit mihi lux. Non draco sit mihi dux – May the Holy Cross be my light. Let not the dragon be my guide’. It was the first known evidence of the devotion that popular piety would spread throughout the world to this day: the medal of St. Benedict.
Origin of a tradition
In fact, after these events, Catholic fervour for the powerful medal grew by leaps and bounds. Starting in Germany, where it was first minted, it quickly spread throughout Catholic Europe, being considered by the faithful as a very secure defense against infernal attacks.
The Holy See was soon impelled to support this providential movement of grace and, on 12 March 1742, Pope Benedict XIV signed the breve ratifying the use of the pious object and granting it favours and indulgences. With many variations of the medal having spread over time, on 31 August 1877 Blessed Pius IX awarded special indulgences to a new model minted by the Abbey of Monte Cassino on the occasion of the fourteenth centenary of the birth of Saint Benedict, which became known as the Jubilee medal. This version is the most widespread to this day.
However, just as in Christianity of old, the deeper meaning of this powerful sacramental is often forgotten by Christians.
May the Holy Cross be my light
The adorable instrument of our salvation is in itself a most effective aid against all kinds of diabolical attacks. If it was by means of a tree that the ancient enemy defeated the human race in Adam, it was also by means of a tree that the Man-God rescued us once and for all from the tyranny of hell.
For this reason, a large Greek-shaped cross covers one side of the medal. Between the stems of the cross, four characters read: C. S. P. B., which stands for ‘Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti – The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict’. Also engraved on the cross itself are the letters C. S. S. M. L. on the vertical shaft, and N. D. S. M. D. on the horizontal shaft, which allude, respectively, to the aforementioned phrases: ‘Crux Sacra sit mihi lux. Non draco sit mihi dux – May the Holy Cross be my light. Let not the dragon be my guide. And to complete this exorcistic prayer, there is a longer inscription around it: V. R. S. N. S. M. V. S. M. Q. L. I. V. B., which means ‘Vade retro Satana; numquam suade mihi vana. Sunt mala quæ libas; ipse venena bibas – Retreat Satan, never advise me vain things. What you offer me is evil; drink your poisons yourself’.
Such an oath can be used by Christians whenever they feel disturbed and besieged by the temptations of the enemy; when he suggests his perversities, the false pomps of the world, pleasures contrary to the Law of God, bad friendships… in short, his poison, sin itself, which brings death to the soul. Never accept it! Let’s throw this cursed ‘gift’ in the face of the tempter who offers it to us, since he himself has chosen it as his inheritance.
However, looking at the back of the medal, someone might ask: why St. Benedict?
The figure of the Patriarch of the West
The Holy Patriarch of the West has all the prerogatives to feature in a pious object of an exorcistic nature, and this is above all due to the great victories he achieved against evil spirits by using the sign of the Cross.
We are reminded of this by the cup and the raven depicted at his feet. The cup alludes to an episode in his life when some revolted monks tried to kill him by serving him a cup of poisoned wine, which promptly shattered when it was blessed by the saint, reducing it to shards. And the bird refers to the occasion when a priest who was envious of St. Benedict’s virtues decided to ‘present’ him with a loaf of bread that was also poisoned, which, however, was not consumed by the holy abbot, who ordered a crow to take it far away.
Also worthy of special attention is the inscription that surrounds this side of the medal: ‘Eius in obitu n[ost]ro præsentia muniamur – May we be comforted by your presence at the hour of our death’. This is a request that, together with the one made in the Hail Mary, ‘pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death’, fills us with confidence for our last moments of life on this earth, in which the devil plays the ‘all or nothing’ game for our perdition.
Infallible help
So, although there are countless and constant diabolical attacks, temptations and even physical dangers that we face every day, the medal of St. Benedict is a powerful sacramental and infallible aid for Christians, since it brings together the virtue of the Holy Cross and the memories of the victories that the great patriarch won against the infernal dragon.
Therefore, in the midst of the tribulations of this life, let us devoutly wear the medal of St. Benedict, not as a mere allegorical amulet, but as a supernatural aid and authentic representation of the promises of our Baptism: we firmly believe in Our Lord and the Holy Church, and forever renounce Satan and sin.
Text taken from the Heralds of the Gospel Magazine no. 271, July 2024. By Gabriel Lopes dos Anjos Silva.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
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