Description

77mm St Benedict Crucifix in Silver

77mm x 4cm wide

Feast day: July 11

Patron: of students and Europe, Against Evil, poisons, Witchcraft

Birth: 480

Death: 543

Canonized: Pope Honorius III in 1220

Saint Benedict Medal

This devotional medal originally came from a cross in honour of Saint
Benedict. On one side, the medal has an image of Saint Benedict,
holding the Holy Rule in his left hand and a cross in his right. There
is a raven on one side of him, with a cup on the other side of him.
Around the medal’s outer margin are the words

“Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur” 
(“May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death”). The other side of the medal has a cross with the initials

CSSML on the vertical bar which signify 
“Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux” 
(“May the Holy Cross be my light”) and on the horizontal bar are the initials

NDSMD which stand for  
“Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux” 
(“Let not the dragon be my guide”). The initials

CSPB stand for 
“Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti” (“The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict”) and are located on the interior angles of the cross. Either the inscription 
“PAX” 
(Peace) or the Christogram 
“IHS” 
may be found at the top of the cross in most cases. Around the medal’s margin on this side are the 
Vade Retro Satana 
initials 
VRSNSMV which stand for 
“Vade Retro Satana, Nonquam Suade Mihi Vana” 
(“Begone Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities”) then a space followed by the initials

SMQLIVB which signify  “Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas”  (“Evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison”).

This medal was first struck in 1880 to commemorate the fourteenth
centenary of Saint Benedict’s birth and is also called the Jubilee
Medal; its exact origin, however, is unknown. In 1647, during a
witchcraft trial at Natternberg near Metten Abbey in Bavaria, the
accused women testified they had no power over Metten, which was under
the protection of the cross. An investigation found a number of painted
crosses on the walls of the abbey with the letters now found on St
Benedict medals, but their meaning had been forgotten. A manuscript
written in 1415 was eventually found that had a picture of Saint
Benedict holding a scroll in one hand and a staff which ended in a cross
in the other. On the scroll and staff were written the full words of
the initials contained on the crosses. Medals then began to be struck in
Germany, which then spread throughout Europe. This medal was first
approved by Pope Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December 1741 and 12 March 1742.

Saint Benedict has been also the motive of many collector’s coins around the world. The Austria 50 euro ‘The Christian Religious Orders’, issued on 13 March 2002 is one of them.

Influence

The early Middle Ages have been called “the Benedictine centuries.”

In April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI discussed the influence St Benedict had on Western Europe. The pope said that “with his life and work St Benedict exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and culture” and helped Europe to emerge from the “dark night of history” that followed the fall of the Roman empire. 

Saint Benedict contributed more than anyone else to the rise of monasticism in the West. His Rule was the foundational document for
thousands of religious communities in the Middle Ages.
To this day, The Rule of St. Benedict is the most common and influential Rule used by monasteries and monks, more than 1,400 years
after its writing. Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the Benedictine Federation and the Cistercians.  

The influence of Saint Benedict produced “a true spiritual ferment” in Europe, and over the coming decades his followers spread
across the continent to establish a new cultural unity based on Christian faith.

A basilica was built upon the birthplace of Saints Benedict and scholastica in the 1400s. Ruins of their familial home were excavated
from beneath the church and preserved. The earthquake of 30 October 2016 completely devastated the structure of the basilica, leaving only the front facade and altar standing.