St Benedict Medal: the Meaning of the Letters and How to Use It

On a medal hardly bigger than a coin there are almost thirty letters. Anyone who looks closely at the St Benedict medal for the first time sees a cross, a few abbreviations round the edge and the word PAX. Behind them lies a complete Latin prayer. This guide explains every letter, the images on the front, the story from the Abbey of Metten and the question many people ask first: does the medal protect?

What is the St Benedict medal?

The St Benedict medal is a round medal with St Benedict of Nursia on the front and, on the reverse, a cross bearing the abbreviations of Latin prayers. The Church counts it among the sacramentals, that is, the blessed things through which, by virtue of her intercession, she implores God’s grace for the faithful.

Around 529 Benedict founded the monastery of Monte Cassino and wrote the holy Rule by which the Benedictines live. The Church keeps his feast on 21 March, the day of his death. The medal is not a badge of the order but a sign for all the faithful. It is found as a pendant, as the centrepiece of a rosary or set into a cross. This form is called the St Benedict cross, but it bears the same inscriptions.

What do the letters on the St Benedict medal mean?

The letters on the reverse of the St Benedict medal are the initials of Latin prayers. The cross bears a double verse about the Cross as light, the angles the name of the cross, the edge a formula repelling Satan. Together they form a complete prayer that takes only a few seconds to say.

The “dragon” is a biblical image of Satan (Apoc 12:9). The formula round the edge recalls the scene in which Benedict blesses a poisoned cup. On some older medals the monogram of Christ, IHS, stands above the cross instead of PAX.

Crux sacra sit mihi lux, non draco sit mihi dux.
Vade retro, Satana, numquam suade mihi vana;
sunt mala quae libas, ipse venena bibas.

May the holy Cross be my light, let not the dragon be my guide.
Get thee behind me, Satan, never suggest vain things to me;
evil is what you pour for me, drink your poison yourself.

St Benedict blessing, after the Metten codex. Our translation from the Latin

What does the front of the St Benedict medal show?

The front of the St Benedict medal shows St Benedict with a cross in his right hand and his Rule in his left. Beside him are a broken cup and a raven with a loaf of bread. Both images recall two attempts to kill Benedict with poison which, according to tradition, he survived.

Pope Gregory the Great tells both stories around 593 in his Dialogues. Monks who found Benedict’s strictness irksome handed him poisoned wine. When he made the sign of the cross over it, the cup shattered. Later an envious priest sent him poisoned bread, which Benedict gave to a raven to carry away. On many medals the front is encircled by the inscription Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur: “May his presence strengthen us at the hour of our death.” Benedict is therefore also regarded as the patron of the dying.

“Listen, O son, to the precepts of the master, and incline the ear of your heart.”

Regula S. Benedicti, Prologue: Ausculta, o fili, praecepta magistri

Where does the St Benedict medal come from?

The St Benedict medal comes from Bavaria. In the Straubing witch trial of 1647 the accused testified that they had no power over the Abbey of Metten because St Benedict crosses were displayed there. The monks then found old wall paintings bearing the letters and, in their library, a manuscript explaining what they meant.

The manuscript, from the early fifteenth century, shows a figure holding a staff inscribed with the verse about the Cross and a scroll bearing the Vade retro, Satana. Since the seventeenth century the figure has been interpreted as Benedict. After this the medal spread rapidly, at times also as a magic charm, which led some bishops to forbid it. With his brief of 12 March 1742, Pope Benedict XIV gave its use an ecclesiastical framework and attached indulgences to it.

The form most widespread today is the Jubilee Medal of 1880. It was struck for the Archabbey of Monte Cassino to mark the 1,400th anniversary of Benedict’s birth.

Does the St Benedict medal protect against evil?

The St Benedict medal does not protect by any power of its own. It is a prayer for protection, not an amulet. According to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the Church obtains spiritual effects through sacramentals by virtue of her intercession, not through the object itself (can. 1144).

Traditional theology draws a precise distinction: the sacraments work by the very act performed, the sacramentals by virtue of the prayer of the Church and the devout disposition of the one who uses them.

St Thomas Aquinas drew the line separating this from superstition. To carry sacred words about one’s person is lawful if one looks solely to reverence for God, from whom the effect is expected. It becomes superstitious when one places one’s hope in the manner of writing or tying them on. The sign of the cross he names expressly as lawful (Summa theologiae II-II, q. 96, a. 4). The medal therefore has its meaning in devout use: whoever wears it makes with it a profession of faith in the Cross and a renunciation of the evil enemy.

How should you wear the St Benedict medal?

There is no prescribed way of wearing the St Benedict medal. Three forms are customary: as a pendant round the neck, as the centrepiece or cross of a rosary, and in the home above the door. Before use, have the medal blessed by a priest, for only the blessing makes it a sacramental.

The Rituale Romanum contains its own formula for blessing the St Benedict medal, and a blessing is valid only if the formula prescribed by the Church is used (CIC 1917, can. 1148 § 2). Ask the priest after Holy Mass; as a rule he is glad to bless devotional objects. If you wear the medal on your rosary, you can say the St Benedict blessing at the beginning or the end of the prayer.

Mentioned in this article St Benedict Paracord Rosary Hand-knotted from black 550 paracord, with stainless steel beads, St Benedict medal and crucifix. View the rosary

Frequently asked questions about the St Benedict medal