St Benedict Medal Meaning: The Cross, the Latin Letters and the 1880 Jubilee Design

The Medal of St Benedict is one of the best-known Christian devotional medals. On one side is St Benedict, holding a cross and his Rule; on the other is a cross surrounded by the initials of short Latin prayers asking for the protection of the cross against evil. The design most often seen today, the Jubilee Medal, was first struck in 1880 to mark the 1,400th anniversary of Benedict's birth.

The front of the medal

St Benedict holds a cross in his right hand and the Rule he wrote for monasteries in his left. Beside him are a cup and a raven, both from stories told about his life: an attempt to poison him with a cup of wine, and a raven that carried away poisoned bread. On the Jubilee Medal the border reads, in Latin, "May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death", a reminder that Benedict is traditionally invoked as a patron of a good death. Beneath him is the inscription recording that the medal comes from Montecassino, 1880.

The back of the medal: what the letters mean

The reverse carries a cross with letters on its arms and in its angles, and a ring of letters around the edge. Each letter is the initial of a Latin word.

| Letters | Latin | Meaning | |---|---|---| | C S P B | Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti | The cross of our holy father Benedict | | C S S M L | Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux | May the holy cross be my light | | N D S M D | Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux | May the dragon never be my guide | | V R S | Vade Retro Satana | Step back, Satan | | N S M V | Numquam Suade Mihi Vana | Never tempt me with vanities | | S M Q L | Sunt Mala Quae Libas | What you offer is evil | | I V B | Ipse Venena Bibas | Drink your own poison | | PAX | Pax | Peace (sometimes replaced by IHS, the name of Jesus) |

Read together, the margin forms a short prayer of exorcism: Vade retro Satana, numquam suade mihi vana; sunt mala quae libas, ipse venena bibas, "Step back, Satan, never tempt me with your vanities; what you offer is evil, drink your own poison yourself."

How the letters were rediscovered

No one knows exactly when the first St Benedict medal was made. By the seventeenth century, the meaning of its letters had been forgotten. In 1647, during a witchcraft trial at Natternberg near Metten Abbey in Bavaria, crosses surrounded by these letters were found painted on the abbey's walls. The key to them turned up in an illustrated manuscript of 1415, which showed Benedict with a staff and scroll bearing the full Latin words. Medals with the image and letters were soon being struck in Germany, and Pope Benedict XIV approved the medal in 1741 and 1742.

The 1880 Jubilee Medal

The standard modern design was struck in 1880 under the supervision of the monks of Montecassino, the monastery Benedict founded, for the 1,400th anniversary of his birth. According to the Order of Saint Benedict, the design itself was produced at the Archabbey of St Martin in Beuron, Germany, at the request of Montecassino's prior, Boniface Krug. It has since become the most widely used form of the medal.

A devotional object, not a charm

The medal's words are prayers, and in Catholic devotion it is blessed and worn as an aid to prayer and a sign of trust in God's protection. That is how it is best understood: as a devotional object carrying a tradition of faith, not as an amulet that works by itself.

The St Benedict medal in jewellery

Set on a pendant or bracelet, the medal carries its full sequence of letters and images in a very small space, which makes it a thoughtful gift for a baptism, confirmation or other milestone.

Take a look at the AURYN St Benedict Medal & Cross Necklace, check our Necklace Length Guide for chain lengths, or read our guide to Christian cross types. If you wear the medal with other chains, see our guide to layering necklaces.