Also called Agnus Dei, papal Agnus Dei, Lamb of God wax
A disc of blessed wax stamped with the Lamb of God, historically consecrated by the pope and kept by Catholics as a sacramental of protection, especially against storms, fire and the dangers of childbirth. The name also belongs to the Lamb of God prayer of the Mass, which these discs illustrate.
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Take care: Treat genuine discs as blessed objects: no burning, melting or reselling. Beeswax is fragile, so keep it away from heat and sunlight. Be wary of sellers offering 'papal' discs as guaranteed protection.
By 1907 the great blessing took place in the first year of each pontificate and every seventh year after. On the Wednesday of Easter week the pope dipped the discs into water mixed with chrism and balsam with consecratory prayers, and on the following Saturday placed packets of them in the inverted mitres of cardinals and bishops.
Popes sent Agnus Deis as honored gifts. Pope Urban V sent one to the Byzantine emperor John Palaeologus in 1366 with a letter in verse describing its protective virtues. Large ornate discs from these gifts survive in church treasuries.
Under Elizabeth I, Parliament in 1571 forbade bringing into England any tokens called Agnus Dei, along with crosses, pictures and beads blessed in Rome, under the penalties of praemunire, including imprisonment and loss of property. They were seen as badges of loyalty to the pope, yet English Catholics still smuggled and kept them.
Agnus Dei means Lamb of God, the title John the Baptist gives Jesus in the Gospel of John. The wax discs carry a lamb holding a cross or banner, and often the pope's name and arms on the back. Herbert Thurston, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1907, called their origin obscure. He found frequent mention of them from the time of Amalarius around 820, and judged that the earliest certain surviving disc dates to Gregory XI around 1370. Wax from the previous year's paschal candle was traditionally part of the material.
They were prized as protection against storms, pestilence, fire, flood and the dangers of childbirth, always as a prayer of the Church rather than a charm. Popes guarded them closely, forbidding counterfeits and decoration. British Pathé filmed Pope John XXIII blessing Agnus Deis in 1959, but the solemn papal blessing is no longer a regular custom, and genuine discs now mostly come down through families, convents and church collections.
Two small squares of brown cloth joined by cords and worn over the shoulders, a Catholic sacramental that signals a person has entrusted themselves to Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is a sign of faith and a commitment to Christian living, not a charm that works on its own.
Christian protection from evil has long been sought through short prayers to one's guardian angel and to the Archangel Michael, and through older breastplate prayers that wrap the speaker in God's protection.
A Catholic sacramental medal showing Saint Benedict on one side and a cross ringed with Latin initials on the other, worn or hung in homes as a prayer for protection against evil and temptation.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
