Also called Saint Benedict medal, Benedictine medal, Jubilee medal, Vade retro Satana medal
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.
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Take care: A living Catholic sacramental: it is treated as a sign of prayer, not a self-working charm, and should be obtained and blessed through the Church. Small medals are a choking risk for young children.
For the 1,400th anniversary of Benedict's birth, a medal was designed with art associated with Desiderius Lenz of the Beuron school. It adds the word PAX at the top of the reverse and a Latin line on the front naming Monte Cassino. This design is the one most people own today.
Before any medal existed, painted crosses with the same initials were found on walls at Metten Abbey. During a 1647 witchcraft inquiry at nearby Natternberg, the accused were said to have claimed they had no power over Metten because of the cross. The puzzled monks traced the letters to a 1415 manuscript in their library.
Many crucifixes, often called exorcism or deathbed crucifixes, set the Benedict medal into the cross behind Christ's body. They are hung in bedrooms and given to the sick and dying, joining the protective meaning of the medal to the crucifix itself.
The letters on the medal come from a Latin rhyme against temptation. They were rediscovered through a manuscript written in 1415, the Mettener Armenbibel (Poor Man's Bible of Metten), now in the Bavarian State Library as Clm 8201. Its illustration of Saint Benedict holds a staff ending in a cross and a scroll with the full words. According to the traditional account, the link came to light in 1647 after a witchcraft trial at Natternberg near Metten Abbey, when monks were asked about mysterious lettered crosses painted on their walls.
Medals bearing Benedict, the cross and the letters were soon struck in Germany and spread across Europe. Pope Benedict XIV approved them in briefs of December 23, 1741 and March 12, 1742. In 1880, for the 1,400th anniversary of Benedict's birth, the Benedictines issued the jubilee design that dominates today. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits the exact origin of the medal is uncertain, but the letters themselves are well attested.
A five-by-five Latin word square that reads the same in every direction, written on walls, plates and paper for nearly two thousand years against fire, illness and bewitchment.
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.
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.
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.
