Chapter III. Of the letters which are inscribed on the medal

Besides the two figures of the cross and of St. Benedict, there are also inscribed on the medal a certain number of letters, each of which is the initial of a Latin word. These words compose one or two sentences, which explain the medal and its object. They express the relation existing between the holy Patriarch of the Monks of the West and the sacred sign of the salvation of mankind, at the same time that they offer the faithful a formula, which they may make use of, for employing the virtue of the holy cross against the evil spirits.

These mysterious letters are arranged on that side of the medal on which the cross is. Let us begin by noticing the four which are placed in the angles formed by the arms of the cross . 1

C. S.

P. B.

They signify: Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti; in 1 See the engraving opposite.

English: The Cross of Holy Father Benedict . These words explain the nature of the medal.

On the perpendicular line of the cross itself are these letters : —

C.

s.

s.

M.

L.

They stand for these words: Crux Sacra sit mihi Lux ; in English : May the Holy Cross he my Light .

On the horizontal line of the cross are these letters : —

N. D. S. M. D.

The words which they imply are : Non Draco sit mihi Dux 5 in English: Let not the Dragon be my Guide .

These two lines put together form a pentameter verse, containing the Christian’s protestation that he confides in the holy cross, and refuses to bear the yoke which the devil would put upon him.

On the rim of the medal there are inscribed several other letters; and first the well-known monogram of the Holy Name of Jesus, I. H. S. 1 Faith and our own " experience convince us of the all-powerfulness of this

1 The Holy Name in Greek is IH20T2. IH2 are the first three letters of this word. As Jesus signifies Saviour, the three letters, without great departure from the truth, easily came to be explained as the initial letters of the phrase, Jesu Hominum Salvator . — Ed.

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Divine name. Then follow, beginning at the right hand, the following letters : —

V. R. S. N. S. M. V. S. M. Q. L. I. V. B.

These initials stand for the two following verses : —

VADE RETRO, SATANA; NUNQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA. SUNT MALA QU^E LIBAS ; IPSE VENENA BIBAS ;

in English : Begone , Satan ! and suggest not to me thy vain things: the cup thou proffer est me is evil; drink thou thy poison.

These words are supposed to be uttered by St. Benedict ; those of the first verse when he was suffering the temptation in his cave , 1 and which he overcame by the sign of the cross ; and those of the second verse, at the moment of his enemies offering him the draught of death, which he discovered by his making over the poisoned cup the sign of life . 2

The Christian may make use of these same words as often as he finds himself tormented by the temptations and insults of the invisible enemy of our salvation. Our Saviour sanctified the first of these words by himself making use of them : 66 Begone, Satan ! ” Fade retro , Satana. Their efficacy has thus been tested, and the very Gospel is the guarantee of their power. The vain things to which the devil incites us are disobedience to the law of God ; they are also the pomps and false maxims of the world. The cup proffered us by this angel of darkness is evil, that is, sin , which brings death 1 See Life of St. Benedict, chap. ii. 3 Ibid., chap. iii.

to the soul. Instead of receiving it at his hands, we ought to bid him keep it to himself, for it is the inheritance which he chose for himself.

The Christian who reads these pages needs not that we should enter into a long explanation of this formula, which meets the artifices and violence of Satan with what he most dreads, namely, the cross, the holy name of Jesus, our Saviour's own words in his temptation, and lastly, the mention of the victories which the great Patriarch St. Benedict gained over the infernal dragon. We need only pronounce these words of the medal with faith, and we shall immediately feel ourselves strengthened and encouraged to resist all that hell can do against us. Even did we know none of the countless facts which show us how strangely Satan fears this medal, the mere knowledge of what it means and what it expresses would be sufficient to make us look upon it as one of the most powerful arms which the goodness of God has put into our hands against the malice of the devils.