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Prayer of the St. Benedict Medal

1 min

On the back of the medal, the letters C S P B in the angles of the cross stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti, "the Cross of the Holy Father Benedict". On the upright of the cross, C S S M L; on the crossbar, N D S M D: the first two verses below. Around the rim, after the Holy Name (IHS, or PAX), V R S N S M V S M Q L I V B: the last two.

May the Holy Cross be my Light.

Let not the Dragon be my Guide.

Begone, Satan! and suggest not to me thy vain things:

the cup thou profferest me is evil;

drink thou thy poison.

Crux Sacra sit mihi Lux;

Non Draco sit mihi Dux.

Vade retro, Satana;

nunquam suade mihi vana.

Sunt mala quae libas;

ipse venena bibas.

About this prayer

The verses engraved, letter by letter, on the medal of St. Benedict: a profession of trust in the Cross and a rejection of the devil and his temptations.

History

The verses were explained by a manuscript of 1415 found in 1647 in the library of the abbey of Metten, in Bavaria, when no one could any longer read the initials painted around old crosses on the monastery's walls. The first pair recalls St. Benedict overcoming temptation by the sign of the Cross; the second, the poisoned cup that shattered when he blessed it. Pope Benedict XIV approved the medal by a brief of 12 March 1742. The Latin and English here are from Dom Prosper Guéranger's treatise on the medal (French 1862; English 1880).

Prosper Guéranger, *The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict: Its Origin, Meaning, and Privileges* (London: Burns & Oates, 1880), ch. II, pp. 12–13 — [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/TheMedalOrCrossOfStBenedict)

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