Benedictus Medal
The story:
According to ancient tradition, the Benedictine medal was already known in the 11th century. The Alsatian cleric Bruno, who later became Pope Leo IX, was bitten by a poisonous reptile in his youth and fell seriously ill for two months; he lost his voice and a great deal of weight. Having given up all hope of a cure, he had a vision of a shining ladder leading up to heaven. A venerable figure, clad in a monk's habit, was descending it. It was St Benedict, holding a luminous cross in his hand, with which he touched Bruno's face and healed him immediately. The apparition then disappeared. Bruno, who had been healed in this miraculous way, later joined the Benedictine order. He ascended the papal throne in 1048 under the name Leo IX and was known for his holiness, his devotion to the Holy Cross and also to St Benedict. Through this pope, the Benedictine Medal was awarded many special blessings and its veneration became widespread.
The revival of the veneration of the Benedictine medal came in 1647, when an old manuscript, a copy of the Gospel dating back to 1415, was found in the Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Metten, which gave clues to the meaning of mysterious crosses found here and there on the walls of the monastery, surrounded by letters whose meaning was no longer known. On the last page of the manuscript was a pen and ink drawing depicting St Benedict with a cross staff in one hand and a kind of banner or scroll in the other, on which were written words whose initials explained the mysterious letters on the walls of the monastery.
The discovery of this pen and ink drawing with the cross and the verses gave a new impetus to the veneration of the Holy Cross and also that of St Benedict, who used the holy sign in such a miraculous way. Medals, symbolising this twofold veneration, were minted and distributed among the people. Their pious use soon became a source of manifold worldly and spiritual blessings. The medal spread quickly and widely, not only in Germany, where it was first minted, but throughout the whole of Catholic Europe. Only a few years later, St Vincent de Paul, who died in 1660, seemed to have become familiar with the effect of the medal. The Sisters of Mercy he founded have always worn them attached to their rosaries, and for many years they were made exclusively for them in France.
Finally, in 1741, Pope Benedict XIV, moved by the many graces that God had bestowed through the medal and anxious that all should share in this blessing, solemnly approved its veneration and recommended it to the faithful. As a further incentive, the same pontiff enriched the medal with numerous indulgences.
The most commonly used medal today is the so-called Jubilee Medal, which, approved by Pope Pius IX in 1877, was minted for the first time in 1880 to mark the 1400th anniversary of the birth of St Benedict in Montecassino, based on a design by a Benedictine monk from Beuron.
Description of the medal:
On the obverse of the medal, the St Benedict's Cross bears the letters: "C. S. P. B.", i.e. "Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti" ("Cross of the Holy Father Benedictus").
On the trunk in a vertical line one reads: "C. S. S. M. L." and on the crossbar the letters: "N. D. S. M. D.", i.e.: "Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux, Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux." ("Let the holy cross be my light, the dragon be not my leader!"). ("Let the holy cross be my light, let not the dragon be my leader!") The 14 letters of the circle: "V. R. S. - N. S. M. V. - S. M. Q. L. - I. V. B." mean: "Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana, Sunt Male Quæ Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas", i.e. "Give way Satan! Counsel me never - the false glimmer of sin. - You serve evil wine, - Drink the poison into it yourself."
The reverse of the medal shows the image of St Benedict, holding the cross in his right hand, in whose power he worked his miracles, and in his left hand the holy rule, which should lead all who follow it to the light through the cross.
Indulgences:
Pope Benedict XIV has granted many indulgences on this medal, of which only the most important are listed here: Anyone who prays the rosary at least once a week and hears Holy Mass can gain a plenary indulgence on the following days after receiving the holy sacraments of penance and the altar and after praying the usual indulgence prayers: Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, the Nativity, Candlemas, the Annunciation and Ascension, All Saints' Day and the Feast of the Assumption of St. Benedict (21 March).
A plenary indulgence can be gained by those who, after confession and communion, commend their souls to God at the hour of death or, if they were no longer able to receive these holy sacraments, awaken perfect contrition and invoke the most holy names of Jesus and Mary with their mouth or at least with their heart.
