Novena of Saint Benedict

Glorious Saint Benedict, sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me
humbly kneeling at your feet. I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the
throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work
for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the
trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted
or troubled in any way. You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone
who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear
my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.
{mention your petition}
Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the
sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
Amen.

Other Benedictine Prayers

Prayer for the Passing of Our Holy Father Benedict on March
21*
O almighty and everlasting God, who delivered the most holy Confessor Benedict out of the
prison of the flesh and bore him up to heaven, grant us we beseech You, your servants,
who are celebrating this festival, forgiveness for all our sins, so that, united in rejoicing in his
glory, we may by his intercession before You partake together also in his merits. Through
our Lord.

From the Preface of our Holy Father Benedict

You provided your holy confessor, Benedict, as a leader and master in the spiritual life for
a countless number of followers. Filled as he was with the spirit of all the just, you flooded

him with the splendor of your light in a vision. In the intense radiance of this vision his mind
was freed of hindrance and he was able to discern how incomplete are all things here
below: Through Christ our Lord. Because of this the entire monastic company in every part
of the world sings out its joy, and the Virtues on high, with the Powers of the angelic choir,
continuously praise your glory in song and say: Holy, holy, holy....

Prayer from the Votive Mass of Saint Benedict

Stir up in your Church, O Lord, the spirit that animated our Father Saint Benedict, that filled
with this spirit we may learn to love what he loved and practice what he taught. Through
Jesus Christ....

Prayer to Saint Benedict for a Happy Death

V. Intercede for us, O holy Father Benedict.
R. And obtain for us the grace of a happy death.
O holy Father Benedict, whose very name signifies your blessedness, you most joyfully
offered your angelic soul to God while you stood in prayer with your arms raised to heaven.
You have promised to defend us from the devil's attacks at the hour of death if we daily
recall to you your own glorious death and heavenly joys.
Protect me, therefore, O glorious Father, today and every day by your holy blessing, so that
I may never be separated from our blessed Jesus, nor from the company of you and all the
saints. Amen.
O God, who adorned the precious death of our most holy Father, Saint Benedict, with so
many and so great privileges, grant, we beseech You, that our departure hence, we may be
defended from the snares of the enemy by the blessed presence of him whose memory we
celebrate. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Celebration of Saint Benedict on July 11*

O God, who filled your most blessed Confessor Benedict with the spirit of all the righteous :
grant us, your servants, who celebrate his solemnity, that filled with his spirit, we may
faithfully accomplish, with your assistance, that which we have promised. Through our Lord.
Or
Lord, by your grace Saint Benedict became a great teacher in the school of your service.
Grant that we may put nothing before our love of you, and may we walk eagerly in the path
of your commandments. Through Jesus Christ....

Prayer after Communion

O Lord, you graciously made blessed Benedict the father of many peoples. Having all
shared in the one bread, we ask you that through his prayer you may favor your Church
with unity and gladden her with fruitfulness. Through Jesus Christ....

A Prayer about Benedict

from the People's Companion to the Breviaryby the Carmelites of Indianapolis
O God, you have endowed your servant Benedict with the gifts of prayer and universal
charity. His life, like the good tree planted near living water, has born fruit in countless
women and men who have embraced his way of life. Bless your laboring church whose
valiant defender he was and whose inspiration he continues to be. We ask this in Jesus's
name. Amen

THE SAINT BENEDICT CROSS / CRUCIFIX

Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore
Sharing Services132
Saint Benedict had a deep love for the cross as the encompassing symbol of faith in God Jesus and the Spirit and
his devotion to Christianity and his Zealous call to bring the light and spirit of God to everyone in
his path.
For St Benedict the Cross of Jesus is the symbol of Jesus way that he lived when he walked with
us in the flesh on earth, death to the self-ego and rebirth/resurrection in the spirit of God.
Saint Benedict was a believer in humble obedience to God's holy will. With the cross at his side
St Benedict dedicated his life to bring the light of Jesus to nations and bring them out of the darkness of paganism.
There are numerous accounts of miracles Saint Benedict worked with the sign of the cross. The Cross saved
benedicts life when a group of monks tried to poison him. Saint Benedict made the sign of the cross over the cup, the
cup shattered, made the poison useless as it spilled on the floor.
Saint Benedict used the Cross to dispel evil and exorcise demons. The cross of St Benedict is still the most used
instrument used by exorcists to set the victims of demons free.
The saint Benedict cross is a constant reminder for Christians to reject evil temptations, strive to perform good
works, exorcise true charity and justice toward all. It is a reminder of Jesus calling to take up our Cross and follow him
on the path of love, compassion and unity. To follow the "true King, Christ our Lord" and not the lord of culture and
convention. To be on the side of justice and bring forth the Kingdom of God.
The Saint Benedict Cross symbolizes this by the inscriptions on the medal.
Crux S. Patris Benedict
(The Cross of our Holy father Benedict.)
Crux in Obitu Nostro Praesentra Muriamur
(May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of death!)
St Benedict died a happy death at Montecassino while standing with his arms

raised up to heaven, supported by the brothers of the monastery, shortly after he received Communion. Saint
Benedict is the patron of Happy Death.
Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux! Nun Quam Draco Sit Mihi Dux! (May the Holy Cross be my light! May
the dragon never be my guide!) Light is a symbol of wisdom and the Cross is a symbol of Wisdom
of God shining the way on the path of Jesus and God. The dragon is a symbol of ego culture and
convention. This means never to let the lord of conventional views rule our beliefs and dim the
wisdom of God.
Pax (peace)
Peace is wholeness and unity. This means that like Jesus, we should strive to always have love and compassion for
others and always to be on the side of justice for all.

The Story of St. Benedict

From Fisheaters:
St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (A.D. 480-543), the twin brother of St. Scholastica, is considered to be
the Father of Western monasticism, and his Rule of St. Benedict came to be the basis of
organization for many religious orders (his own Order has its cradle at Monte Cassino, Italy, about 80
miles South of Rome).
At any rate, in order to understand the symbolism of the Medal, you must know of this event in St.
Benedicts life: hed been living as a hermit in a cave for three years, famous for his holiness, when a
religious community came to him after the death of their abbot and asked Benedict to take over.
Some of the monks didnt like this plan and attempted to kill him with poisoned bread and wine.
Just as St. John the Divine was miraculously saved from being poisoned, when St. Benedict made
the sign of the Cross over these things, he came to know they were poisoned, so he toppled the cup
and commanded a raven to carry off the bread.

2. The Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict

Front

Back

The Catholic Encyclopedia Explains:

FRONT
One side of the medal bears an image of St. Benedict, holding a cross in the right hand and the Holy
Rule in the left. On the one side of the image is a cup, on the other a raven, and above the cup and

the raven are inscribed the words:Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (Cross of the Holy Father Benedict).
Round the margin of the medal stands the legend Ejus in obitu nostro praesentia muniamus (May
we at our death be fortified by his presence).

BACK
The reverse of the medal bears a cross with the initial letters of the words: Crux Sacra Sit Mihi
Lux (The Holy Cross be my light), written downward on the perpendicular bar; the initial letters of the
words, Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux(Let not the dragon be my guide), on the horizontal bar; and the
initial letters of Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti in the angles of the cross. Round the margin stand the
initial letters of the distich: Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana Sunt Mala Quae
Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities evil are the things
thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison). At the top of the cross usually stands the
word Pax(peace) or the monogram I H S (Jesus).

3. The History of the Jubilee Medal

The Catholic encyclopedia recounts:
The medal just described is the so-called jubilee medal, which was struck first in 1880, to
commemorate the fourteenth centenary of St. Benedicts birth. The Archabbey of Monte Cassino has
the exclusive right to strike this medal. The ordinary medal of St. Benedict usually differs from the
preceding in the omission of the words Ejus in obitu etc., and in a few minor details. (For the
indulgences connected with it see Beringer, Die Ablsse, Paderborn, 1906, p. 404-6.)
The habitual wearer of the jubilee medal can gain all the indulgences connected with the ordinary
medal and, in addition:
(1) All the indulgences that could be gained by visiting the basilica, crypt, and tower of St. Benedict
at Monte Cassino (Pius IX, 31 December, 1877)
(2) A plenary indulgence on the feast of All Souls (from about two oclock in the afternoon of 1
November to sunset of 2 November), as often as (toties quoties), after confession and Holy
Communion, he visits any church or public oratory, praying there according to the intention of the
pope, provided that he is hindered from visiting a church or public oratory of the Benedictines by
sickness, monastic enclosure or a distance of at least 1000 steps. (Decr. 27 February, 1907, in Acta
S. Sedis, LX, 246.) Any priest may receive the faculties to bless these medals.

4. The Ancient Origins of the Medal

The Catholic Encyclopedia recounts:
It is doubtful when the Medal of St. Benedict originated. During a trial for witchcraft at Natternberg
near the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria in the year 1647, the accused women testified that they had no
power over Metten, which was under the protection of the cross. Upon investigation, a number of
painted crosses, surrounded by the letters which are now found on Benedictine medals, were found
on the walls of the abbey, but their meaning had been forgotten.
Finally, in an old manuscript, written in 1415, was found a picture representing St. Benedict holding
in one hand a staff which ends in a cross, and a scroll in the other. On the staff and scroll were
written in full the words of which the mysterious letters were the initials. Medalsbearing the image of
St. Benedict, a cross, and these letters began now to be struck in Germany, and soon spread over
Europe. They were first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December, 1741, and 12 March,
1742.

Click to view St. Benedicts Medal on Amazon.

5. The Medal Wards Against

1. To destroy witchcraft and all other diabolical and haunting influences;
2. To impart protection to persons tempted, deluded, or tormented by evil spirits;
3. To obtain the conversion of sinners into the Catholic Church, especially when they are in danger
of death;
4. To serve as an armor against temptation;
5. To destroy the effects of poison;
6. To secure a timely and healthy birth for children;
7. To afford protection against storms and lightning;
8. To serve as an efficacious remedy for bodily afflictions and a means of protection against
contagious diseases.

6. How to use the medal

1. On a chain around the neck;
2. Attached to ones rosary;
3. Kept in ones pocket or purse;
4. Placed in ones car or home;
5. Placed in the foundation of a building;
6. Placed in the center of a cross.
The use of any religious article is intended as a means of reminding one of God and of inspiring a
willingness and desire to serve God and neighbor. It is not regarded as a good luck charm or
magical device.1

Click to view St. Benedicts Crucifix Necklace on Amazon.

7. The Cross of the Happy Death

The excellent Catholic source Fisheaters explains:
This Crucifix is known as The Cross of a Happy Death not only because of the exorcizing
properties of the Medal and the image of Christs Body, but because of St. Benedicts particular
patronage based on his death. Pope St. Gregory the Great (A.D. ca. 540-604) describes his passing
in his Dialogue:

Six days before he left this world he gave orders to have his sepulchre opened, and
forthwith falling into an ague, he began with burning heat to wax faint; and when as
the sickness daily increased, upon the sixth day he commanded his monks to carry him
into the oratory, where he did arm himself receiving the Body and Blood of our
Saviour Christ; and having his weak body holden up betwixt the hands of his disciples,
he stood with his own hands lifted up to heaven; and as he was in that manner
praying, he gave up the ghost.
A plenary indulgence is granted under the usual conditions to one who, at the hour of his death,
kisses, touches, or otherwise reverences the Crucifix, and commends his soul to God.
1.

Section #6 & #7 Saint Benedict Medal []