# St. Benedict medal

**Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti**

**Known today as.** A medal of St. Benedict whose reverse bears a cross ringed by initials: *Vade retro Satana, numquam suade mihi vana; sunt mala quae libas, ipse venena bibas*, “Begone, Satan; never tempt me with vain things; what you offer is evil; drink your own poison.”

Kind: Sacramental

## What was it used for?

Worn, buried in foundations, and fixed over doors against evil spirits, poison, storms, and temptation; the most favored medal of exorcists.

## What does modern science say?

Still among the most widely worn Catholic medals.

## What lore surrounds it?

The letters puzzled all until 1647, when a witchcraft trial at Natternberg in Bavaria led to a manuscript at nearby Metten Abbey that explained them. Benedict XIV approved the medal in 1742.

## What did the older authorities say?

**The Catholic Encyclopedia.** The Catholic Encyclopedia reads the letters: “Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux” on the upright, “Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux” on the bar, and round the margin “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).” Its origin: “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,” and painted crosses with the letters were found on the abbey walls, “but their meaning had been forgotten,” until a manuscript of 1415 supplied the words. The medals “were first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December, 1741, and 12 March, 1742.”

## Sources

- *The Catholic Encyclopedia* (New York, 1907–1914), “Benedict, Medal of.” newadvent.org/cathen/13338a.htm

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*St. Benedict medal.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/st-benedict-medal

Historical description, not medical advice.