Many of us carry Saint Benedict’s medal as a powerful shield against evil. Others wear it around their necks, while some even mount it on the doors and walls of their homes. Exorcists frequently use this powerful sacramental, knowing that the kingdom of darkness trembles when his intercession invokes the sovereign authority of Jesus.
But why does the kingdom of darkness fear a 6th-century monk who lived a quiet life of prayer in the mountains?
The answer is found in two deadly plots engineered by those who envied his holiness, and the supernatural ways God protected him.
As a younger man, Benedict was completely disappointed by the immorality and materialism he saw in Rome, where he had gone to study. So he left to become a hermit. One day, a nearby community of monks begged Benedict to be their abbot.
He warned them that his rules were too strict for their lazy habits, but they insisted. True to his word, Benedict demanded holiness. Soon, the bitter, resentful monks decided that the only way to get rid of their strict leader was to murder him.
They laced Benedict’s dinner wine with a lethal dose of poison.
Saint Benedict suspecting their evil intent, blessed the goblet of poisoned wine offered to him by raising his hand and made the Sign of the Cross over the glass.
At that exact moment, the glass container shattered into pieces from a distance, as if it had been struck by a flying stone. The poisoned wine spilled across the floor and he then went back into his solitude for a short period of time, unharmed.
Years later, a jealous local priest named Florentius tried to destroy him again. Florentius became envious of Benedict due to the growing reputation of the young monastic leader. As Benedict attracted more and more followers, Florentius perceived him as a threat to his own prestige and influence.
He sent to St. Benedict a loaf of bread laced with poison. But Benedict, who had the gift of discernment, seemed to know that the bread was poisoned; Benedict then, placed the poisoned loaf before the raven and commanded it: “In the name of Jesus Christ, take up this loaf, and leave it in a place where no human being can find it.”
The raven complied, and when it returned, Benedict gave the bird his blessing.
Because Benedict survived these deadly traps through faith, his famous medal carries a powerful Latin formula used to cast out darkness: Crux sacra sit mihi lux! (May the Holy Cross be my light!) and Nunquam draco sit mihi dux! (Let not the dragon be my guide!)
Against every hidden snare of the devil, the medal stands guard with Benedict’s ancient formula of spiritual defense.
Vade retro satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! (Begone, Satan! Never suggest vain things to me! What you offer is evil: drink your own poison!)
Demons do not fear Benedict because of his personal human strength. They fear him because his absolute purity of heart made the Sign of the Cross an unshakeable shield.
As we invoke his intercession, his life reminds us that while the enemy can mix the deadliest traps against us, being anchored in Christ means a simple ‘Sign of the Cross’ will instantly shatter them to pieces.
Saint Benedict of Nursia, pray for us!