Holy Angels and St. Benedict and his Medal

ST. BENEDICT'S VISION...

"GLOBE AND THE THREE ANGELS"

Traditional Feast Day of St. Benedict

July 11th 

St. Benedict was very focused on God alone... many believe this to be why he was able to have this vision of the Globe and the three Angels.  

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"SAINT BENEDICT'S VISION... The saint’s soul was so focused on God alone it was allowed to see the world as its Creator sees it. The episode suggests the ability Benedict displayed throughout his life to discern the dynamic interplay between the spiritual world and the material universe." Quoted from SimplyCatholic.com

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Video from St. Joseph's - The St. Benedict Medal

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"St. Benedict was the father of Western Monasticism. He was born in Nursia, Italy, in 480. Beginning in 520, he founded twelve monasteries in the region of Subiaco. The foundation at Monte Cassino (529) became the cradle of his Order. His twin sister was St. Scholastica. Benedict died March 21, 542." "St. Benedict had a profound veneration for the Holy Cross and for our Savior Crucified. In virtue of the Sign of the Cross he wrought many miracles and exercised great power over the spirits of darkness." "In consequence of the great veneration in which St. Benedict was held from the early middle ages, it followed that a medal was struck. His medal has exceptional powers against the demons of Hell." "The Medal of Saint Benedict is one of the Sacramentals of the Church. The value and power of the Medal must be ascribed to the merits of Christ Crucified, to the efficacious prayers of St. Benedict, to the blessing of the Church, and specially to the faith and holy disposition of the person using the Medal."                                                                 "On the front of the medal it shows St. Benedict holding a cross in one hand and the book of his Rule in the other. Flanking him on each side are the words: Crux S. Patris Benedicti (The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict). Below his feet are these words: Ex S M Casino MDCCCLXXX (From the Holy Mount of Cassino, 1880). On that date , Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to produce this medal. Inscribed in the circle surrounding Benedict are the words: Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur (May his presence protect us in the hour of death). The other side of the medal is where the real exorcistic force reveals itself. In the center is the Cross. Benedict loved the Cross and used it to drive away demons. The vertical beam of the Cross has five letters: C.S.S.M.L., meaning Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux (May the holy Cross be for me a light). The horizontal beam of the Cross also has five letters: N.D.S.M.D., meaning Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux (Let not the dragon be my guide). The four large letters at the angles of the Cross: C S P B stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict). Encircling the Cross in a circle around the right margin are these letters: V.R.S.N.S.M.V., meaning Vade retro Satana; nunquam suade mihi vana (Begone Satan! Suggest not to me thy vain things). Around the left margin of the circle are these letters: S.M.Q.L.I.V.B., meaning Sunt mala quae libas; ipse venena bibas (The drink you offer is evil; drink that poison yourself).  At the top of the circle is the word PAX (Peace)." "There is no special way of carrying or applying the Medal is prescribed. It may be worn around the neck, attached to the scapular or the Rosary or simply carried in one's pocket. Often it is placed in the fields, the foundations of buildings or attached to automobiles to call down God's blessing and the protection of St. Benedict. No particular prayer is prescribed, as the devout wearing itself is a continual silent prayer." Reference Site: http://www.sancta.org/medal.html                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prayer and Blessing:  "A Saint Benedict medal is a sacramental. It may be blessed by any priest or deacon. Here is a suggest blessing. V. Our help is in the name of the Lord. R. Who made heaven and earth. In the name of God the Father + almighty, who made heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, I exorcise these medals against the power and attacks of the evil one. May all who use these medals devoutly be blessed with health of soul and body. In the name of the Father + almighty, of the Son + Jesus Christ our Lord, and of the Holy + Spirit the Paraclete, and in the love of the same Lord Jesus Christ who will come on the last day to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire. Amen. Let us pray. Almighty God, the boundless source of all good things, we humbly ask that, through the intercession of Saint Benedict, you pour out your blessings + upon these medals. May those who use them devoutly and earnestly strive to perform good works be blessed by you with health of soul and body, the grace of a holy life, and remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. May they also with the help of your merciful love, resist the temptation of the evil one and strive to exercise true charity and justice toward all, so that one day they may appear sinless and holy in your sight. This we ask though Christ our Lord. Amen. The medals are then sprinkled with holy water. Take care to learn the prayers and exhortations inscribe on the medal… May the holy cross be my light! May the dragon never be my guide! May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death! Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities!   Peace.  Here is a prayer by Saint Benedict for seekers of faith... Gracious and Holy father, give is the wisdom to discover You, the intelligence to understand You, the diligence to seek after you, the patience to wait for You, eyes to behold You, a heart to meditate upon You, and a life to proclaim You, through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord. Amen Dear Saint Benedict, I thank God for showering you with His grace to love Him above all else and to establish a monastic rule that has helped so many of His children live full and holy lives. Through the cross of Jesus Christ, I ask you to please intercede that God might protect me, my loved ones, my home, property, possessions, and workplace today and always by your holy blessing, that we may never be separated from Jesus, Mary, and the company of all the blessed. Through your intercession may we be delivered from temptation, spiritual oppression, physical ills, and disease. Protect us from drug and alcohol abuse, impurity and immorality, objectionable companions, and negative attitudes. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen."  Taken from Website: https://www.zieglers.com/blog/why-the-devil-is-so-scared-of-the-saint-benedict-medal-and-crucifix/ ~~~ Benedictine Values  LOVE OF CHRIST AND NEIGHBOR Benedictine life, like that of all Christians, is first and foremost a response to God’s astonishing love for humankind, a love expressed in the free gift of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Love, the motive for monastic life and its goal, tops St. Benedict’s list of tools for good works (RB 5:10, 7:67-69, 4.1-2). Yet the Rule recognizes many ways in which monastics can fail to ground their lives in love. It sets up personal and communal practices that deal directly with human selfishness wherever it occurs and seeks to heal the resulting harm to one’s self and others. Ultimately it is the power of God’s love that is decisive. Indeed, the crowning good work for the monastic is “never to lose hope in God’s mercy” (RB 4:74). STABILITY Stability shapes a Benedictine way of life. All of its members commit themselves to seeking God. They resolve to pursue this, their heart’s deepest desire, together, day in and day out, in good times and in bad, throughout the entire span of their lives. HOSPITALITY St. Benedict sees Christ present within the monastery in Scripture and liturgy, and in the person of the abbot, prioress, the sick, and each of the members of the monastic community. However, St. Benedict accords special attention to Christ’s unexpected arrival from outside in the person of the guest, whom he describes alternately as poor and as a stranger. Christ presents himself in the outsider’s vulnerability and calls the monastic to put aside individual plans and pre-occupations in order to let the unexpected person in, to help them get established, to respond to their most pressing needs. And when the outsider comes to experience being “at home” in this new place, for however brief the stay, the monastic discovers new awareness of the common journey in which all are engaged. A blessing accompanies both the offering and the receiving of hospitality. JUSTICE AND PEACE The aim of the Benedictine life is to find peace. It is not something that we sit about and wait for - we must pursue it, work for it, set out trying to achieve it . Peace is not another word for passive or disengaged or removed from the world. It is an active ordering of life so that peace is the outcome. Benedict is offering us a way to find peace in our hearts and beyond. Peace is a feature of just communities - disharmony and injustice create tension, jealousy and annoyance. Peace cannot exist in that environment. For peace to reign, justice is fundamental. So a Benedictine community has an inherent desire to bring about justice. This means that we recognize that there is nothing in the world that is not first in the human heart. In all hearts and in our communities, we must seek peace and pursue it. OBEDIENCE Benedictine life is unthinkable without obedience, a value that cuts against the grain of much in contemporary life. It is often forgotten that the root of the word obedience is found in audire, “to listen.” When St. Benedict begins the Rule with the exhortation “Listen,” he emphasizes the stance of obedience required of all who seek wisdom. He asks for obedience not only to the spiritual head of the monastery, but to the other members of the community (RB 7:l-2). Each has something of value to say about true fullness of life. For the monastic, obedience is putting into practice what is learned by listening to the other “with the ear of the heart” (RB Prol. 1). Centuries of Benedictine experience show that such listening requires a willingness to submit to imperatives outside of the self, something that is never easy to do, but that is deeply rewarding. PRAYER Benedictine schools cultivate a fundamental attentiveness to the ways in which God is present in the human mind and heart and, indeed, in all creation. St. Benedict directs that nothing is to be preferred to prayer (RB 43.3). This daily experience of prayer is supported and deepened by individual spiritual reading, a practice that Benedictines call by its Latin name, lectio divino. Lectio divina is the slow meditative reading of Scriptures and other sacred texts with the intention of discerning how God is at work right now in the world and calling within the individual’s own heart. For a monastic, the daily movement between common liturgical prayer and lectio divino opens up new space within where qualities and virtues such as compassion, integrity and courage can develop and grow strong. STEWARDSHIP At its core the Rule seeks to foster a fundamental reverence toward the creation that God has made. St. Benedict exhorts his followers to regard all the tools and goods of the monastery as the sacred vessels of the altar (RB 31.10). Benedictine monastics do not simply use up what has been given to them, nor do they aim to live in poverty. Instead, they prize good stewardship, the respectful use of material things for the good of all, with a special eye to frugality, integrity of form and function, and the capacity of beauty to communicate the presence and power of God. COMMUNITY Benedictine monastic community is rooted in a particular place in which mutual service, especially in the mundane areas of everyday life, is demanded of all with no expectation of individual reward. It is a challenge to contribute to a living, flesh and blood community on such terms. The qualities of character that are required are nurtured by the individual community’s sense of its mission, the witness of monastic forebears and the broader communion of saints across the ages. The imagination to persevere and thrive in such a life is enriched through the example of communities across the world - monastic and nonmonastic, Christian and non-Christian, religious and non- religious - that make sustained practical efforts to foster human well-being, often in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Though directly grounded in a particular place, the commitments and aspirations of Benedictine life can only bear fruit if they stretch to horizons that are truly universal. CONVERSATIO The aim of life for Benedictines is the same as it is for all Christians - to be transformed in every part of one’s life so that God’s very image, in which each has been created, becomes palpable and transparent. The Benedictine word for this way of life is conversatio, the process of letting go in day-to-day life of self-centered preoccupations and false securities so that the divine life at the core of one’s being becomes manifest in a trustworthy pattern of living. Conversatio is a commitment to engage in practices that over a lifetime bring about conversion into the likeness of Christ and, in particular, Christ’s giving of self for others. This transformation proceeds according to small steps; and it is tested in unexpected ways over a lifetime, To come to fruition conversatio requires stability, discipline, faithfulness and resilience. DISCIPLINE Discipline is a way of focusing energy and attention on what matters most. Benedictine life is built around a fundamental discipline of prayer, work and relationships that is set forth in the Rule and that seeks to free people to take delight in God’s presence within the self, the community and the world. New members are taught how to cultivate discipline and to realize that it takes a lifetime of practice to develop fully the skills needed to live life freely and wholeheartedly on the deepest of levels. HUMILITY Humility is St. Benedict’s word for wisdom. He begins his extended description of the twelve degrees of humility by describing awe at the abiding presence of God and ends depicting a love that casts out fear (RB 7). The Benedictine way of life seeks an accurate knowledge of self, a pervasive awareness of God’s presence in their lives and their dependence on others and creation itself. They recognize their limitations without losing hope and accept their gifts without becoming arrogant because the measure of their lives is not found in themselves alone. There is always room for additional personal growth, for giving one’s self for the good of others.  (QUOTED FROM WEBSITE: https://www.saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au/about/benedictine-values/)  ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Footnote: Original Painting can be found at:  https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-benedicts-vision-of-the-globe-and-the-three/862be453-a0-4561-ab59-9d9870c2c21d  Art work Print...displayed above is from... FineArtAmerica.com Saint Benedict's Vision of the Globe and the three Angels Canvas Print