The Medal or Cross of Saint Benedict: It's Origin, Meaning, and Privileges by Dom Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. Part 5

Note: the rules for the blessing of Saint Benedict medals and crosses has been extended to all priests, provided the correct exorcism and blessing are used, and not just a general blessing.
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The Medal or Cross of Saint Benedict: It's Origin, Meaning, and Privileges by Dom Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. Part 5
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XII. CONSEQUENCES OF THE BRIEF OF BENEDICT 14TH IN REGARD TO THE MEDAL OF S. BENEDICT.
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It follows in the first place from the Papal document which we have just given, that the Medal of S. Benedict is put under the sanction of the Holy See. The pretended scruples which certain persons had excited regarding it, are hereby shown to be groundless. It is well known with what extreme caution and with what profound knowledge of principles Rome proceeds in every thing. She has not, however, found anything superstitious in this Medal: the letters which are marked upon it have not seemed to her deserving of the slight suspicion. The using the first letter of a word for the word itself may have appeared strange to the author mentioned above, who, like so many other intolerant critics of his time, had but a very shallow knowledge of archaeology; otherwise he would no more have thought it strange to express these words Vade retro, Satana, &c. by V. R. S. &c. than it is to employ, as did the early Christians, the word Ichthus to stand for these words, of which it contains the initials, Iesous Christos Theou Huios Soter. At Rome, these things have always been perfectly understood, and the approbation of S. Benedict’s Medal, with its inscription which is so easily explained, could not meet with the slightest opposition from any fear of appearing to be giving a sanction to some superstitious formula.
But the approbation is given not only to the Medal, but also to the prayers to be used in blessing it. Moreover, a liberal grant of Indulgences is made to all who shall wear it or carry it about them with devotion. We give in the next chapter the list of these Indulgences, with the conditions for gaining them, as specified in the Papal Brief. It is clear, therefore, that the Holy See formally recommends the Medal or Cross of S. Benedict to the confidence of the faithful.
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The privilege of blessing the Medal and attaching the indulgences to it, is, as we have just seen, reserved to the Benedictines of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, with a strict prohibition to any other Priest, unless he has received permission, to exercise this privilege under penalty of nullity both to the blessing and the indulgences. This same power has been since extended to the various congregations of the Order of S. Benedict. With regard to the approved Form of Blessing, it is of strict obligation; so that it would not he enough to make use of the simple sign of the Cross, as is generally done in the attaching indulgences to Medals, Crosses, and Beads, in virtue of faculties granted by the Holy See.
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In case, however, of one’s not being able to meet with a priest who has the faculty to bless the Medal of S. Benedict, a Christian may still have confidence in this sacred object. Of course, it deserves our confidence so much the more when it has been enriched with the blessings of the Church and with the indulgences which she grants to those who carry it about their person: at the same time, we must not forget that many favours were obtained by its means even before it had been made the object of such Special privileges as we have seen bestowed on it by the Holy See. The power of the Medal is attached to the sign of the Cross which is marked on it, and to the figure of S. Benedict whose protection is assured to those who wear it. The Holy Name of Jesus, the words which our Saviour made use of in driving the Devil away, and the allusion to the victories of S. Benedict over this spirit of evil, are all so many holy forms of conjuration which the fiend cannot withstand when they are used against him with faith.
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Whilst, therefore, recommending the faithful to do their utmost to get their Medal blessed, we must remind them that they ought to make use of it and have confidence in the Holy Cross and S. Benedict, even when they have no opportunity of having it blessed by a Priest who has the necessary power.
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The reader has seen in the brief that the effigy of S. Benedict is necessary for the Medal. It is not therefore enough that there be engraven on it the letters C. S. P. B. (Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti); it moreover must have upon it the image of the Holy Patriarch of the Monks of the West. There have been within the last few years a great number of medals made in France which have not the figure of S. Benedict upon them; they cannot be blessed as Medals of the Saint, and they are essentially different from those which have been made both before and after the Brief of Pope Benedict 14th. It is well to make the faithful aware of this, and to impress upon them that these other medals, in spite of their being widely circulated in some places, are not authentic. That Medal has been from its first beginning consecrated to the honour of the holy Cross and S. Benedict; both have always been represented on it from its very beginning, and it is only under this special form that the Church offers it to her people.
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As one cannot retrench the figure of S. Benedict without essentially changing the Medal, for precisely for the same reason it is wrong to put anything else whatsoever upon it. We must consequently consider as spurious, certain Medals struck off in Germany - they are of a large size, and bear a device expressive of their being Medals of S. Zachary. This Medal is quite different from that of S. Benedict which is the subject of these pages. It is true, it has upon it the effigy of the holy Patriarch; and eighteen letters are written round the medal which, if they mean anything at all, must be the initials of as many words, like the Ichthus of the early Christians, or the adjurations inscribed by their initials on the Medal of S. Benedict.
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Some have endeavoured to explain these eighteen letters by making them the initials of a series of formulas in which God is besought to deliver us from pestilence. To say the least of it, it is strange that one single letter should be made to stand for a whole sentence, and this sentence sometimes a long one; thus, for instance, there is one which is composed of fifty-one words. This explanation, which is arbitrary from beginning to end, gives us a collection of sentences which have no connection whatever with each other. And then, why is there the figure of S. Benedict upon this Medal? Not the slightest allusion is made to the Saint in the explanation given to the eighteen letters. Whereas on the true Medal everything which does not allude to the holy Cross refers to the Holy Patriarch. It may reasonably be doubted whether the Holy See would ever consent to give its approval to an object of so confused and undetermined a character. The propagators of this Medal would have it that its originator was the holy Pope Zachary, who began his reign in the year 741; but so far they have not been able to give the merest shadow of a proof for such an assertion. In saying this, we have no intention of hurting the feelings of any one; but it seemed necessary to make these few observations relative to a Medal which would justify by its strange pretensions the severity of criticism, and indirectly bring discredit and disrespect to the true Medal of S. Benedict.
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We must also protest against an error which is found upon a very great number of the Medals of S. Benedict which are distributed. A gross ignorance of the habits of the different Religious Orders has given rise to this error, which represents the figure of S. Benedict in a dress which is not that of his Order. On some of these Medals we find, for instance, the Holy Patriarch muffled in a cloak which is girded at the waist by a cord, after the manner of the Franciscans, instead of his having on the Cowl, which is the essentially distinctive habit of the Benedictine. Not that such an error invalidates the Medals, but it is one which ought to be corrected. The emblems or attributes, which ecclesiastical tradition has assigned to each Saint, cannot be set aside without a sort of irreverence, and the caprice or ignorance of artists who do so ought not to be tolerated. The edition of the Medal, which we are now alluding to, is fortunately beginning to get rare, and the sooner the better, for besides its giving the wrong Habit, it makes the figure of S. Benedict most contemptible. The Medals which are now in circulation are much more correct, and one has just been struck off in Paris, which is perhaps the best of all that have yet appeared; it is of several sizes.
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XIII. LIST OF THE INDULGENCES ATTACHED TO THE MEDAL OF S. BENEDICT BY THE BULL OF BENEDICT 14TH.
We have thought it would be well, for the convenience of our readers, to give a list of all the Indulgences granted by the Holy See to those who make use of the Medal of S. Benedict.
It is not easy to distinguish them as they are given in the Brief of Benedict the 14th. We will classify them into the two ordinary divisions, plenary, and partial.
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I. Those who devoutly carry about their persons the Medal of S. Benedict may gain a plenary indulgence on the following Festivals:-
Christmas Day,
Epiphany.
Easter Sunday.
Ascension Day.
Whit Sunday.
Trinity Sunday.
Corpus Christi.
The Immaculate Conception.
The Nativity of Our Lady.
The Annunciation,
The Purification.
The Assumption.
All Saints’ Day,
S. Benedict (21st of March).
Besides the usual conditions of Confession and Holy Communion and praying, according to the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff, it is requisite, in order to gain the above-mentioned Indulgences, that one should perform habitually, that is to say once at least in the week, one of the following pious practices:
Recite the Chaplet of our Lord, or Rosary,
Or a third part of the Rosary,
Or the Divine Office,
Or the Little Office of Our Lady,
Or the Office of the Dead,
Or the Seven Penitential Psalms,
Or the Gradual Psalms
Teach the rudiments of faith to children or the poor;
visit those who are in prison;
Or those who are sick in hospitals;
Give relief to the poor;
hear Mass, or, if he be a Priest, say it.
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II. A Plenary indulgence to him, who, being at the point of death, having made his confession and received holy Communion, shall devoutly recommend his soul to God, and shall invoke with his heart, if not able to do so with his lips, with contrition, the Holy Names of JESUS and MARY.
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III. A Plenary indulgence, the same as that which is given by the Sovereign Pontiff by the Papal Benediction at S. Peter’s of the Vatican, on Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, is granted to him, who, being truly penitent, having confessed his sins and received Holy Communion on these same days, shall pray devoutly for the exaltation of Holy Church and for the preservation of the Supreme Pontiff.
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IV. The indulgence and remission of a third part of the punishment due to his sins, to him, who by his good example and advice shall lead a sinner to repentance.
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V. An Indulgence of twenty years, once each week to him who shall daily pray for the extirpation of heresies.
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VI. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to him who shall perform the several pious works specified in No. 1, on the lesser feasts of Our Lord and of Our Lady; for example, the Circumcision, the Holy Name of JESUS, the Transfiguration, &c.; the Visitation of the Most Blessed Virgin, her Presentation, her Seven Dolours, the Holy Rosary, &c. The same Indulgence, on the same conditions, for the feasts of S. Joseph, Spouse of the Most holy Virgin, of S. Maurus, S. Placid, S. Scholastica, and S. Gertrude.
VII. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to him who shall hear, or if he be a Priest shall celebrate Mass, and pray for the prosperity of Christian princes and for the tranquillity of their States.
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VIII. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines, each time, to him who out of devotion to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, should fast on Fridays, or in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Saturdays. He who shall have performed either of these two fasts during a whole year, shall gain a Plenary Indulgence, on a day of his choice, when, having made his confession, he shall receive holy Communion. Should he happen to die during the course of the year in which he had the intention of keeping up this pious practice during it, he shall obtain the same Indulgence.
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IX. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to him who shall say the Rosary or Chaplet in honour of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, beseeching her to intercede with her Divine Son, to obtain for him the grace of living and dying without committing a mortal sin.
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X. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to him who shall accompany the Most holy Sacrament when carried to the sick. This Indulgence is in addition to those already granted by the Supreme Pontiff to the faithful who practise this devotion.
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XI. An Indulgence of one year to him, who having examined his conscience, and being truly penitent for his sins, shall be resolved to avoid them for the future and confess them, and shall say five Paters and five Aves. If he go to confession and receive Holy Communion, he shall on that day gain an Indulgence of ten years.
XII. An Indulgence of two hundred days to him who shall visit those who are in prison, or those who are sick in hospitals, rendering to them some service of charity; the same is granted to him who shall teach Christian doctrine, or, as it is called, Catechism, either in the Church or at home, to his children, neighbours, or servants.
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XIII. An Indulgence of one hundred days to him who, on Fridays, shall devoutly meditate on the Passion and Death of Our Lord, and say three times the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelical Salutation.
XIV. An Indulgence of one hundred days to him who, out of devotion to S. Joseph, S. Benedict, S. Maurus, S. Scholastica, or S. Gertrude, shall say the Psalm Miserere, or five Paters and five Aves, begging of God that He will, by the intercession of these his Saints, preserve the Holy Catholic Church, and grant him a happy death.
XV. An Indulgence of one hundred days to him who has the habit of saying, at least once in the week, the Holy Rosary or Chaplet, or the Office of Our Lady, or that of the Dead, or only the Vespers and one Nocturn and Lauds of the same Office, or the Seven Penitential Psalms, with the Litany of the Saints and the Prayers which follow it, or five Paters and five Aves in honour of the Most Holy Name of JESUS and his five Wounds, or five Aves, or the Antiphon We fly to thy Patronage, &c., with one of the approved Collects, in honour of the Most Holy Name of MARY.
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XVI. An Indulgence of fifty days to him, who, before saying Mass, going to holy Communion, reciting the Divine Office or the Little Office of Our Lady, shall say some devout prayer.
XVII. An Indulgence of fifty days to him who shall pray for those who are in their last agony, and shall say for their intention three Paters and three Aves.
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XVIII. An indulgence of forty days to him who shall say, once or oftener during the day, this ejaculatory prayer, “Blessed be the most pure and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
XIX. He who shall pray to God that he would spread the Order of S. Benedict shall enter into a participation of all and each of the good works, of what kind soever, which are done by that Order.
XX. He who through sickness or any other lawful impediment cannot hear, or being a Priest, cannot say Mass, nor recite either the Divine Office or the Office of Our Lady, nor in fine perform the other acts of virtue enjoined for the gaining the above indulgences, may supply them by reciting three Paters and three Aves, followed by the Anthem Salve Regina, &c., adding to these prayers the following aspiration; “Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity! and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament, and the Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin!” If the Indulgence, intended to be gained, be a Plenary one, it is necessary to Confess one’s sins and receive Holy Communion. But should one not have it in his power to do this, he must at least be contrite in his heart, and be firmly resolved to confess his sins when opportunity serves.
All the Indulgences here mentioned are applicable to the souls in Purgatory.
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The Decree expressly forbids the selling the Medals after the Indulgences have been attached to them; as also the lending them to other persons for the purpose of communicating the Indulgences. It also reminds the faithful, that in case of a person’s losing an indulgenced Medal, and procuring another, without having the indulgences attached to it by a Priest who has the power, this person does not enjoy the favours granted to those who have had their Medal properly blessed.