The Medal or Cross of Saint Benedict: It's Origin, Meaning, and Privileges by Dom Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. Part 4

The Medal or Cross of Saint Benedict: It's Origin, Meaning, and Privileges by Dom Prosper Louis Paschal Guéranger, O.S.B. Part 4
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XI. APPROBATION OF S. BENEDICT’S MEDAL BY THE HOLY SEE.
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The above facts, and many others of the same kind which we pass over in silence, naturally suggest the question as to whether the authority of the Church has spoken on the subject of a devotion, the results of which will probably excite as much astonishment in the minds of some, as they will give confidence and comfort to others. Fortunately, the Holy See has long since examined this subject, upon which we are now writing, and has given to the Medal of S. Benedict the wished-for sanction, which is an authority and an argument superior even to those which are given by the wonderful instances of its efficacy which are every day being related as having taken place in almost every country. The Medal of S. Benedict had been attacked as savouring of superstition, by the author of the Treatise on Superstitions * - a work, by the way, which is on the Index. This unreasonable critic defended his opinion regarding the Medal by this strange argument, that the initial letters which are upon it are difficult to be understood, and are therefore to be suspected of some superstitious purpose.
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* J.B. Thiers, curate of Vibraye, in the Diocese Le Mans, France. Obiit A.D. 1703. Trans.
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It was reserved to the learned Pope Benedict XIV to encourage the faithful in their confidence in this holy Medal, and to confute the scruples which the rationalism of that period endeavoured to raise regarding it. It was at the behest of Dom Benno Löbl, Abbot of S. Margaret’s Monastery in Prague, that this Pope, after a careful examination and a decree of the Congregation of Indulgences, approved by his Brief of March 12th, 1742, the Medal with its Cross, the figure of S. Benedict, and the Letters which are upon it. He authorized the form of blessing which is to be used over this Medal, and granted a great number of Indulgences to all who wear it about them. We here give the text of this important Brief, for it is but too little known.
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BENEDICT XIV., POPE.
UNTO THE PERPETUAL MEMORY THEREOF, AND FOR THE INCREASING THE DEVOTION OF THE FAITHFUL OF JESUS CHRIST.
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Watchful with fatherly love over the heavenly treasures of the Church, and desirous of enriching with the grant of Indulgences the sacred medals, known under the name of Crosses or Little Medals of S. Benedict, we have gladly accorded to certain persons holding certain dignities, the special power to bless the said Medals with rich indulgences, and to distribute them amongst the faithful: and to the end that this grant may produce its full effect and abide uninterrupted in all future time, the more especially as such has been asked of us, we willingly add hereunto the weight of apostolic confirmation, and the influence of our endeavours and solicitude, according as it has seemed to us before God to be good and needful, having maturely considered the circumstances of persons, places, and times.
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Our beloved son Benno Löbl, Professed Monk of the Order of S. Benedict, and now at this present time Abbot of Monastery of Brzewnow in the diocese of Prague - the said Monastery being nullius, free, exempt, and immediately subject to the Apostolic see - Provost of Wahlstad in Silesia, Mitred Prelate of the kingdom of Bohemia, and perpetual Visitator of the said Order in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia - has recently made known to us, that on another occasion he asked of us for his successors, as also for all and each of the Abbots, Priors, and Priests of the said Order, who are or shall be subject to him and to his successors in the office of Visitation, the faculty to bless, according to the formula given in the said petition, the Medals or Crosses called S. Benedict’s, and to distribute the same respectively, in order to spread the Indulgences which have been so profusely granted to them; with a prohibition to all ecclesiastics to interfere in this pious work the which faculty was graciously accorded and imparted by a decree of the Congregation of Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, called the Congregation of Indulgences, on the 23rd of the month of December, in the year of our Lord, 1741; the text of which decree is as follows:
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“Decree for the Order of S. Benedict in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia:
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“At the most humble and instant entreaties of Dom Benno Löbl, Abbot of the free and exempt monastery of Brzewnow in Brauna, of the Order of S. Benedict, Provost of Wahlstad in Silesia, mitred Prelate of the kingdom of Bohemia, and perpetual Visitor of the said Order in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia: Our most holy Father Pope Benedict XIV has graciously given and granted to the same Benno and to his successors, as also to all and each of the Abbots, Priors and Priests who for the time being are subject to him as Perpetual Visitator, the special faculty of blessing the medals known under the name of S. Benedict’s Cross, and of which, one side represents the image of the same S. Benedict, and the other a Cross, with these following letters or characters round the rim, which signify respectively as follows: V. Vade. R. retro. S. Sathana. N. numquam. S. suade. M. mihi. V. vana. S. sunt. M. mala. Q. quae. L. libas. I. ipse. V. venena. B. bibas. On the perpendicular line of the Cross: C. crux. S. sacra. S. sit. M. mihi. L. lux. On the horizontal line, N. non. D. draco. S. sit. M. mihi. D. dux. Lastly, on the four corners, C. crux. S. Sancti. P. Patris. B. Benedicti and the said blessing shall be in the formula as follows:
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BENEDICTUS, P.P. XIV.
AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM, ET AD AUGENDAM CHRISTI FIDELIUM DEVOTIONEM.
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Coelestibus Ecclesiae thesauris paterna charitate intenti, sacra interdum Numismata, seu Cruces, vel Cruculas Sancti Benedicti nuncupatas, indulgentiarum muneribus condecorare voluimus; et personis, praesertim, speciali dignitate fulgentibus, facultatem illas cum thesauro indulgentiarum hujusmodi privative benedicendi et distribuendi libenter impartiti fuimus; et ut illa perpetuis futuris temporibus suum plenarium sortiatur effectum, firmiusque subsistat; potissimum cum a Nobis petitur, Apostolicae confirmationis robur libenter adjicimus, opemque et operas nostras impendimus efficaces, prout personarum locorum, et temporum qualitatibus matura consideratione pensat is, in Domino conspicimus salubriter expedire.
Exponi Nobis nuper sane fecit dilectus filius Benno Löbl, monachus Ordinis Sancti Benedicti expresse professus, ac modernus Abbas liberi et exempti, Sedique Apostolicae immediate subjecti monasterii Brzevnoviensis in Brauna, nullius, seu Pragensis dioecesis, et Wahlstadii Silesiorum modernus Praepositus, Praelatusque infulatus regni Bohemia, dictique Ordinis Visitator perpetuus in Bohemia, Moravia et Silesia: quod alias per Nos eidem exponenti, ejusque successoribus, ac omnibus et singulis Abbatibus, Prioribus, alterisque ejusdem Ordinis monachis, sacerdotibus, expetenti tamen praedicto, ejusque successoribus Visitatoribus praedictis subjectis, numismata seu medallias, vel cruces, aut cruculas Sancti Benedicti nuncupatas, privativa facultas, sub certa, inibi expressa formula benedicendi et respective distribuendi, pro consequendis indulgentiis, in illis amplissime elargitis, cum inhibitione cuicumque personae ecclesiasticae, in hujusmodi opere pio se immiscendi, decreto Congregationis Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium super indulgentiis praepositae, sub die XXIII, mensis Decembris anni Domini MDCCXLI emanato, benigne concessa et elargita fuit: cujus decreti tenor est qui sequitur:
“Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, per Bohemiam, Moraviam et Silesiam decretum:
“Ad humillimas et enixas preces Domini Bennonis Löbl, Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, liberi et exempti Monasterii Brzevnoviensis in Brauna Abbat is, Wahlstadii Silesiorum Praepositi, regni Bohemiae Praelati infulati, atque Ordinis praedicti per Bohemiam, Moraviam et Silesiam Visitatoris perpetui: Sanctissimus Dominus noster Benedicitus PP. XIV, eidem Bennoni ejusque successoribus ac omnibus et singulis Abbatibus, Prioribus, caeterisque monachis sacerdotibus, ipsimet pro tempore existenti Visitatori perpetuo subjectis, Numismata, seu Medallias, vel Cruces aut Cruculas Sancti Benedicti nuncupatas, quarum una pars imaginem ejusdem Sancti Benedicti repraesentat, altera vero Crucem, in cujus extremo circuitu litterae seu characteres, scilicet: V. Vade. R. retro. S. Sathana. N. numquam. S. suade. M. mihi. V. vana. S. sunt. M. mala. Q. quae. L. libas. I. ipse. V. venena. B. bibas. In linea vero ejus recta, C. crux. S. sacra. S. sit. M. mihi. L. lux. In inversa autem, N. non. D. draco. S. sit. M. mihi. D. dux. ac demum in quatuor lateribus C. crux. S. Sancti. P. Patris. B. Benedicti respective significantes exprimuntur: facultatem privatam benedicendi, benigne concessit, atque indulsit, formula quae sequitur, nimirum:
Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R. Qui fecit coelum et terram.
Exorcizo vos numismata, per Deum Patrem + omnipotentem, qui fecit coelum et terram, mare et omnia quae in eis sunt: omnis virtus adversarii, omnis exercitus diaboli, et omnis incursus, omni phantasma Sathanae eradicare et effugare ab his numismatibus, ut fiant omnibus, qui eis usuri sunt, salus mentis et corporis, in nomino Dei Patris + omnipotentis, et Jesu Christi + Filii ejus, Domini nostri, et Spiritus Sancti + Paracliti, et in charitate ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et saeculum per ignem. R. Amen.
Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.
Pater noster, etc.
V. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.
R. Sed libera nos a malo.
V. Salvos fac servos tuos.
R. Deus meus, sperantes in te.
V. Esto nobis, Domine, turris fortitudinis.
R. A facie inimici.
V. Deus virtutem populo suo dabit.
R. Dominus benedicet populum suum in pace.
V. Mitte eis, Domine, auxilium de sancto.
R. Et de Sion tuere eos.
V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum Spiritu tuo.
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Oremus.
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Deus omnipotens, omnium bonorum largitor, supplices te rogamus, ut per intercessionem Sancti Patris Benedicti his sacris Numismatibus litteris et characteribus a te designatis tuam benedictionem + infundas, ut omnes, qui ea gestaverint, ac bonis operibus intenti fuerint, sanitatem mentis et corporis, et gratiam sanctificationis, atque indulgentias nobis concessas consequi mereantur, omnesquo diaboli insidias et fraudes per auxilium misericordiae tuae effugere valeant, et in conspectu tuo sancti et immaculati appareant, Per Dominum, etc.
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Oremus.
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Domine Jesu, qui voluisti pro totius mundi redemptione de Virgine nasci, circumcidi, a Judaeis reprobari, Judae osculo tradi, vinculis alligari, spinis coronari, clavis perforari, inter latrones crucifigi, lancea vulnerari et tandem in cruce mori: per tuam sanctissimam Passionemque humiliter exoro, ut omnes diabolicas insidias et fraudes expellas ab eo, qui Nomen sanctum tuum his litteris et characteribus a te designatis devote invocaverit, it eum ad salutis portum perducere digneris, qui vivis et regnas, &c.
Benedictio Dei Patris + omnipotentis, et Filii +, et Spiritus + Sancti descendat super haec Numismata, ac ea gestantes, et maneat semper: in nomine Patris + et Filii + et Spiritus + Sancti. R. Amen.
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“Being therefore desirous to enrich in a special manner, by spiritual favours and with the heavenly treasures of the Church, the aforesaid Medals blessed by the Visitator, and the other Monks mentioned above then living, he has graciously given and granted to all and each of the faithful, of both sexes, who shall carry about their persons one of these Medals or Crosses thus blessed, and shall at the same time perform the good works which are enjoined as below in their respective places, the following indulgences in the manner and form as herein specified; to wit: he who shall regularly recite, at least once in the week, the Chaplet of our Lord, or that of the most blessed Virgin Mary, or the Rosary, or a third part of the Rosary, the Divine Office, or the Little Office of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Office of the Dead, or the Seven Penitential Psalms, or the Gradual Psalms; or who shall regularly teach the rudiments of faith, or visit those who are in prison, or the sick in any hospital, or assist the poor, or either hear, or, if he be a Priest, say Mass; if he be truly penitent and have confessed to a Priest approved by the Ordinary, and have received the holy sacrament of the Eucharist on any of the days following, namely the Feasts of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Epiphany, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, most Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi, and on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Purification, and Assumption; also on the first day of November, the feast of All Saints, and on the feast of S. Benedict; and shall have devoutly prayed God for the destruction of heresies and schisms, for the exaltation and propagation of the Catholic faith, for peace and concord of Christian Princes, and for the other necessities of the Roman Church he shall obtain a plenary indulgence and the remission of all his sins.
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“He who shall have fulfilled the same said conditions on the other Feasts of our Lord, or of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, and on the feasts of the Holy Apostles, or of S. Joseph, or of SS. Maurus, Placid, Scholastica, or Gertrude, of the Order of S. Benedict, shall gain on each of these feasts an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines.
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“Which same indulgences also granted to him who shall hear, or, if he be a priest, shall say Mass, and shall pray for the prosperity of Christian Princes and the tranquillity of their states and possessions.
“He who shall fast on Fridays, out of reverence for the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, or on Saturdays in honour of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, each day he so fasts, shall gain an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines.
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“And he who, having confessed and nourished himself with holy Communion, shall have observed this same fast on the aforementioned days for one whole year, shall gain a plenary indulgence, which also shall be granted to him who, having the intention of doing this same work, shall die within the year.
“He who shall have the custom of saying once or oftener in the day this ejaculation: Blessed be the most pure and immaculate Conception of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, shall gain an indulgence of forty days.
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“He, who shall have the custom of reciting at least once a week the Chaplet or Rosary, or the Office of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Office of the Dead, or the Vespers, with at least one nocturn and Lauds, or the seven Penitential Psalms, and the Litanies and their prayers, or five times the Lord’s Prayer, either in honour of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, or of His Five Wounds, or five times the Angelical Salutation or the Antiphon: ‘We fly to thy patronage,’ together with any one of the approved collects of the Most Blessed Virgin, and this in honour of the Most Holy Name of Mary, shall gain, on that day, on which he does this, the indulgence of one hundred days; which same indulgence is likewise granted once each Friday, to him who shall have thrice recited the Lord's Prayer or the Angelical Salutation, and shall have piously meditated on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ; which same also is granted to him who, out of devotion to S. Joseph, S. Benedict, S. Maurus, S. Scholastica, and S. Gertrude, shall recite the Psalm, Miserere mei Deus, or five times the Lord’s Prayer, or the Angelical Salutation, and shall pray God that he will, by their intercession, preserve the Holy Catholic Church, and give to himself a happy death.
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“He, who in the celebration of Mass, or in holy Communion, or in the recitation of the Divine Office, or of the Little Office of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, shall say some short prayer before he begins, shall receive fifty days of indulgence; which same is also granted to him who shall pray for those of the faithful who are at the point of death, and shall say thrice, for their Intention, the Lord’s Prayer or the Angelical Salutation.
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“He who shall visit those who are in prison, or the sick in hospitals, and shall assist them by any work of mercy, or shall teach Christian doctrine in the church or at home, either to children, or relations, or servants, each time, besides the Indulgences granted for this by other Sovereign Pontiffs, shall obtain also an Indulgence of two hundred days.
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“He who shall recite the Chaplet or the Rosary of the most Blessed Virgin Mary in honour of her most pure and immaculate Conception and shall ask her, by her intercession with her divine Son, that we may live and die free from mortal sin, shall receive an indulgence of seven years. Which same indulgence is granted also to him who shall devoutly accompany the most Holy Sacrament when carried as viaticum to the sick, and this over and above those other Indulgences which have been granted to the same pious act by other Supreme Pontiff.
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“He who shall pray daily for the extirpation of heresies, shall gain, once each week, an Indulgence of twenty years.
“He who shall examine his conscience, and being truly penitent, shall firmly resolve to correct himself of sins hitherto committed and confess them, shall gain, upon devoutly reciting the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelical Salutation, one years indulgence; and if he come and receive Holy Communion, he shall gain an indulgence of ten years that same day.
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“He who shall, by his good example or advice, lead any sinner to repentance, shall obtain the remission of one third of the punishment in what way soever due to his own sins; and he, who being truly penitent, shall go to confession and holy Communion, on holy Thursday, and Easter Sunday, and shall devoutly pray to God for the exaltation of our holy Mother the Church, and for the preservation of the Sovereign Pontiff, shall gain these same Indulgences which His Holiness grants, on the said days, in giving his solemn blessing to the people.
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“He who shall beseech God to propagate the Order of S. Benedict, shall become partaker of all and each of the good works which in any manner whatsoever are done in the said Order.
“He who by reason of bodily infirmity, or other lawful impediment, is not able to hear, or being Priest, to say, Mass, or to say either the Divine Office, or that of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, or has it not in his power to perform the other exercises of piety, which are enjoined for obtaining the aforesaid Indulgencies, shall, notwithstanding, receive the same on thrice saying, in the place of the said pious exercises, the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelical Salutation, and the Anthem, Salve Regina, adding at the end, 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, provided, nevertheless, that he shall have been to confession and holy Communion, or, at least, shall have contrition for his sins, and the firm resolution of afterwards confessing them.
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“He who being at the point of death, shall devoutly recommend his soul to God, and having previously gone to confession, and received Holy Communion, if he have it in his power; or if not, having made from his heart an act of contrition shall, with his lips, or, if he cannot do more, at least in his heart, invoke the names of JESUS and MARY shall obtain a plenary indulgence and the remission of all his sins.
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“Each one may gain for himself, or apply, by manner of suffrage, to the faithful departed, all and each of the above mentioned indulgences, as also the remission of sins, and the relaxation of the punishments thereunto due.
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“Notwithstanding all things whatsoever to the contrary, His Holiness has declared that the Medals herein mentioned which shall not have been blessed by the Monks aforesaid, or by those to whom the Holy See has, by a special favour, granted the power, shall in nowise be indulgenced. He also forbad that the said Medals should be of paper, or such like material ; and that unless they were made of gold, silver, brass, copper or other solid metal, they shall not be indulgenced.
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“In all things relating to the distribution and use of the said Medals, His Holiness moreover orders that there should be observed the Decree of Alexander VII, of happy memory, published on the 6th day of February, 1657, to wit: that Medals blessed, and indulgenced as here mentioned, cannot pass beyond the persons to whom either the said Monks shall have given them, or to whom they shall have been by them distributed in the first instance, neither can they be lent, or sold, or borrowed, without their losing the indulgences which have been attached to them; and if one be lost, another cannot be taken in its place unless it have been blessed by those before mentioned, not withstanding any concession or privilege to the contrary.
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“Moreover, His Holiness expressly forbids that any Priest, whether secular, or of any Order, Congregation, or regular Institute whatsoever, and whatsoever may be his dignity or office, with the exception of the Monks here above mentioned, or of those to whom the Holy See shall, by a special privilege, have granted the faculty, shall dare or presume to bless the said Medals or Crosses, or to distribute them to the faithful after having so blessed them, under such penalties - besides the nullity of the blessing and indulgences - as it shall seem good to the respective Ordinaries or Inquisitors of the Faith to inflict according to the gravity of the fault: notwithstanding all things soever which may be to the contrary, these presents shall hold good unto all future times.
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“His Holiness likewise has willed that the Copy of these Present letters, whether in manuscript or print, when signed by a public notary, or by the secretary of the forementioned perpetual Visitator, now at this present in office, sealed also with the seal of some dignitary, or of the forementioned Benno, or of the then existing Perpetual Visitator, shall have the same weight in all questions of dispute or otherwise, in all places, which would be given to these presents on their being shown or produced.
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“Given at Rome, the 23rd day of December, in the year 1741.
(The Seal.) L. Cardinal PICO, Prefect.
A.M. ERBA, Apostolic Protonotary, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation.
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But although, as the same petition added, no one could doubt of the validity of this Decree, and of the said faculty, nevertheless, to procure for them, with all persons, greater respect and authority, the said petitioner greatly desiring that this Decree, with all things therein contained and expressed, be approved, and for ever confirmed by Us and the Apostolic See, as we are here about to do, he has humbly sent to us a petition and earnest entreaty that we would be pleased to grant him, by Apostolic Letter, and by these presents, that which he asks of us.
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We, therefore, wishing to show to the said petitioner a mark of our special favour, and declaring him to be loosed and absolved, for the sole intent of his obtaining the effect of these presents, from all excommunication, suspension, and interdict, and other ecclesiastical sentences by whomsoever proclaimed, as also from all censures and punishments a jure or ab homine on whatsoever occasion or cause awarded, in case he were under any such; determined thereunto by the supplications which he has unto this purpose addressed to us, we approve and confirm by our Apostolical authority the tenor of these presents, for ever, the aforementioned Decree with all it contains and expresses and thereto we add the inviolable strength of the Apostolical confirmation, making good all and each of such defects, whether of fact, or right, or formality, or of any other kind soever, even though they were substantial, which may be in these same. We wish that these present letters be and continue for ever firm, valid, and of effect, and that they receive their full and entire effects. We declare that they shall not be comprised in the revocations, limitations, derogations, or other contrary decisions, which have been or shall hereafter be made by Us and the Roman Pontiffs in reference to such favours as these, or to any favours whatsoever but that these same shall be always excepted, and shall as often as the aforesaid revocations be made, be each time restored, replaced, and fully re-established to and in their former and most valid state: and lastly, we wish that under what later date soever they be enunciated by the petitioner and by his successors hereafter to be elected, they receive their full effect, and that neither the petitioner nor his successors be disturbed, molested, or impeded, by any authority or under any pretext, colour, or pretence whatsoever. Thus and in no other way must it be judged and defined by all exercising any whatsoever authority, ordinary or delegated, even by the Auditors of Causes of the Apostolic Palace, by the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, even should they be legates à latere, and by the Nuncios of the Holy See. We declare null and void whatsoever, by whomsoever, and what dignity soever he may enjoy, shall be attempted contrary to the aforesaid letters, whether this be done with or without knowledge. And all this notwithstanding the Apostolical Constitutions and rules, as well as those of the said Order, even were they strengthened by Apostolic attestation, confirmation, or any other support; notwithstanding likewise all statutes, customs, privileges, Apostolic letters, granted, confirmed, and renewed to all superiors and others, which should be in anywise contrary to the said privileges. From all and each of the which Constitutions and Rules we hereby derogate, as likewise from all other expressions to the contrary, even in those cases where it would be required to make mention or any other expression of them, specially and specifically express and formal, even by the insertion of the whole tenour, and not by a general and virtual mention; as likewise in such cases as would require that they should be expressed word for word, without any single omission, and using the form in which they were drawn up; the said Constitutions, Rules, and the like, being considered as expressed in these presents, and remaining in full vigour for all the rest, are hereby derogated from most largely and fully in this particular case, and likewise from every expression which may in any way be to the contrary.
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Given at Rome, at S. Mary Major’s, under the Fisherman’s Seal, the 12th of March, 1742 the second year of our Pontificate.