The Holy Cross be my light;
Let not the dragon be my guide.
Begone, Satan,
do not suggest to me thy vanities—
evil are the things thou profferest,
drink thou thy own poison.
The St. Benedict prayer associated with his medal asks that Christ’s Cross guide us as we reject evil. Pray these traditional words when seeking strength against temptation.
Saint Benedict, Hans Memling, 1487, left wing of the Portinari Triptych. Public domain; Wikimedia Commons / Web Gallery of Art.
You can pray these words in the morning, before a difficult decision, or when you are tempted to return to a harmful habit. Make the Sign of the Cross, pray slowly, and ask God for the grace to choose what is good. You may also ask, “Saint Benedict, pray for us.” There is no required number of repetitions, and you do not need a medal to pray.
The traditional Latin verses appear through their initials on the St. Benedict medal:
Crux sacra sit mihi lux,
Non draco sit mihi dux.
Vade retro Satana,
Nunquam suade mihi vana;
Sunt mala quae libas,
Ipse venena bibas.
The letters abbreviate the Latin prayer asking for the light of the Holy Cross and rejecting Satan’s temptations. The Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry on the medal gives the Latin and the traditional English wording used above.
Here “dragon” refers to the devil, and “vanities” means empty or deceitful attractions. “Profferest” means “offer.” These are verses associated with the medal; they should not be presented as words known to have been composed personally by St. Benedict.
You may ask St. Benedict’s intercession for protection from evil, perseverance in prayer, and strength to resist temptation. Christ is the source of grace; the saint prays with and for us.
Bring a particular struggle to prayer: the urge to retaliate in an argument, dishonest conduct at work, or a habit that keeps drawing you away from God. Then choose a practical response, such as pausing before you answer, making restitution, or arranging Confession. Prayer belongs with a willingness to change.
No. A blessed medal is a sacramental, and its use calls for faith, prayer and conversion; it is not a charm or a guarantee that nothing painful will happen (CCC 1667–1670; 2111).
If you have a medal, ask a priest to bless it. Keep your trust in Jesus, participate in the sacramental life of the Church, and avoid treating a particular metal, size or number of prayers as a source of power. The medal’s devotional prayer is not a set of instructions for performing an exorcism.
St. Benedict of Nursia was a monk whose Rule helped shape Western monastic life. Born around 480, he sought God in prayer and taught his monks to bring obedience, humility and attentive service into daily life.
In his teaching on St. Benedict, Benedict XVI emphasized that listening to God should bear fruit in our actions. That is a helpful way to live this prayer: seek Christ’s light, refuse what leads toward sin, and carry out the next good duty before you.
Saint Benedict, pray for us, that we may love Christ faithfully and persevere in His peace. Amen.
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