Continuing the Visual Tour of the Saint Aelfric Chapel at Grace Anglican Church (which I started last year but stalled), we’re looking next at the Saint Benedict Medal “Window”. There are two “windows” or picture frames which sit either in a window or on the side of the altar here – one is always of St. Aelfric, the chapel’s namesake, and the other rotates. For most of the month of January we’ve had Saint Peter there, but with the beginning of the Pre-Lent season we’re about to switch to this:

What it is

I first came to know of the Saint Benedict Medal in seeing it embedded into a crucifix, and as I looked up the meaning of its various letters I was impressed with the array of spiritual warfare verses employed. There may be a couple variations of the medal out there, but the one pictured here is fairly typical

In the center is the Cross, the letters reading downward are C.S.S.M.L. which stand for crux sacra sit mihi lux (the Holy Cross be my light). The letters left to right are N.D.S.M.D. – non draco sit mihi dux (let not the dragon be my guide). Both of these phrases have the same meter and they rhyme, making them a handy pair to memorize as a prayer against the devil’s temptations.

A circle surrounds the cross and forms the border of the medal. Four sets of letters arc around this circle, initially four more verses with which to reject Satan (and mostly from Scripture).

• I.V.B. ipse venema bibas (drink your own poison)
• V.R.S. vade retro Satana (get behind me, Satan)
• N.S.M.V. non suade mihi vana (suggest not to me vanities)
• S.M.Q.L. sunt mala quae libas (Evil are [the things that] you offer)

The word “Pax” (peace) sits atop the circle, and the four quadrants between the Cross and the circle contain the initials C.S.P.B. Crux Sancti Patris Benedicta (the Cross of the Holy Father Benedict).

Why it’s here

As an Anglican who loves the Prayer Book, I have a great fondness for St. Benedict. He is the Father of Western monasticism, codifying Early Church practice into a system that has been replicated in many ways across Western Europe ever since. And his approach to worship and liturgy, particularly centering on holy living and praying the Psalms, is extremely influential in the formation of the Anglican Prayer Book tradition. Our pattern of praying all 150 Psalms each month is a riff from the Benedictine pattern of praying all the Psalms in a week, for example.

More specifically, the Medal of Saint Benedict is a devotional tool that I think we have undervalued in 21st-century spirituality. We don’t always take the devil as seriously as we ought, and could benefit from reminders to reject his evil temptations.

As such, you’ll see it out in the chapel during the two-and-a-half weeks of Pre-Lent, and during the last two weeks of Lent (Passiontide & Holy Week). This serves a double purpose: first is the obvious emphasis on the doctrine of repentance that characterizes this time of year, and second is the tradition of veiling images in the church during the latter weeks of Lent. The Medal of Saint Benedict is not an image (like all the other entries in this “window”) and therefore doubly appropriate for these solemn moments in the Church Year.