Our History

Our name, Benedictine, comes from a humble monk who was named Benedict of Nursia. This particular monk lived in the 5th and 6thcenturies AD, and wrote a set of rules that have become the fundamental guide for western monasticism.

He was born on July 11th, twin to Saint Scolastica, into a Christian noble family in Nursia (now known as Norcia), Italy. Nursia is its Latin name. He was sent to Rome to study with a nanny at a young age.

Promptly he was disillusioned by the lack of compassion and charity and the too common immorality of his fellow classmates and teachers. Up to the point that he left the city together with his family nurse or nani. After a while he decided to live as a hermit, and from this point forward great things happened around him and thru him. There was a monastery nearby the cave where he lived, so some monks went to visit him and asked him to be their “abbot” (The word abbot comes from the Greek abbas, which means "father”) as they had lost their own abbot. Saint Benedict was known by the locals as a man of Holy Prudence and a man of prayer. He refused but they kept coming and insisting and eventually he accepted. However, the discipline that he imposed on the monastery was not welcomed by all, to the point that some tried to poison him. By the Grace of God he escaped and returned to his cave. Later, the monks returned to him and begged again for him to be their abbot. He set forth a set of rules as conditions of him returning as the abbot. That is where our Holy Rule got started. Those where the rules for those living under his leadership.

During his lifetime he established 12 monasteries. According to tradition and records he traveled to Montecassino around 529 where he established a monastery and where he was the abbot. Here is where our Holy Rule took formal shape. Traditionally he died on March 21st of 547. On this date we celebrate the “dormition” (falling asleep) of our Holy father.

He was followed soon after by his sister Saint Scholastica who was the abbess of a monastery that lived under the same rule. Both are thought to be buried in the same tomb. Two great saints and reformers of our church.

This is just to give you a very small glimpse of how our Holy Father started western monasticism. You are encouraged to read in detail the story of his life.

Sadly Saint Benedict did not write an autobiography. All that we know about his life is thru the books called the “Dialogues of people”, which Gregory the Great wrote in 593-594 AD. In these books we find our Holy father’s spiritual journey described in detail showing us different facets of our spiritual father’s life and legacy.

Pope Pius XII in 1947 recognized St Benedict as the “Father of Europe”. Then Pope Paul VI declared him “Patron of Europe” in 1964 . 

The feast of St Benedict is held on 11 July. Most Benedictine monasteries and communities also celebrate on 21 March and every 21 of the month is dedicated in our congregation to the “Dormition” of our Holy Father.

The Holy medal of Saint Benedict is not a charm or amulet to bring you good luck or good health.

From the beginning Christianity, Christians have used the sign of the cross as a symbol of our deep Faith in Christ. Some even lost their lives because they refused to reject or spit on the cross from the early church days to our present time, like the “Cristeros” (from 1926 to 1929) in Mexico who died because of their faith. The devotion to the sublime sacrifice of Christ on the cross gave rise to striking of medal with the cross on it. It’s well known our Blessed father produced miracles by making the sign of the cross over objects and people. Thru time a medal was created and the image of our Holy Father minted in the medal holding in his right hand the cross and in the left the Holy Rule.  Later, petitions in Latin were added to the margin of the medal, asking our Holy Father for his protection and intercession. 

We do not know when the first medal was struck and for many years we did not know what the letters around it mean, until in 1647 a manuscript dating back to 1415 was found at the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria, explaining the letters. They are the initial letters of a Latin prayer of exorcism against Satan.

In 1880, the monks of Montecassino struck the current medal to mark the 1400th anniversary of the birth of our Holy Father Saint Benedict of Nursia.

Elements of the Medal

• On the face of the medal is the image of Saint Benedict. In his right hand he holds the cross, the Christian’s symbol of salvation.
• In St. Benedict’s left hand is his Rule for Monasteries. This is exhorting us to “walk in God’s ways, with the Gospel as our guide.”
• On a pedestal to the right of St. Benedict is the poisoned cup, shattered when he made the sign of the cross over it. On a pedestal to the left is a raven about to carry away a loaf of poisoned bread that a jealous enemy had sent to St. Benedict.
• Above the cup and the raven are the Latin words: Crux s. patris Benedicti (The Cross of our holy father Benedict). On the margin of the medal, encircling the figure of Benedict, are the Latin words: Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur! (May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death!).
• Below St. Benedict we read: ex SM Casino MDCCCLXXX (from holy Montecassino, 1880). This is the medal struck to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of the birth of Saint Benedict.
• On the back of the medal, the cross is dominant. On the arms of the cross are the initial letters of a rhythmic Latin prayer: Crux sacra sit mihi lux! Nunquam draco sit mihi dux! (May the holy cross be my light! May the dragon never be my guide!).
• On the angles of the cross, the letters C S P B stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (The cross of our holy father Benedict).
• Above the cross is the word pax (peace), that has been a Benedictine motto for centuries.
• Around the margin of the back of the medal, the letters V  R  S  N  S  M  V – S  M Q  L  I  V  B are the initial letters of a Latin prayer of exorcism against Satan: Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! (Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities! What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!)