St. Benedict Medal Prayer
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the Dragon be my Guide.
Begone, Satan! and suggest not to me thy vain things: the cup thou profferest me is evil; drink thou thy poison.
About this prayer
Prayer from the medal inscriptions · English edition (1880)
This prayer brings together the English translations of the medal inscriptions printed in Guéranger’s 1880 book, pp.12–13. It asks that the Cross guide the person praying and rejects temptation. This is the medal prayer, rather than a prayer of blessing over a medal. No claim is made that St. Benedict personally wrote these words. The accompanying Latin transcription corrects the scan’s “Lux” to “Dux” in “Non draco sit mihi Dux”; its English verse already reads “Guide.”
Which Latin inscription is shown here?
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 1880 scan prints “Non draco sit mihi Lux” while translating the word as “Guide.” We use “Dux” (guide) for this line and record the correction here; it is not a verbatim reproduction of that printed Latin line.
Why does my medal use different words?
The selected 1880 book uses “Non Draco.” Many later medals use “Nunquam Draco.” This page identifies the edition it follows rather than silently combining versions.
Text & sources
Prayer from the medal inscriptions · English edition (1880)
Prosper Guéranger, The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict (1880)
Chapter III, printed pp.12–13 (PDF49–50)
View source
Prosper Guéranger, The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict, Burns and Oates, London, 1880, pp.12–13. Public-domain evidence is recorded for the United States only; no worldwide licence or rights in modern translations are claimed.
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