Front Side: On the front side of the St. Benedict medal you will see a depiction of the Saint holding a book and a Cross. next to him are a snake wrapped around a cup and a raven with bead in it's beak. These two represent the two accounts of when St. Benedict's brothers tried to poison him and he miraculously overcame their devious plots. Moving outward you will see the tect "Crux Patris Benedicti" or "The Cross of St. Benedict". Surrounding the figure of St. Benedict are the words Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur! ('May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death').Reverse Side:The main Letters symbolise the following: C. S. S. M. L. (Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux): “The Holy Cross be my light”N. D. S. M. D. (Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux) “May the dragon never be my guide!” Around the edge of the medal are more letters that stand for a Latin exorcism prayer:V. R. S. (Vade Retro Satan): “Get away, Satan”N. S. M. V. (Not Suade Mihi Vana): “Never tempt me with your vanities!”S. M. Q. L. (Sunt Mala Quae Libas): “What you offer me is evil.”I. V. B. (Ipse Venena Bibas): “Drink the poison yourself!”At the top you see the word "Pax" the Latin word for "Peace"All Sanctus Co. tattoo downloads are pre-sized for standard 8.5 X 11 printer paper. Simply download the document, print it out, and hand it to your tattoo artist with your desired placement. All of my designs come with a diagram that show the recommended placement that the designer had in mind for tattoo. All downloads come with the SVG file of the design that will allow your tattoo artist to scale the file to any size you desire.
