Dear Saint Benedict, I thank God for showering you with His grace to love Him above all else and to establish a monastic rule that has helped so many of His children live full and holy lives.
Through the cross of Jesus Christ, I ask you to please intercede that God might protect me, my loved ones, my home, property, possessions, and workplace today and always by your holy blessing, that we may never be separated from Jesus, Mary, and the company of all the blessed. Through your intercession may we be delivered from temptation, spiritual oppression, physical ills, and disease. Protect us from drug and alcohol abuse, impurity and immorality, objectionable companions, and negative attitudes. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
The original design of the medal focused on a simple cross. It was Pope Leo IX who redesigned the medal for the first time.
The story goes he was inspired to do this because Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg, the future Pope Leo IX, was bitten by a snake. Through the power of the Benedictine cross, he survived and recovered. He lost the ability to speak for a time, and those surrounding him lost faith in his recovery.
When he received a vision of the Ladder to Heaven, he saw St. Benedict holding the radiant cross. The eternal saint touched Bruno, and he was cured of his ailments.
Leo IX redesigned the medal in 1049, and the Sisters of Charity attached the medal to their rosaries. The custom continues to survive today.
Only in 1742 did Pope Benedict XIV approve the design and create the medal that resembles its current design today
