Benedictine blessing
The Benedictine blessing is a blessing formula that has been used as a means of protection and healing since the 17th century. The St. Benedict's is usually in the form of a Benediktusmedaille even Benediktuspfennig called formed.
Legend
In Vicovaro, St. Benedict of Nursia is said to have shattered the cup of poison that was given to him to drink with the sign of the cross.
layout
The Benedictine blessing could be written on pieces of paper, cast in lead, tin, brass alloys, gold and silver or embossed from horn. It can be found on various amulet crosses such as the Ulrich cross , but could also be redesigned into a medal, the Benediktus pfennig , also known as the Benedictus medal . The central element of the Benediktuspfennig is the blessing cross or Benedictus cross , on which the letters of the actual blessing text, a double saying, are shown, which are arranged in a cross above the same middle word:
- Longitudinal bar: CSSML ( Crux sacra sit mihi lux - "The holy cross be my light")
- Crossbar: NDSMD ( non draco sit mihi dux - “Don't let the dragon be my guide”).
The Zacharias blessing, a similarly popular blessing inscription, is often stamped on the medal as the outer enclosure . The following saying is also common:
- VRSNSMVSMQLIVB ( Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana, Sunt Mala, Quae Libas: Ipse Venena Bibas - "Back off, Satan, never lead me to vanity. Evil is what you instill in me: drink your own poison").
In the four cross angles you can find:
- CSPB ( Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti - "Cross of the Holy Father Benedict").
Sometimes PAX ("peace") is written above the cross.
The cross is depicted anciently as a paw cross , later mostly designed as a ball-end anchor cross in the manner of the lily cross .
Since the 18th century, most of the Benedictine pennies also show a picture of St. Benedict with cross staff and poison cup; the latter alludes to a miracle attributed to the saint. Representations of Mary were added later.
In Weingarten Monastery , a variant of the Benedictine medal is minted and consecrated, which in addition to St. Benedict and cross also represents the holy blood relic venerated there .
use
The Benediktuspfennig can be worn around the neck, on the rosary , on the Fraisenkette or in the purse (here against counterfeit money or fraud). Larger wall medals are also available. According to Roman Catholic teaching, the medal allows a complete indulgence on certain days.
In earlier days it was recommended to wall it up in building foundations, to bury it together with the Antlassei in places at risk of flooding or avalanches, to put it under house sleepers or to put the children in the cradle, to bury it in the manger in the stable, to throw it in the well, To sew grazing cows on the bell straps, even to hang them on utility vessels such as the rotary butter keg or to solder them to the milking bucket.
The protective effect of the Benedictine blessing included the patronage of St. Benedict. Abbot Prosper Guéranger enumerated the miraculous powers in detail in his work The Meaning, Origin and Privileges of the Medal of St. Benedict . Accordingly, the Benedictine blessing serves as protection against everyday dangers, lightning, hail, poisoning, fever, plague, stone disease , epilepsy , evil spirits, witches, the devil, as well as during births and at the hour of death. The incomprehensibility of the sequence of letters is decisive for the magic effect; in ignorance of the content of the blessing, the magic letter charm emerged all the more clearly.
history
The Benedictine blessing goes back to the veneration of the popular people's saint and helper in need, Benedikt von Nursia, in the Lower Bavarian monastery of Metten . The Metten Codex of 1414 shows a miniature figure of a saint whose cross staff is inscribed with the Benedictine blessing. This saint has been known as St. Benedict.
According to another tradition, the blessing dates from a very ancient time, but only became widespread after it was given to the Alsatian cleric Bruno, who later became Pope Leo IX. (1002-1054), had healed from a serious illness.
In connection with the Straubing witch trial of 1647, the Benedictus amulet became very popular, as the six accused witches testified that they had no power over the Metten monastery because of the Benedictine cross hidden there.
The Benediktuspfennig became extremely popular with the people. Since it was also used as a magic potion, it was repeatedly banned by some bishops. In the 17th century it was put on the index. However, by means of a certificate dated March 12, 1742, the Prague abbot Benno Löbl obtained that Pope Benedict XIV often bestowed indulgences on those who carried the medal . The Benedictines, on the other hand, spread the blessing and produced it in large numbers in Metten. Its sale represented an important source of income for the monastery.
literature
- Manfred Brauneck : Religious folk art. Votive offerings, devotional pictures, reverse glass, rosary beads, amulets. 2nd Edition. DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-0967-8 , pp. 295-296.
- Stefan Fassbinder : pilgrimage, devotion and magic. Religious pendants and medals. Contributions to the modern history of piety in south-west Germany from an archaeological point of view (= Journal for Archeology of the Middle Ages. Supplement 18). Rheinland-Verlag, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-7749-3087-2 .
- Hanns Otto Münsterer : amulet crosses and cross amulets. Studies in Religious Folklore. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0789-2 , pp. 170-180.
- Benedikt Stolz: The medal of St. Benedict, the patron saint of Europe. Origin, essence and work. Franz Reisinger, Wels 1966.
- Dominik Wunderlin: Means to Salvation. Religious symbols of blessing and protection in the Dr. Edmund Müller (= treasures from the Dolderhaus in Beromünster. Issue 7). Helyas-Verlag, Beromünster 2005, ISBN 3-9521775-9-8 .
Web links
- The Order of Saint Benedict: The Medal of Saint Benedict ( Memento of October 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Photos of further copies , uni-leipzig.de
- Albert Altenähr : The blessing of the cross , benediktiner.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Benedict of Nursia in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints , accessed on October 6, 2017
- ↑ http://www.credo-a-deo.de/Benedikt.html