Since it is so hard to get kicked out of a Benedictine Monastery, you probably won't find it hard to believe that St. Benedict himself was hard to get along with. His monks so chaffed at being under his authority, that they thought it best to poison him.
They filled a goblet with wine, doctored it with something deadly, and placed it before Benedict. As he made the sign of the cross over the cup, it shattered. Then a raven flew in through the window and made off with a poisoned loaf of bread!
Needless to say, Someone was watching over Benedict and today the Saint Benedict Medal is known to be particularly effective in warding off evil. It is marked with the poisoned cup and the raven, among other symbols. And it is used in exorcisms along with holy water and the crucifix.
An aid to the avoidance of temptations and bodily harm, the medal is considered essential by the members of this community. We've been encouraged to buy a few, have them blessed, and pass them around.
Let me know if you want one. I do!
- Posted from my iPad
I had heard/read that he was asked to come to that particular monastery to convert the monks who had gone far astray and because they hated him for trying to convert them, they tried to poison him. Evidently he was asked to help in more than one monastery (for the same reason)because this happened more than once. Therefore, he bagan his hermitage. Nes paux?
ReplyDeleteIt is a cool medal!
PAX
xox
♥
Than you for filling the essentials details, Andrea!
ReplyDeleteI thought the Benedictines were only monks and priests; but are they nuns also?? Maybe you can find out what those birds are. Not familiar to me. Loved the humor about the monks being a motley crew!
ReplyDeleteYes there are nuns and lay Oblates of which I am one attached to the Abbey at Belmont, North Carolina. Sr. Joan Chittister is probably the most famous of the current living nuns. Her Order/convent is in Erie, Pennsylvania. The birds are Ravens as in Edgar Allen Poe. Love those Benedictines!!!
ReplyDeleteMom, the sisters at this Abbey, called Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey in Pecos, NM are part of a mixed community of monks and nuns comprising an Olivetan Benedictine Congregation. They have a special dispensation to live a shared life of prayer.
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