The Medal of St. Benedict

As a novice oblate, I was given the Medal of Saint Benedict. The medal was blessed or consecrated with a prayer asking God to remember those who wear the medal with the intent of charity and faith, that He would grant them aid in conducting such charity, including health and strength and forgiveness of sins.

The medal is worn the same way and for similar reasons as we Orthodox Christians wear our baptismal crosses. It is a devotional act and a reminder to us that we set our minds on things above.  The medal, like the cross, is not merely a piece of fashion jewelry, and on the other hand, it is not a magical talisman or good-luck-charm. Neither of these are Christian attitudes.

A friend asked me "what? No cassock?" after my vows. I held up the medal and said: "this is my cassock." I think that's a pretty good way to think of it.  As with vestments, which are donned and worn with intent, which also signify to others something about the wearer, so the medal is put on and worn in humility and prayer, as a reminder of my vow, the Rule, and my intention to grow in faith toward God and fervent love toward my fellow man. As with my baptismal/chrismation cross, I wear it outside of my shirt because it's not something I wish to hide, but rather, to have in plain view where it will serve as a constant reminder.

Below is a description of the medal and its symbolism(click image for larger view):



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unbearable Burden of Raising a Child with Down Syndrome

Image
A couple weeks ago I read the supposition that newborns are “ morally irrelevant ” and children with conditions like Down syndrome can be an “ unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole.”   Shortly after that I read of a couple that sued a hospital for “wrongful birth,” saying that they would rather have aborted their baby if they would have known she had Down syndrome.   So many things crossed my mind when considering these ideas and the people behind them, but I have come to the conclusion that it’s true, there is a nearly unbearable burden in having a child with Down syndrome. My son, the youngest of six, has Down syndrome, so I know about the burden.  He has Trisomy-21, the most common form of Down syndrome, and the most common genetic disorder in the world.  It means he has three copies, instead of the typical two, of the 21st gene set.  Typical people have 23 pairs of chromosomes.  Today is World Down Syndrome Day, 3/21, get it?  The ad
Read more

Israel, the Church, The New Israel, Replacement Theology, Judah, The People of God, and So On...

 In the beginning, God created a home that He shared with Adam and Eve. After a while, Adam and Eve left. When they were outside the home and the locks were changed, they were exceedingly sad. God promised them that One would come from her offspring and would bring the key to a new home. This created the Church; the People of God who lived with hope and faith in the Promise God made. Adam and Eve had sons. Cain did not want to be in the Church. His ego and pride were so great that what happened in the Church made him so mad he killed his brother. This created another church, a false church with the self as its god, culminating in Lamech, the archetypal sinner. Mankind grew and spread out over the earth. The church of the self grew also and was a blight upon creation. God baptized the world to wash away sin. Noah, his sons, his wife, and his son's wives, 8 souls in all remained after the baptism. They were the Church; the People of God, and they settled the land. Ham, unable to live
Read more

Christmas Conceptions and Nativity Notions

 The Christmas season began yesterday with the celebration of the Birth of Christ for those using the Revised Julian Calendar. For others on the Julian Calendar, there are a few days yet until the celebration begins. Yes. Christmas begins  on Christmas day...not thanksgiving or November 1st as the commercial interests around us would have us believe. But that's another blog entry. Yesterday we celebrated at my eldest daughter's house. It was s wonderful day. All the kids were there, our grandson, and our two grandkids who will be making their appearances in 2023! It was a full house, full of warmth and love, great food and drink, and all the trappings of a wonderful holiday family gathering. After the lovely charcuterie and amazing meal, we gathered in the family room where I put forth the following conversation-starter: Setting aside all the cultural aspects of Christmas, and focusing only on the religious part, stated in it's most blunt terms: Christmas is the day we cele
Read more