4

I saw following text on the back of a T-shirt:

Crux sacra sit mihi lux
Non draco sit mihi dux
Vade retro Satana,
Numquam suade mihi vana
Sunt mala quae libas,
Ipse venena bibas

Image of the print:

I just met a guy with a shirt with this text on it's back. There was also a St. Benedict's Cross on the front with some words but I haven't captured it.

Could anyone translate for me this text, please?

Joonas Ilmavirta
  • 113,294
  • 21
  • 192
  • 587
AstralMystic
  • 41
  • 2
  • Welcome to the site! Could you provide some context behind this text as well as anything that you've tried? – brianpck Jun 30 '20 at 12:51
  • 1
    Well, I just met a guy with a shirt with this text on it's back. There was also a St. Benedict's Cross on the front with some words but I haven't captured it. Unfortunately all I possibly imagine was to use those OCR scanners but I saw it couldn't recognize letters correctly and in addition with google translator the text I've received was this: Holy Cross be my light The dragon will not be my guide GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN, JUMQUAM suggest to me PHANTOM There are evils which burn Sharp drink poison... – AstralMystic Jun 30 '20 at 13:11
  • 3
    Take a look at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Benedict_Medal – brianpck Jun 30 '20 at 13:13

1 Answers1

6

Those words are a Christian formula closely associated with St. Benedict and the Benedictine order. It is meant to fend off the devil and his temptations, and the translation is as follows:

May the holy cross be my light
May not the serpent be my guide
Move back, Satan,
Never promote your vanities to me
What you pour out is evil,
Drink your poison yourself.

Notes:

  1. It seems that draco is usually translated ad “dragon.” I preferred “serpent” in this context. Both words are used in conjunction with the devil in Christian literature.
  2. The central line and arguably the title of the blessing is: Vade retro Satana. This is certainly an allusion to Jesus' words in the Gospel of Mark 8:33, where he says: Vade retro me Satana: Get thee behind me, Satan.

The initials of all the words of this blessing are arranged on the reverse side of the St. Benedict Medal in a pattern nicely described here. The oldest evidence of this text appears to be a manuscript from 1414 found at the Benedictine abbey at Metten. The Germans call it Benediktussegen, or Benedict's blessing.

Sebastian Koppehel
  • 34,011
  • 2
  • 58
  • 110
  • There's a separate question about the word draco if anyone is wants to learn more about the first note. – Joonas Ilmavirta Jul 01 '20 at 20:45
  • Is non (draco) sit a medievalism? Classical usage would be ne. – TKR Jul 01 '20 at 22:07
  • @TKR I read it roughly as "may something that is not a dragon lead me", but I'm not sure if it's classically sound. A medieval quirk sounds more likely. I smell a good follow-up question... – Joonas Ilmavirta Jul 01 '20 at 22:25
  • 1
    @TKR Not classical but not medieval either. Schultz says: "Only poets and later prose writers", and quotes Horace (non sileas) and Quintilian (non desperemus). – Sebastian Koppehel Jul 01 '20 at 22:44
  • Minor quibble: this is a prayer of exorcism, not a blessing :) – brianpck Jul 02 '20 at 01:39
  • @Sebastian Koppehel: As Hugh has been proscribed, may I transfer my Q. to yourself, please? The use of "ipse", here: should it be "te (ipsum) venena bibas"? – tony Jul 02 '20 at 13:39
  • @brianpck Interestingly it is called Benediktussegen in German, Benedict's blessing. Not sure about exorcism, even if Wikipedia says so. By the way, I wonder if the claim that the text was and still is included in De Exorcismis et Supplicationibus Quibusdam is really true; the most recent edition can be found online, I just skimmed it (it's short!) and found nothing. – Sebastian Koppehel Jul 02 '20 at 20:36
  • @tony The addressee (Satan) is the subject of the sentence (literally: may you drink the poisons), so it is: tu ipse bibas. If it were te ipsum, then he would be the object and someone would drink the devil. – Sebastian Koppehel Jul 02 '20 at 20:38
  • @Sebastian Koppehel: Silly me! When Bear Grylls does his jungle-survival thing and counsels the thirst-crazed explorer to drink his own urine, this would be expressed: "de siti aquae, tuam urinam bibas" = "With a craving for water, you may drink your own urine.". Alternatively: "....te ipsum bibas." = "...., you may drink yourself.". Does that work, probably not? – tony Jul 03 '20 at 11:31